I would recommend not folding to Grabel much. Really good player, but bat**** insane.

Kevin and Mike are two of my favorite poker players to talk to. They both seem to understand that it's a game and never take anything more seriously than they should. Talked to them both a bit yesterday actually. Mike final table bubbled (11th) the $280 $150K last night, which is always pretty painful in live tournaments. He walks over to where the Almighty is being played, asks how much time he has to register and is told 20 minutes, says alright **** it and hops in. I was cracking up but in all seriousness, if you want to know what it takes to make it long term as a professional, that sort of attitude is a good example.

Almighty 1B

Decided I'd attempt to play the $250 NJ Super Tuesday on my tablet while playing the night flight of the Almighty. Was pretty happy with how it went and actually really liked being able to sort of glance at the online table while in a hand live. I wasn't ever slowing down the live game but whenever people decided they were going to sit there and try to stare into my soul for 3 minutes I could just look down and follow the action of my tournament lol. The first hand I was dealt in live tourney we're playing 2Kbb with 100K SS and both blinds are not back from break. Guy on my right opens to 4500, I 3b to 12K w AKo, he flats. Flop QJ8 goes check check, turn brick he c/c's, river Q I bet somewhat big and he tank/calls with 85s. Thought I have some Qx and Jx that go for value there and that he rarely if ever has Qx and often just leads a jack on turn and was targeting folds from TT, 99, 77 and down. I also block his AQ AJ KQ KJ. But he just had 85. Oh well.

Later on something pretty freaky happened. I opened AA UTG in the online tourney and got 4 or 5 flatters. This was getting to the midstages of the tourney and you rarely get a bunch of flats like that. Flop comes 765 and I elected to c/shove based on my stack. I'm almost always giving up on flops like this so I think it's cool to have some hands that can continue and other than sets and the occasional 98s, this is as good as it gets. Last to act bets 18K and the BB tanks a bit before going all in for 24K total. While I'm thinking about whether or not to stick my stack in anyway I find AA UTG in the live tourney and open. I elect to fold the AA in the online tourney, the guy who bet in position has 66 and the BB has 98 and I get to feel pretty good about myself. I look up to see I've gotten 4 or 5 flatters in the live tourney.....

Flop comes KK5r and I decide that I'm probably not going to be folding with my somewhat short stack so I'm going broke to Kx regardless, and there are very few turns that it's really unlikely I'm going to get drawn out on if I currently have the best hand, so just like the online tourney, I check AA on the flop in a multiway pot. This time it checks through and the turn is a pretty gin K making the board KK5K. I bet enough to set up a river shove and get 1 caller. River is a brick and I find myself in a pretty funny spot where I'm going to shove and will instantly know whether or not I'm going to win the pot. I shove and am pretty happy when he doesn't snap call. He starts staring at me and all of a sudden I'm really grateful to have my tablet. I just look down and continue playing my online tournament until someone says "he called", turn my hand over and double back to over starting.

Later one of the guys who chopped event 1 for 90K or something opens HJ and I flat 88 on the button. Flop comes 963cc and I call a c-bet. Turn is 3s which brings a 2nd flush draw and villain shoves 60K into 30K. I tank for a little and decide he just isn't going to show me TT+ in this spot (and obviously shouldn't be shoving those hands) and while he might sometimes show me the random 9x, there are so many combos of flush draws here that I'm ahead of so I call. He has A2ss and rivers a flush and I'm back to half a starting stack. A few hands later I get 44 in against same villain's A8o and hold to get back to starting.

Managed to spin my stack up to about 250K, getting a 4b shove through with AQ, successfully getting a 3b through with JTs, etc. I move tables with 2 levels left in the day and have 210K at 10Kbb. UTG and UTG1 limp, I complete A7o in the SB and BB checks. Flop comes AQ8dd and it checks to UTG who shoves 80K into 60K (we were playing 2K ante for some reason). I decide he's shoving AJ+ pre and is going to be smaller 2 pair or the 3 combos of QQ and 1 combo of AA he might've limped UTG. He also should have JT and diamond combos here sometimes so I shove and lose to A9. This leaves me with 100K which I get in from the HJ with AQ and lose the flip to 88 to bust at 2AM.

Almighty 1C

Once again I find myself with half a starting stack after losing back to back pots with AQ and 99 and then folding forever. Eventually shove JTs from EP w 42K at 3Kbb and button calls with A9o. I flop a J and double close to starting. Move tables and shove AQs for about 92K at 4Kbb over a 9K open and 2 flats. Kid who called with A9o earlier tanks forever and then flashes QJ before folding last to act. Big fold. I get moved into the signature room with about 120K as late reg closes. Come back to 5Kbb and a good reg named Mo opens UTG to 11K. With 115K in the HJ I find QQ and am in a bit of a bind. I'd normally 3b here against a random fish knowing they're going to peel too wide and I'll just get my stack in on the flop. But I've played a bit with Mo online and I imagine he knows that I'm pretty much never 3b bluffing in this spot, and a standard 3b is probably gonna look pretty nutted. So I just shove my stack. Absolutely none of this matter because the random old guy on the button had AA and that was that.

So this trip has been pretty dumb. Seven bricked bullets so far. But honestly I feel really good. I've never punted and I just don't feel very distraught or anything. It definitely is huge to have money in the bank and feel like you really are properly rolled. I imagine that's the main reason so many people get so frustrated when they lose tournaments. They feel like they're rolled but they just really aren't. That all being said, I've been putting more than my standard 1% of roll into each of these bullets (<2% though) which makes me a little nervous, but I think in these live tourneys where people really are just that bad it's okay. If my roll goes below a certain number I'll probably nit up again until I spin it back up. I think I might either take tomorrow off or even head over to Borgata and just play a bunch of cash. Could also play the $560 elevator. Either way, taking the night off, watching some basketball, maybe playing some online tourneys, then going to bed.

Literally laughed out loud. Was there at the beginning of the open, the cash games are gold mine def recommend if you have a little time to kill between tourneys.

I say it all the time but I really do mean it when I say I want to play more live cash. I don't think it's gonna happen on this trip but I've booked a room in early May for a Monday and Tuesday or something where I'm just gonna go to Borgata and try to put in a few long sessions, both to start getting my feet wet again at live cash and to hopefully acquire more comped/discounted rooms.

Wednesday Night

Played the 3 10Ks (one per site) while watching the NBA playoffs in my hotel room. Fired 3 bullets into the Stars 10K and just the standard rebuy/addon on WSOP and 1 bullet in Party 10K. Bricked WSOP and Party and had heaps early in the Stars. Swung a bit before eventually ending up 1/9 at a table where maybe half the players there were in an Atlantic City casino with very solid regs Asher, Mike Azzaro, and Scott Blumstein at the table with me, along with 1 or 2 other NJ guys who play alright. I played well but also ran very well to end up 4 handed with Mikey, Scott, and a weaker player. Played a pretty sick hand 4 handed where I defended BB vs Mike's open, c/c'ed T75cc flop, check check 2x turn, and c/shoved Kx river against a 2/3 pot bet(I might be off with the exact cards but that was the main gist of it). I don't even want to say what I had in case people actually read this but I think I have some sets, some 2 pair, and some missed draws. I may occasionally throw some of my weakest pairs in there as well. I think Mike is good enough to value bet a 10 this size knowing I often get to this river with 7x and 5x. When I c/shove I'm very polar so a T is almost as good as AA in this spot which is why I think it's possible he tanked forever before folding even if he did just have a 10. In any case I won the pot and chipped up a bunch.

Mike busted 4th and stacks ended up incredibly even 3 handed. At one point I 4b shoved A3s vs Scott, who'd 3b his BB vs my button open a few times and I think A3s is a pretty decent 4b "bluff" all in in this spot. I ran into AJ and found a chop. Scott got unlucky again vs the weaker player and eventually bluffed it all off to me after I checked back Q9 on Q92 after opening button. I started HU with a 2:1 lead, 50BBs to 25BBs, and villain open shoved first hand with A3 into my AT. He got there and I told myself that all the hand cost me was about 45 minutes of time in which I'd work myself back to the win. I did battle pretty long and take the lead back but was unable to finish it off and finished 2nd for $1762. So I made about $1200 of the losses from the live tourneys back last night online.

Event 11, $560 Elevator

I really love the structure of this tournament and think it should arguably be used for many tournament structures. Levels 1-2 last 10 minutes. Levels 3-4 last 15 minutes. Levels 5-6 last 20 minutes, and it just continues like that until you're playing 75 minute levels when deep in the tournament with all the money on the line.

Swingy Start

Players start with 40K and I found a way to get down to 32K at 50/100, then caught an extreme punt to get back to 55K. From there I triple barreled J high on AQ6dd2d8x and got called by A8. I was targeting Ax with this triple barrel and without even prompting villain he told me he'd fold if river wasn't an 8

A Lucky Double

I found myself around 16K before doubling in pretty funny fashion. 3 players limp and I shove TT at 1200bb. First limper calls, other 2 limpers fold. First limper has 33, the 2 limpers that folded both claim QJ. Board runs AKT42. Back to starting stack.

Aces Hold

I then play a strange hand with AA where I 3b an EP open, guy on my left cold calls, opener calls, flop comes KK7 (the KKx flop with AA seems to be a recurring theme latley) checks through, I call a small bet from the original opener on 6x turn and the guy on my left also flats, then river is a T and original raiser checks. I'm going broke to a better hand regardless so I decide to make sure I get value if anyone has QQ/JJ or any other random hand that might pay. I shove about 25K into 70K or so and get 2 snap folds.

Value Shoving the Worst Hand

Later EP opens, button flats, I defend Q7s. Flop comes A74r chks to opener who bets 6K into 20K, I call. Turn 3x goes check check. River is a Q and I shove for his 25K into 30K pot targeting AK AJ AT etc. He snaps with AA. I'm not losing anymore money on non Q/7 rivers so essentially we got 5 outed for 25K.

Peeling AA from the BB vs #TeamNoMercy

I don't know a lot about the Meacham brothers aside from the fact that they've been doing quite well lately and have this #TeamNoMercy thing going on. I've heard more about Jeremy and the few things I have seen have suggested he's all about having the headphones and sunglasses and jewelry and super aggro style and all that. Basically that he's a pretty standard live pro. This is just the vibe that I got and I didn't actually have any hard evidence to back that up since I've never met either of them. So when Jeremy's brother Wade moved to my table I was ready for that sort of vibe. What I saw was the complete opposite. Wade was quiet, respectful, polite, patiently grinded a 10K stack at 1200bb, and eventually spun it up. And then the poker aggression came out. I was really impressed by his demeanor and it seemed like he thought deeply about each decision.

Wade opens to 4200 in EP at 2k bb and it folds to my BB where I have 55K. I look down at AA with 27BBs facing an EP open against someone I now perceive to be a thinking player who will consider ranges and might even understand GTO and all that, which is a rarity in the live arena. Since I'll be peeling a very wide array of hands here and 3b bluffing never, I elect to call in this spot. Flop comes T32r and I check to Wade who continues for 4200. At this point I decide to exploit, although maybe the c/r here actually does fall into a GTO strategy. If I'm ever c/r'ing bluffs here then there has to be some value combos to balance it out. The problem is you'll almost never have any value combos here. I don't think I even peel the suited combos of T3 T2 and 32. Which means I'd have to c/r my sets and then start c/r'ing my Tx. I'm just really not c/ring any hands here, for value or as a bluff. But if I were in Wade's seat and a thinking player c/r'ed me on this board, I'd probably assume he wasn't on that level of understanding how obvious it is that this is a bluff way too often, and I'd just flat or 3b myself with most of my range knowing he won't be able to continue.

So with the assumption that Wade is both a thinking player and an overly aggressive player, I c/r to 11K and after a little deliberation he shoves for my 50K with K9o. TEAMNOMERCY! But in all seriousness I understand his thought process and it felt really good to sort of be a step ahead of it.

Tough Table

The table ended up being pretty tough with me in the 7, Wade in the 10, a very overly aggressive female player named Kat in the 1, Tim Finne in the 2, and Zach Gruneberg in the 3. The 5 also seemed solid but I didn't catch his name; I mentioned my screenname at some point to a dealer who said he won a main event package on WSOP and the 5 seat asked if I had a thread on 2p2, so if you're reading this what's up dude! At one point the 5 opens in EP to 5500, I 3b to 13K with AQ in MP, and it folds to Gruneberg who just rips 100K. I folded and I think it's fine but it was interesting to see a player as solid as him just cold 4b stuffing 40+bbs. I guess being OOP you're going to want to be less inclined to 4b small and have to see 3, but you'd think with his nutted hands like AA and KK he might go small anyway. That being said, if he thinks I'm a decent player then maybe he balances and shoves all of his strong value including AA.

Triple Barreling All In with 40BBs to Start

Later I open 98ss to 5200 from UTG1, Kat calls in MP, BB calls. Flop comes T74r and I continue 9K into 20K. Only Kat calls. She has inf to start the hand, maybe over 250K, while I started just under 100K. Turn is the Ax. I decide I'm going to triple barrel after I see this turn. With 80K in my stack and 38K in the middle I do my quick little trick to see what I need to size it to set up a potsize shove on the river and come up with 14K ([80K-38K]/3). I go a little bit bigger and bet 17K and she quickly calls. I feel very confident she has Tx and I also feel very confident that she will fold to a river shove. I also have 8 outs to the effective nuts. River is a sort of interesting 9 in that I beat 7x now but I still am targeting Tx so I follow through and shove 63K into 72K. Kat gets a count and tanks for a while before asking "set of tens over there?" Uh oh, she doesn't have a T. Guess she had some weird Ax float and is now going to hero with top pair? Or maybe it's just A7 or A4 that wants to just make sure she's going to call? She thinks a while longer before sliding out the calling chips. I say nice hand, turn my cards over as I'm standing up to walk away, and watch as she turns over 97cc. Ughhhhhhhhh.

Basically seeing that hand makes me feel awesome about my play. Not only was I right that she was going to call turn with just a T, she found a call with a bad 7, meaning she's going to fold to my river shove waaaaaaaay too often. But it is really sick that she improved on the river, and really really sick that I blocked one of her outs and she hit it anyway, and then really really really sick that after binking her 4 outter she tanked anyway!! A lot of things had to happen for me to lose that pot. I also thought about how a river 8 would have been funny since I would've bluff shoved the best hand, and that a river 6 or J would have effectively been exactly the same as any other card outside of a 9 or 7 (and maybe an ace, maybe she hero calls if the ace pairs but I really doubt it...and now on second thought I might not bluff a T river either). So that was the end of my tournament.

Current Mood

I'm really excited with how I'm playing and my attitude when dealing with adversity. I busted 8 bullets worth of poker tournaments without even sniffing the money this week and as I drove home to my parents' house in Hamilton I was giddy. I don't know if it's the weather getting warmer or my change in attitude or an amazing combo of both but I was literally laughing and singing on my drive home. Maybe I'm just going crazy. But I feel really really good with my game and my life in general right now. I ran every day at these casinos despite tons of temptation to just skip a day. The running streak is back up to 18 straight days and today's 4 miler in Brigantine split 7:05--6:57--6:47--6:37 and felt effortless. I feel like I'm thinking about the game better than all of my peers and, while I understand GTO strategies better than almost any live player out there, I'm slowly learning how to maximally exploit all of the strange tendencies live players have. Basically, I feel like something big is going to happen soon.

Plans for Tomorrow

Hopefully that big thing comes in tomorrow's 6 max. It will be smaller than the one I took 4th in since it only has a 100K guarantee but I just seriously love short handed live poker. 10 handed live poker is almost literally painful. My back starts hurting and I look to the table for a distraction but after waiting for the clown in seat 3 to tank fold 4th pair on the river for 4 minutes, I squeeze 92o and sit back to wait another 5 minutes for the next hand. But 6 max...we're getting a bunch of hands, we're playing late positions way more often, and we get to really exploit the gaping holes in live players' games since we get more of an opportunity to see what mistakes they're making since they have to play more hands. I am seriously pumped for tomorrow. But knowing that I have to wake up, run, shower, and pack up before the 90 minute drive back to Borgata, it's time for some sleep.

Event 13, $1090 6 Max

As always, I was really excited to play this event. Unfortunately, after a fun and interesting first few levels, I went absurdly card dead with a somewhat shallow stack and really had no choice but to sit there and fold forever. I was desperately looking for spots but none of my hands were even close to allowing me spots to try to chip up. After peaking around 30K I ended up with 11.5K (20K SS) as late reg closed and we headed to 500/1000. I paid my blinds and they broke our table before I got to play my button, which is quite tilting when you have 10bbs. The 2nd hand I was dealt at the new table was easily the strongest hand I'd seen in the last few levels and I shoved 9400 UTG with KQs. A middle aged rec player excitedly said call in the CO and I did not improve against AQo. But before going wildly card dead in the levels that mattered, I did have some interesting hands that at least gave me some play in this tournament.

A7dd vs Mike Linster

I open HJ to 500 at 100/200 with A7dd, button calls, Linster calls BB.

Flop KQ6dd I c-bet 600 Mike calls.

Turn 3c I continue for 1500 and Mike calls again. Mike and I like to mess with each other at the table and talk a lot, and he says "I've got a lot of outs!" as the river is being dealt. I take this to mean he has weakish value and is hoping that one of the many "scare" cards that could hit the river will prevent me from bluffing.

River is 9s and Mike checks. I consider firing a 3rd time and try to decide if I think Mike will fold a queen. I honestly have no idea. I feel confident he won't fold a king though, and I think he would've folded a 6 on the turn, so I elect to just shut down. I think he'd lead river if he had JT but in any case I can't even beat that hand anymore so my check is 100% just giving up. Mike shows QT to reveal my thoughts on his turn chatting were correct. I tweeted the hand and a few guys who play live a bunch with Mike responded that the river bet was most likely not getting through. I think I like how I played this hand. I've got about 18K when it's over.

K9hh vs a Rec Player

I open HJ with K9hh to 500 and a middle aged rec player in the CO calls. I've seen him donk flops multiple times and do some funky aggressive stuff that didn't make much sense to me, but he is not a standard loose passive rec.

Flop 432ssh I c-bet 600 with the bdfd he calls.

Turn 5h I bet 1200 into 3K knowing I'll have a ton of Ax here and would probably continue this size with those hands. To my surprise he basically minraises to 2575. I really have no idea what he's doing. He needs to be flatting Ax since raising almost never gets value from worse (or he's laying a weaker hand that can continue the price to continue). It's pretty hard for him to have 6x but I guess that's what he's repping? 66, 86s, 76s, 65s, maybe some A6? Or just a total airball. I guess he could have a flush draw but I feel like if he was going to raise a spade flush draw, he's either doing it on the flop or he's flatting the turn, but wouldn't call flop just to raise small on turn. In nay case, I'm getting the right price to draw to my flush so I call.

River 6s. Board is now a 6 high straight and the front door flush draw has come in. It is really really hard for him to have a 7 or a flush. If he has a 6 or an ace his hand has been counterfeited and we will chop. With about 7500 in the pot I shove 13.2K. He is frustrated and it's clear he's playing the board so now I'm freerolling and I feel very confident this is going to work. He shows me the Ac and folds, getting me back over starting stack.

Winning a Flip!

CO opens to 450 (I think we were up to a 25 chip ante now) and I 3b KQdd to 1300 from the SB. I know he's lost a couple pots so I think he has about 10K in front of him, but to my surprise he announces all in and shoves for 5600. Never be afraid to ask someone how many chips they have, even if it feels like you're needling them because they're short! This was a serious mistake by me to not be paying attention to his exact stack and knowing that he had a 4b shove stack, but I think I might have 3b anyway. I just would have known how I was going to respond to the 4b more quickly than I did in this spot. Needing 4300 to win over 7K and knowing that people live tend to tilt a lot more than they should when they get way below starting stack, I call it off and am shown A9o. K on the flop and Q on the turn has him drawing dead and I'm up to 27K or so.

Ad4c vs Same Rec Player from Kh9h

I open Ad4c to 500 on the button and SB calls.

Flop comes QQ2ss and he donks 800. I could just fold now but that doesn't feel right since he has a very high donk %. This hand is really on the border of hands that should continue. Obviously my Qx and pocket pairs can continue, and all of my strong Ax should continue as well. But when I don't have a spade in my hand, maybe I should be continuing with hands like JT with a spade, KT/KJ with a spade, etc, rather than A4 without a spade. I'm not sure if I like my call on the flop or not; it feels close. From an exploitative standpoint though, villain has donked a bunch and it seems wildly unlikely he's going to have a queen here. I think I'm going to make better decisions than him on future streets so maybe that tips the scale here. I'd obviously way prefer to continue with the As, or even at least the 4s, but I end up calling with this combo.

Turn is an interesting As and he continues for 1300. As good of a card as this is, there's a pretty decent chance I had the best hand on the flop and do not have the best hand now. But it's a clear cut call and we go to the river with about 5500 in the middle.

River is the Ks and he bets a somewhat small 2300. This is probably a trivial fold but I took a while and had a nice little chat with him. He seemed comfortable but he also seemed like the kind of guy who could appear comfortable while he was bluffing. That being said, it's really hard to pick a hand he could be bluffing with here. It's also hard to find value though. I think it'd be weird to lead a queen so it seems highly unlikely he has a boat. And if we want to talk about him leading his good flush draws on the flop, well that's not possible anymore since both the ace and king of spades have rolled off. So he'd have to be leading J high flush draws or worse, which is believable to me. While talking to him he says "I have a wider range than most...I could have 98 offsuit!" I tell him "yeah but the problem for me is I can't beat some of that random garbage anymore!" and he laughs. I eventually make the fold and he doesn't show.

Rest of the Tourney

I peaked at 30K and eventually dropped to 21K at 600bb and remember thinking "alright, you're either gonna win some pots coming up and continue playing poker or you're going to lose a few as the level goes up and you're gonna have to hunker down into grind mode, looking for 3b shove spots, etc." And I remember thinking I'd be fine with however it went. It went the second way and I sat there and waited for the cards to come. And waited and waited and waited. I actually opened to 1800 with QTo and 13K to start the hand at one point. I remember thinking that I'd often only open off this stack live if I was pretty nutted and sure enough it got through. I tried it again later from the CO with J8s and was promptly 3b. I shoved 11.2K at 800bb in the CO with QJo and it got through. But that really was one of the best spots I found. It really sucks to go dead like that in one of my favorite tournaments but that's poker; you don't get to pick and choose when you run good and bad. I'm pretty proud of how relaxed I stayed and how patient I was despite the desire to find a way to force something to happen. You just can't force it in this game, especially at certain tables where people don't fold, and sometimes you're just going to be a victim of the cards. Shoutout to everyone who invested, we'll get em next time.

Next Couple Weeks

I drove back to Fair Lawn after busting the 6 max and it was nice to lay down and relax. I think I'll do that again today! Tomorrow I'll put in a Sunday session before heading back to Borgata on Monday for the $2700 main. I've booked a room for Harrah's Monday night and Borgata Tuesday night so either way I'll stay there until Wednesday. If I don't bag Monday I'll either go play cash or the small post lim tourneys Borgata has. Otherwise I'll try to make a run in the main to save the series. It's been pretty brutal so far. 3 bricks in the Monday $280, 4 bricks in the $400 almighty, 1 brick in the $560 elevator, and another brick in the $1090 6 max. Someone in this thread once said they thought I was sick for playing tournament poker for a living. The truly sick ones are those playing LIVE tournament poker for a living. Variance sucks online in MTTs but at least you can just keep playing them. You have to fly across the country sometimes for your next live tournament. That mental drain of losing for weeks and months in a row would be too much for me. I do enjoy playing live and going deep in a big live tourney is a feeling like no other, but it takes so long to get that payoff sometimes, if ever.

So Monday is 1B of the $2700 main, I'll stay in AC until Wednesday and if I'm not still in the main for day 3 I'll drive from there to Parx for day 1A of the $340 Big Stax. I love that series and am considering own diming all my bullets in the $340. I do want to build my BR from 25K up to 35K so I can do this sort of thing without feeling like I'm breaking my BR rules, but since I'm not playing live that often I don't think it's awful to do it once in a while, especially in a soft big field event. Binking a tourney like that with all of my own action would be surreal. So Parx $340 runs Wednesday-Saturday for the day 1s, Sunday day 2, Monday day 3. Whenever I am done with that tourney I think I will settle back down in Fair Lawn and grind online for a while. NJSCOOP is running May 6-22 so that should be fun. I have a few fun things planned for June so I want to make sure I put in really good volume in May to give myself the best chance at having enough money to feel relaxed throughout those mini vacations. And then July I will hopefully fly out to Vegas and play a couple small events before playing the main.

Running

Whenever I get my lazy ass out of bed, today will be my 20th straight day of running during Streak #2: The Reckoning. I was really proud of myself for finding time to run every day while in Atlantic City. There were a few days where I had to sacrifice some sleep to get up early after going to bed late so that I could run and shower before my tourney started. It's worth it though. I just feel better after I run, like I accomplished something before setting out to accomplish the stuff associated with my job. It's like the day isn't a waste when I grind from noon to midnight only to bust at the end of the day. At least I got my run in. One of the things I have planned for June in the annual trip to Atlantic City to run a 5K for my friend's insurance company. On June 12 they'll put us up in a hotel, buy us dinner, free drinks, the works. It's always awesome. Then really early June 13 we run a 5K representing their company and win the event for them against all the other insurance companies. It's sort of hilarious really. A bunch of middle aged white guys get in their track suits and do their best and then my young friend brings all his young friend and we all finish top 5 and win. The first year I did this (2012, I'd been 21 for 4 days or something) I was in good shape and ran side by side with another one of my college teammates the whole race. He outkicked me and we both broke 18:00. Every year since then I've been slower, other than last year where I was slightly faster than 2015 but still pretty slow. I've never been anywhere near the sort of shape I'm in now, so I'm pretty pumped to go actually race it again.

Jim Hegedus 5K

I've also got the Jim Hegedus 5K circled on my calendar. It's a bit unlucky that it's on June 17, only 4 days after the other 5K, but I'm sure I'll be able to suck it up. The Hegedus 5K has always had a special place in my heart. The race is a tribute to Jim Hegedus, a top notch runner who ran 2:54 in the New Jersey Marathon in 2006, qualifying him for the 2007 Boston Marathon. In May of 2006 Jim died in a car accident at the age of 22.

The first time I ran this race was in 2012. I'd often just search the internet for 5Ks near me and that's how I found this race. I convinced my brother to come with me and we finished 1st and 2nd. You can see Jon coming through at the 30 second mark and me at the 37 second mark of this video:



Jon finished in 17:00 and I came through in 17:38. 3rd place was 18:28. They did a little tribute to Jim before the race started and his mom just seemed like the nicest and strongest person ever. After the race I got to talk to her a little bit as she gave my brother and me our medals and she was really sweet. A few months later I'm working in a pizza place and she randomly walks in. I think I was wearing a running shirt and she mentioned the Hegedus 5K. I told her my brother and I came 1-2 in it the year before and she gave me a big hug lol. Around Christmas time she sent me a card with some pictures of us in it from the race.

In 2013 my friend and former teammate Andrew was warming up for a cycling race and was hit by a car and killed. He was 24 years old. I can't remember if I ran in 2013 or 2014 but I do remember being there in 2015 and being really glad to see Jim's mom. I told her about my friend and about how I was not in good shape but always thought of Andrew when I thought about trying to get back into it. The similarities between Jim and Andrew were pretty clear. I finished in 11th place at 20:15 in 2015 (heh), over 2 and a half minutes slower than the first time I ran it. I was away in Chicago last year for the race.

So now it's 2017 and I'm in shape. It would be so sweet to get back there and break that 17:38 time. Jim and Andrew were both better and more committed athletes than I ever was, but it would feel like an amazing tribute if I could really get in shape and have a shot at winning (or at least finishing 2nd to my brother ). So with all that being said, it's time to get out there and run!

Day Off

Decided to stay in tonight and just relax. Went to the liquor store and grabbed some Shock Tops with every intention of kicking back and doing nothing. But then I got bored so I hopped in the 10Ks on each site! On every break I went downstairs and grabbed another beer. Currently drinking beer #7 cuz we won the Stars 10K! Well it was an 8K since it's Saturday but still a pretty decent bink:



Also took 7th in the Party 10K so made $1900 on the day and am now up on the week despite the AC disaster (also made $1300 online on Wednesday in my hotel room after taking 2nd in the Stars 10K...why do I even leave my house!). My mind is in the best place it's ever been when it comes to poker, and I'm not just saying that because I won tonight. Like I said in an earlier post, I was laughing and singing on my car ride home on Thursday after bricking everything I played the last 4 days. I'm just so much more confident than I ever have been and I think that confidence is warranted due to the way I'm thinking about the game. Seems like a good time to find some heat for tomorrow's session and Monday's Borgata Main!!!

Send The Heeeeeeeeeat





Scratch that, 9th in the 50K, AJ<AQ vs active CL's HJ open

SHIPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Sunday Session

9th in the Stars 50K for $973, 2nd in the Party 10K for $1979, also took 2nd in the Stars $75 Supersonic for $1175. Was in for $1600ish on the day so we did quite well. I ran very very good throughout my session and had a pretty reasonable chance to cash the other two majors as well. Some nice momentum going into tomorrow and we've logged our 3rd consecutive five figure NJ online month. $10944 February, $10005 March (phew!), $12760 April. Interesting note that I assume is mostly random chance, I've made at least $1400 on the last day of each month and am up $7000 total those 3 days (Feb 28, March 31, April 30).

So yeah +$33.7K the last 3 months online, -$5.1K live in that stretch too though. Why do I ever leave my house! Those totals also do not include the $2700 seat I won to the Borgata Main that I will be cashing in tomorrow. I sold 35% at markup for a total of $1050 so if I don't cash I'll at least make that off of the seat. But with the winner probably going to receive around $300K, I think we should probably have our eyes on the prize! I've been playing really well, I've been taking really aggressive lines when I think they make sense and I like the lines so much that when they don't work I don't get frustrated; I just acknowledge that I've ran into the top of villain's range and I knew it was a possibility when I made the play. I really don't think I'm going to have any sort of "fear" playing tomorrow; if I like a spot I'll be taking it despite the big buy in. Really excited about this week. Borgata Main tomorrow, hopefully day 2 Tuesday, have hotel room at Borgata for Tuesday night regardless, hopefully day 3 Wednesday if not it's off to Parx for 1A of the $340 Big Stax. And if I don't make day 2 of that I'll have the weekend to look forward to for the beginning of NJSCOOP!

Running

Got Streak Part II up to 21 days today. Was torn between going long and potentially being tired for the Sunday session since I was feeling good on my run so I decided to compromise. I wouldn't go long but I'd run my last mile hard and see how fast I could do it. I don't think I went as fast as I could, saving a little energy early in the mile since I wasn't sure how I'd react to going fast since I haven't done it in a long time. I also was on biking/running/walking paths so I had to make sure to dodge people on the path while running pretty hard. After a 7:02 first mile and 6:51 second mile I started moving. It felt good and I was breathing hard at 2.25 miles but I knew I was going to be fine to finish. I started to pick up a little more at 2.75 and even gave it a little kick when I hit 2.9. I looked down at my watch as I finished the 3rd mile to see it read 5:44! Felt good to go that far below 6:00 without even being fresh (after running those first 2 miles). I'm pretty curious how fast I'd go if I put some racing shoes on and got on the track for 4 laps. I think there's a non-zero chance I could still break 5:00, which would be pretty sick given I haven't done any sort of speed work in forever. I definitely want to start racing again but with the busy poker week coming up it might have to wait a little longer. In any case, I want to get up tomorrow at 9AM to drive to Borgata and be in the tournament before level 2 starts around noon. I think I'll just run on the treadmill at Harrah's after day 1 ends around 8PM. Time for sleep now!

Borgata $2700 Main Day 1B

Hopped into the main event a little before noon after leaving my house around 9:30. Long story short I bagged 17,400 from a 30K starting stack. If you told me I'd bag that much before the day started, I might be a little disappointed but at least happy that I bagged. If you told me I'd bag that much during the last break of the day I'd be very happy! I went on break with 2 levels to play in the day with 8775 coming back to 250/500/50. I got a 3b shove through, then a 3b squeeze shove through, and finally a 4b shove through to get back over 20K. Folded a ton of hands to end the day and bagged 17.4K.

The general feeling I had throughout the day was much different than how I felt about the last 2 Borgata mains I played. I remember being terrified to make a mistake in the first one I played. I desperately did not want to punt off my stack and played very very tight. Fortunately for me that day I picked up a bunch of hands and bagged over 2 starting stacks. I didn't pick up many hands yesterday and had a pretty tough starting table. I also lost AK<QQ for 9500 each pretty early in the day and then lost a BIZARRE hand where I opened AA from EP and lost the minimum to K9 on a 998 flop, 4 ways, in a pot where the dealer made an error on the river that led to a pretty confusing situation.

I open AA at 300BB to 800 from UTG, 3 players call, flop is 998 and I decide to check. Might be too fancy but I decided I often shut down on these boards multi way and it might be cool to mix in checks with strong hands (as I've written somewhat recently I've been doing this in these big multiway pots live with AA, often planning to either c/r or allow randoms to spaz off). It checks through and turn is Qh bringing a bdfd and I check again, wanting to get to showdown. I also think people can't stop themselves from betting when it's checked to them twice so I'll get value from draws and Qx by checking and lose the min to 9x and JT. Player bets 2100, BB calls, I overcall, river is Th making any Jx a straight and the bdfd gets there. BB checks and while I'm thinking about what to do the dealer looks at the 3rd player, says "check check" and the 3rd player tables KQ. It happened in less than 2 seconds and I had no chance to say I didn't act. I have no idea where she got the idea that I checked given I was literally staring straight down at my hand thinking about what to do and didn't move a muscle. Floor comes over, tells 3rd player his hand is live and but action is on me. Somehow I have like exactly the hand that wants to check; it beats KQ but often loses to BB so I tell him I was going to check anyway (I think I was) and BB turns over K9 and I muck.

For most of the day my table was as follows:

--1 seat, John Racener, 2010 WSOP ME runner up
--3 seat, Abe Faroni, solid local cash game pro
--4 seat, Paul Volpe, all around crusher
--5 seat, Ryan McKnight, very solid local MTT pro
--6 seat, Jeremy Meacham, brother of villain with K9o on T32 vs my AA in earlier post, has been crushing all low stakes MTTs he's been playing and part of No Mercy Crew (they've changed the name since my last post lol)
--7 seat, me
--9 seat, Wade Meacham, villain from earlier post, brother of seat 6, has also been winning all the low stakes live MTTs he plays, including the tournament that we played the AA vs K9 hand against each other!

Volpe busted halfway through the day but everyone else was there until the end. I played quite tight throughout the day but I think it's fine in this sort of a structure. There were a lot of 3b's throughout the day and if you find one hand against one of those 3b's it'll pay for multiple orbits of blinds and antes. When I shoved 14K over Racener's 1300 open and Abe's 2900 3b and it got through, I chipped up by about 5K in chips without taking a flop. That's 3 orbits worth of chips. So while I don't want to just be a complete nit and never get out of line ever on day 1's of these big main events, I don't think it's a bad strategy. In the future if I ever end up at one of these tables where pretty much everyone is a decent thinking player, I think my general strategy is going to be playing very very nitty for the first 4 or 5 levels, allow them to see me in that light, and then start to open it up and 3b a bunch and all that good stuff once we're playing 400bb and up. Since I'm confident in my postflop abilities I think this will work well; it will most likely be assumed that I just have it when I put 3b's in and when they peel I'll know how my perceived range works against their actual ranges and all that good stuff. But yesterday after losing AK<QQ and then that AA pot I was down to 12K and didn't have much wiggle room so was forced to play pretty ABC down the stretch.

So today I'll come in with 17.4K at 400/800/100. I'm starting at table 39 of 39 so it will most likely break somewhat early. We've got the end boss Tony Gregg at our 7 handed table but other than that there aren't any real big time names. I recognize a couple local guys as well. And registration is open until the end of 500/1000 so there will be some day 2 buy ins filling the empty seats, receiving almost twice as many chips as I have . I'm really confident in my 3b shove ranges and when to peel BB when shallow and all of that so I'm not too worried going into the day. Gregg is in the 7 seat and I'm in the 3 so we're far enough away from each other that there won't be any real spots where I'm 3b shoving over his steal or anything like that, but given he has 96K I'd imagine he'll be pretty active.

I went on a run in Brigantine this morning and it felt really good. It's easy to get stressed out about poker and to feel like you need to win for things to be alright, but when I took a step back and realized I was coming HERE to go to WORK, it made me really put things in perspective. I took a nice picture of the ocean in Brigantine after my run but it's not uploading on this wifi lol, I'll post it later. But either way, win or lose today, I'm really lucky to be able to do what I do.

Lots to Talk About

Borgata Main Day 2

Gonna try to keep it short since I tend to ramble on in these posts but quite a bit has happened since the last post just yesterday morning. First of all, I think I showed a lot of heart in the main but was unable to really get anything going. I lasted an entire 4 levels (4.5 hours) on day 2 before busting. I came back with 17.4K at 800bb and was able to tread water for the first hour or so. My table broke quickly and then the table I moved to broke soon after and I was was reunited with Tony Gregg, this time on his direct left which was nice. Ari Engel was two to his right and with my 20bb stack I was in a really nice spot to have a lot of easy 3b jam spots. I got one through early and then won a pot against Ari to get to 31K! I got over starting stack for the first time all tourney 2 hours into day 2!

Unfortunately that thrill was short lived when She Lok Wong opened to 2500 at 1200bb w 12.5K to start the hand from EP which I found quite strange. Button flats and I peel T6dd from the BB w 30K to start. Flop comes QT4sss and it checks through. Turn comes 6s it checks through. River is 2x and it checks to the button who bets 5100 into about 10K. I think I'd seen him make a pretty obvious bluff earlier so after taking my time I elected to call. She Lok then throws his 2 blue chips (which are the only chips he has back) into the pot. Dealer says "all in." As I'm saying "isn't that just a call?" the button snap mucks his hand. As we're trying to sort out if his hand is live he basically just shrugs it off and says he was mucking anyway. So I was correct in my read that he didn't have a spade but with She Lok overcalling I wonder if me knowing my hand beats the button's is enough? She Lok shouldn't really ever have a big spade and once it goes bet call shouldn't he fold his medium spades as well? Anyway they look at me and say okay show your hand or muck and I begrudgingly table it and quickly pick it up to muck since I clearly lose lol. She Lok shows 9s9c and wins the pot. SO bizarre. Shove pre, potentially b/c flop, potentially b/c turn, potentially bet river, but once it goes bet/call I wonder if overcalling can really be good. Maybe I gave something away with how I thought about whether or not to call. Idk, he snapped it in pretty quickly I think he was just oi folding a flush. Strange hand but I was right back down to 20K at 1200bb.

Our table broke soon after again and I once again grinded the short stack as hard as I could. With 3 minutes left at 800/1600 I shoved 16.8K on the button with QJo, SB had AKs, and I did not win and that was my tournament.

Parx $340 Big Stax Day 1A

I already had a room at Borgata so I just hung out last night then woke up this morning and once again ran in Brigantine. I drove home (my parents' house in Hamilton) to get a shower and then drove right to Parx. 30K SS for the $340 Big Stax event, day 1A. After building to 40K I made a bad river call to drop back down to 15K on break. The first hand back from break I doubled AQ>KJ and was glad to not have to re-enter. I played a ton of hands today and realized how much I could get away with after getting so used to getting away with NOTHING in the Borgata Main where I had so many players at the table fighting so hard for every pot (as they should). I got away with murder today and won a lot of the hands I played.

I moved tables with about 60K and got to 4b shove A4s CO vs SB against a kid who I think plays well and overly aggressive at these tables with a bunch of rec players. We started to clash a bit and when I opened CO and he 3b his SB pretty large, I decided that A4s was a good 4b bluff candidate and went with it. He tanked for a while and then folded. I continued to chip up and was really happy with how I was still opening pretty wide despite the fact that he was there to potentially 3b me each hand. In the past I've definitely shied away from staying active when anyone shows any resistance. It's something I need to work on and I did a good job with it today. I'm playing a ton of hands and some of the table is starting to take notice. I open my button and it gets through and the guy on my left, who seemed like a good guy and was joking a bunch, looks at me and says "I'm not ready to get the 2x4 out on you yet!" So people were aware that I was being pretty active. I find KK UTG1 and open to 5100. A guy with all the chips who was clearly a rec player having a good time, who I'd seen SNAP shove with JJ over 2 all ins in front of him with 3 players to act behind him (it was probably fine but he took NO time to think about it at all), 3b's pretty quickly to 17K from MP. Obviously we just have to go with KK but I think I would have gone as far down as JJ. I take my time before 4 betting to 42K, he snap shoves I snap call he turns over AQo and an ace in the window ends my day. Really sucks to lose a 200K+ pot at 2400bb in a soft tourney at a soft table but all in all I handled it very well. Pushed my stack into the middle, told everyone good luck, walked away and didn't feel any of that tilt I used to feel after busting a live tournament. Of course I was frustrated, but there's always tomorrow.

Borgata Main Event Day 3

Now, for the real reason why it sucks not to have bagged today. Quote from post #592 in this thread from Sept 19, 2016: "After someone busts from the other table, I hang out to watch the last hand before break in which Jay Rivkin raise/calls the SB with 55 and holds vs the BB's AT for another knockout. The BB's name was Ricky, really nice kid wearing a Run It Up hoodie. I think he said he just started playing live and I thought he held his own quite nicely, so shout out to Ricky if he stumbles upon this."

I kept in touch with Ricky and I actually roomed with him at Foxwoods on my last trip there (not sure if I included that anywhere in this thread). He thinks deeply about the game and understands a ton of concepts that many poker players, including professionals, do not.

Well, Ricky has ran it up. Of the 9 players at the final table there are only 2 that I know nothing about and only 3 who I haven't had direct contact with before. I've known Joe McKeehen for years and obviously he won the Main in 2015. Wade Meacham, who I've mentioned several times in my last few posts, has also FTed this tournament. Kane Kalas, who commentated on my 6 max live stream FT and is a crusher himself, is there. John Racener, 2010 WSOP ME runner up who I played the entirety of day 1 with (and Wade) is there. Sam Taylor, who I actually knocked out in 13th in that Harrah's circuit event where I had all the chips then busted 11th (Ricky was at the table with us then too), is there. Sam grinds the live MTT game very hard and has about $800K in live earnings. Simon Lam, who I haven't interacted with personally, made the Borgata WPT FT that is currently streaming on TV.

And out of everyone in this loaded field and pretty damn tough final table, none other than Ricky Guan will go the final table of 9 with the chip lead!!! Seriously awesome stuff and I am really irritated that I won't be able to go rail the FT since I'll be withering away again at Parx after not bagging tonight. But I'll certainly bring my tablet with me, watch the FT, and try to relay Ricky any relevant info via text/call. I'd gladly whiff on a bunch of bullets tomorrow if I could transfer my run good to Ricky! Really nice guy with a great work ethic who has a real respect for the game. Definitely deserving.

Parx Big Stax $340 Day 1B

So after the KK<AQ for 200K fiasco last night I headed back to Parx for some more punishment yesterday for day 1B. I'll list some of the noteworthy hands here and then probably go back to sleep

Hero River?

I open JTdd from EP, I'm gonna guess 1500 at 300/600 but I'm not sure. I have about 23K to start. Button calls and BB calls. Flop comes J96hh. BB donks (again, not sure of the sizing but let's say 2700). I call. Turn is an offsuit 8 and he continues, let's say 6K. I call again and the river is an offsuit K, completing the J96hh8xKx board. He bets 17K and I have 13K back so he has effectively shoved. My instinct is to fold but I sit there and try to figure this out.

What is he going to donk flop with? I think it's kinda cool to donk sets in multiway pots but I don't think many randoms do that so I'm discounting those hands. That leaves just 2 pair and top pair for value. I have a jack so I block the J9 and J6, and J6 might only peel if it's suited and might not peel at all. I also imaigne he folds 96o some of the time pre. So there's maybe only like 10 or so combos of 2 pair that I think he'd lead flop, and again, he might just be checking those. The jack also blocks his Jx with a better kicker, so it's less likely he has AJ, KJ, or QJ, but still possible.

So what else is he donking flop with? Flush draws, straight draws (I block QT and T8 so 87 seems most likely), and some other random stuff? He continues on the 8x turn, meaning sometimes he makes the nuts with QT, sometimes he's made a pair with T8 or 87, sometimes he still just has a flush draw. River is a king and he shoves. Well now his value hands shrink even more. I really doubt he's shoving QJ or AJ as a bluff. He could have KJ (6 combos). He can still have missed flushes and missed straights (though the missed straights all have a pair now; not sure if people bluff with pairs but it does seem like live people fire away with one pair without realizing what they're doing it for). It would be reeeeeaaaaally frustrating if he had Kx with a heart but it's definitely possible.

In the end I decide he doesn't have enough value and I make the call. He turns over T9o which I did not consider at all because it doesn't make any sense and my JT is good for the double to about 50K.

Bluff a Missed Flush Draw?

I move tables and lose a few pots to drop to a little over 30K. At one point I open A3o on the button, BB defends, he c/c's KT6, chk chk 8 turn, and he chks the A river so I go for value. He calls quickly and asks if I have a straight then shows K8. Whoops.

MP opens to 1600 and I have QJcc in the CO. I recognize opener as a local tourney reg and know he's gone deep in a few Big Stax events but don't know anything else about him. BB calls and the opener c-bets small on 944cc. I call and BB folds. Turn is an offsuit 9 and he checks. I bet pretty small, 4200 into 11K. In hindsight I think I either like a check or bigger sizing. This sizing, when called, leaves me 25K with 21K in the middle for the river. If I go 6K I at least set up a pot sized bet on the river. My plan going to this turn was going to be to bet if checked to and potentially bomb river. However, don't forget to be flexible after you make a plan! I really don't get to rep much at all now on this turn! I'd have to be pretty sick to bet a hand like 55-88 here with the intention of shoving river hoping to get heroed by ace high. Against a reg I might do it though since if my only value is 9x and I'm bluffing all my missed flushes then I'm for sure over bluffing. But in any case I bet 4200 and he calls.

River is the 7x completing the 944cc9x7x board and he checks to me. I have 25K back with 21K in the middle. I do not think a small bet is going to get him off ace high, so I want to be all in or checking. At this point the re-entry frenzy of this tournament took over. The fact that I was own diming the tournament also took over; I would feel pretty bad about a punt if others had invested in me but when I only have myself to answer to I don't really mind going nuts if I think the spot is okay. Maybe this needs to change in the future though. Anyway, in my heart of hearts I realized I needed to check this back and save my 25K, but some other part of me got very stubborn and decided I needed to win this pot. I knew I was repping very very thin but I decided I was just gonna make this guy fold ace high one way or another. I shoved, and he tanked for a while before calling with AT. Against a random I might be more okay with my shove, but against someone I'm already assuming is a thinking player, I just don't rep enough and he's not gonna be afraid to put on the cape. To the re-entry line I went.

Jammin with Jacks

In a strange coincidence I draw the same seat card that I started the day with. I sit down with no chips and the table sorta wonders out loud where my stack went lol. I lose a few pots and find myself with 22K when I look down at JJ from UTG at 500/1000. I open to 2300, kid on my left flats, guy on his left flats, and BB shoves 21K. I reshove, kid on my left sticks his 11K or so in there, and next guy starts thinking out loud. "I guess I have to call any two here huh?" What? After a while he calls and there's like 80K in the middle. I turn my hand over and wait about a full minute while the dealer makes side pots for everyone else to turn their hands over. Kid on my left shows 33, guy who evercalled and covers everyone shows KTo, and original shoves shows TT. Wow! 3 kings, 1 ten, and 2 3s to fade. And I get a pretty decent couple of side pots if only a 3 spikes. Pretty sweet hands to see in this spot. Board bricks out and I have 80K.

Playing Bad Running Good

I find a way to chip all the way back down to 30K after that hand. I really cannot remember many of the hands after I dropped to 60K. I think it was just a slow bleed where opens didn't get through, c-bets didn't get through, I didn't make any hands, etc. CO opens to 8K at 2400bb and I shove about 28K on the button with AK. SB takes his time then reshoves and CO calls off. SB shows JJ and CO shows AQ, some pretty damn reasonable hands for CO vs button vs SB. Board runs A6378 for no real sweat and I'm back up to about 90K, a similar stack that I had the night before at this 2400bb level.

Table Change, Crazy Dynamic

Very eerily I am moved back to the table I busted bullet 2 in, one seat to the left of the seat I busted in. So bullet 2 I sat down at 54-3, got moved to 46-8 and busted. Bullet 3 I sat down at 54-3 and was then moved to 46-9. The guy I punted to is still there and a reg friend of mine named Tony sits down in the 8 seat. The guy I punted to is in the 5 seat and starts needling Tony and by the end of the night we're all joking around a bunch. The 2 seat plays a lot of MTTs and is not afraid to put his chips in the middle, and the 4 seat is an older guy with a thick accent who is clearly there to gamble.

After playing all day getting away with a lot of opening and 3 betting and whatnot, I can tell this table is not going to let me get away with much so I hunker down and wait for someone to punt. It took until the last level of the day but older crazy guy in 4 seat, who now has over 500K after some madness, limps, I 14K the CO with KK and he flats. I have about 75K to start the hand. Flop comes 644r he checks, I bet 14K, he shoves, I call and hold against A9 to get to 160K or so. Not much else happens until floor says we'll play 4 more hands in the day and then bag.

Three Hands Left in the Day

5 seat, reg named Matt who I punted bullet 2 to, opens to 11K in the HJ. Folds to the SB who INSTANTLY says all in. He'd been playing a few hands but had never gotten more aggressive than just an open preflop. I find AK in the BB, look over and see SB has 86K, and shove it in. Opener folds and SB turns his hand over. First card I see is a T so I assume we're flipping, but then I see a K behind it. Board runs 2575T and for the second night in a row I lose a 200K pot with the best of it all in pre to a bit of a punt.

The next hand I shove A4o bvb for about 12bbs and it gets through, and I fold the last hand and bag 58K. Very very frustrating to play 2 full days and lose multiple pots like that but again, there's no way to control any of that so what's the point in thinking about it. I'll be back on Sunday with 58K at 2500/5000 and praying I spin it up so I don't have to go to Parx the morning after NJSCOOP starts just to check in and bust. Had I bagged 250K I feel confident I would have really gotten after it in a way I've never done before (except maybe a little bit the last time I cashed the $340). I just feel so much less anxious about making mistakes and being aggressive and I can so much more easily see how to exploit the leaks of these live guys, other than just sitting there and waiting for the nuts, that 50BBs when guys are clinging to life to mincash would have just felt like a field day. But, instead we will grind the short stack again. I'm good at that too. Day 2 Sunday.

Hey Dan, really nice thread you have here. It's clear you put a lot of effort into your posts and it's cool that you have kept it up for so long. I'm from NJ myself and attempting to go somewhere with Poker - it's nice to see others from the area having success.

Thanks a lot JoyO! I sometimes worry that the thread is stale and no one is reading anymore. Comments like these are really encouraging! To be honest I think I'd keep writing even if I knew no one was reading, just because I enjoy writing, but knowing that other people are at least getting something out of it makes it that much more enjoyable. Good luck to you on your own journey!

Quick Weekend Recap

Pretty tired right now and really want to get some sleep so maybe I'll actually keep this short for a change. I spun the 58K up to 300K (including 3b shoving AQ for 60K at 5K and getting cold called by AK on my left and flopping a queen) by the first break of the day:



We made the money, then I unsuccessfully bluffed twice before shoving 93K over a limp at 10K with A5o on the button. The limper was someone who I think plays a good amount of live cash and had been criticizing an older guy's play. He literally says out loud, "this guy is tilting me, I can't believe it!" I'm waiting for him to muck and he goes on, "yep he's tilting me, I've got nothing. I call." I show the A5o and it's slightly ahead of villain's K9s until he flops a king and I'm out. Shout out to that guy limp/calling K9 from EP while critiquing other people's play at the table. Busted 116th for $916. Was in for 3 bullets so lost $104 all together in the Parx $340 adventure. Felt like I was really trying to accumulate chips the entire time and I don't even think the bluff spots I took were bad. One might have been a little over ambitious but as I've said in past posts, I'd WAY rather make "aggressive" mistakes than "passive" mistakes. Bluffing always gives you a chance to win. Calling with the worst of it does not.

I came home and played the first full day of NJSCOOP online. I did not do well in those events. I fired a 3rd bullet into the $300 $85K pretty much mainly because I'm captain of a NJSCOOP pocketfives contest team and I really wanted to put points on the board for the team. I got in for my 3rd time with 10K in chips at 350/700. I managed to lose an 80K flip at 500/1000 right before late reg closed and did not have the heart to fire a 4th. I mincashed the other 2 low events I played, which will be worth very few points but points nonetheless.

I was in for over $2K on the day and had heaps in the $50 $10K Sunday Warmup (not a SCOOP event) for most of the tournament. I ended up taking 2nd for $1500+ in that, and then took 17th in the Party $40K for $600 or so. I don't feel I played my best today. I'm getting more and more used to pushing every edge and embracing the gamble and not being a nit. I think I've really trained myself out of that "survive" mentality and into that "destroy and conquer" state of mind. I punish people who currently play the way I used to. And since I used to think that way, I know exactly how they feel as we get deep into tournaments, and it makes it that much easier to exploit. But something about the way the Party $40K ended made me feel like I was just not doing it right down the stretch of that one. I had a lot of chips and all of a sudden I was 14/17 with 20bbs and I hadn't lost any big pots. I felt like maybe I'd gotten too complacent and missed spots that I hadn't realized were there. To be fair, I am home with my parents so I did not have any HUD running today and didn't even have any notes on anyone so every spot I was taking was me just trying to identify what was best by memory and by feel. I ended up shoving 19bbs in the HJ with 22 to bust the 40K (button woke up with TT). Shove shows profit but maybe a r/f is better, or even an open fold with that awkward stack. Maybe that's just being RO, and maybe it's just my past nitty self trying to dig it's way back into my brain. It also might be me realizing I'm trying to build my bankroll from 25K to 30K this month since I've got enough in the bank to try to do that now, and a win in that MTT would have got me there and then some, so I'm feeling sad I didn't close.

In any case, I'm happy with how I handle not succeeding the way I want to sometimes on the day to day basis, and after the initial couple minutes of frustration of busting the tourney to lose $100 on the day instead of winning the tourney for a +$8500 day, I moved on and watched Netflix and didn't think about it again until writing this post.

Tomorrow I'll drive from my hometown house to Borgata. A few weeks ago I booked 2 nights there because the rates were low and I wanted to start grinding live cash in order to potentially get free rooms at Borgata. I'm a bit tired from all the traveling I've done lately, I haven't been home since last Sunday, and I was only home for the weekend then and was gone the whole week before that as well. So I'll go to Borgata tomorrow, try to put a morning-afternoon 2/5 session in before going to my room at night to play the NJSCOOP, do it all again on Tuesday, and then head home Wednesday to relax a little bit.

Monday

Packed up all my stuff and headed out around noon. Took some side roads instead of the usual 295 to AC Expressway and it was a nice change of pace from feeling like you're gonna die on Rt 42, the road that connects the previously mentioned roads. Got to Borgata around 1:30-2:00 and decided I'd see if they'd let me check in early and go on my run if they did. I lucked out, got my room key, and headed right back out to my car to drive to Brigantine. I ran with my phone to listen to some music while running and I felt really relaxed. I got near the 3 mile mark and decided I'd just keep going. Ended up turning it into a 5 miler with some pretty quick negative splits throughout.



Cash Session

Got on the 2/5 list around 4:15 after getting back to my room and showering. I had to wait for about a half hour before eventually being called. I decided I'd buy in for the $500 max and reload any time I dropped below $250; today I think I'll up that number to $300. Overall I was surprised by just how comfortable and confident I felt. Understanding the theory of the game has done wonders for my comfort level.

Sam Grafton was actually on the most recent 2p2 podcast and he perfectly summed up how I've felt in the last few months. He talked about knowing what your range is on each street, and understanding why you're playing each chunk of your range the way you are, and knowing that if you're bluffing all in, for example, with a specific hand that is at the bottom of your range and your opponent is tanking, there's just no feeling of anxiety. You know that this hand has to be a bluff, and it's a good spot, and if he finds the top of his range then that's fine because that has to happen sometimes. And if he finds a call with a hand that he's supposed to fold, that's fine too, because you know that you have a value chunk of your range there that you'll often show up with that will make his call bad in the long run. It was pretty cool to listen to since it's exactly why I've found myself feeling more comfortable lately. It's why I trust myself and feel confidence. I have a game plan, as opposed to just bluffing because I think my opponent is weak and then being mad at myself when he shows up with a hand.

I ended up being one of the more aggressive players at the table. I looked for reasons to enter pots instead of looking for reasons to fold, like I used to do when I played cash. I was only able to play for a little over 2 hours since I had to be on time to play the online NJSCOOP events since there were shootouts at 8:00 that did not have late reg. I got back to my room to start up the tourneys that started at 6:00, eat dinner, and watch some Jeopardy. I'll sum up a few of the more interesting hands here.

Do You Chop?

It folds to me in the SB and before looking at my hand I ask the BB if he chops. A lot of people take it personally if a player doesn't want to chop but I really dgaf. Blind vs blind dynamic can be fun to play out and I don't really understand that animosity people have for non-choppers. I did not expect this particular player to decline a chop though. Middle aged white guy that seemed like he was here on vacation. The exact type you'd expect to chop. He'd played some very strange hands so far. In one hand I bet turn with Ad2h on 9654ddd he calls, I bet pretty big on Qx river to fold out middling pairs or any weird AxKd AxJd etc, he calls with QThh and wins. I was apparently value betting turn. He also made a pretty big bet with AT on an ace high paired wet board on river and when he was called he shrugged while turning his hand over and lost to AJ.

Anyway he says he doesn't want to chop and I assume he has a BBJ hand so I complete with A2o and he checks. Flop is 762r and I c/c a bet of 15 into 10. Turn is an offsuit Q and I c/c a bet of 30. I definitely can be folding this turn but based on what I'd seen from him I think I have the best hand often enough to continue. River is an offsuit A completing the 762QA board and I check again. Pretty good board for him to keep bluffing on, I think if he has 2 pair he's going to continue betting as well, and I'm not sure if I donk that I'm going to be paid by a 7 or a 6 anyway. He bets 65 into 100. He didn't raise pre so I'm cutting out hands like AQ/AA/QQ, and even discounting 77 and 66. That leaves 1 combo of 22, 6 combos of A7, 6 combos of A6. I think A7/A6 might slow down on the turn. So there are very very few combos of hands I lose to and I have just about the best hand I can possibly have after checking 3 streets. I shove for $275 and he doesn't take long to call with 76. I double to about $650 in a hand I tried to chop pre

AK vs a 2/5 Reg

If nothing else this hand has convinced me that I really really need to be playing more live cash. The first 3 players to act limp and I raise to 40 on the button with AKo. The 2nd limper calls and we're heads up to the flop with $97 in the middle. Villain looks like a younger guy, has bought in for the max with 100 in red and 4 black chips, and has just limp/called an 8x raise. Flop comes KdTs4d and he checks. I continue for $60 and he c/r's pretty quickly to $175 with a black and 3 green. I do not have the Ad. Hands that beat me: Incredibly unlikely he has KK, I think he's raising with TT pre. So 44 and KT. I'd be surprised to see KTo so we've got either 1 or 2 combos of KTs (depending on the suit of my K and the board's T, I don't remember if they were the same) and 3 combos of 44. And idk if he's calling the 8x with 44 pre. So it seems very very unlikely I'm beat right now so the decision is whether to flat or rip it in. I think his most likely hands are combo draws, either pair + flush draw or straight draw/flush draw. I suppose I could flat and fold if the turn is really wet, but I don't think he's going to be folding these draws once he c/r's this size anyway. So getting $400 in on the flop as a 2:1 favorite seemed good so I shoved and he SNAPPED it off. I could be persuaded that flatting is better if I got a good enough argument. Turn is the Qd and I assume I am dead, river is a brick. He looks at me to show first, I tell him "king" while getting ready to muck my hand, and he turns over 76dd!!!! I guess he decided he gets me to fold enough hands to make the c/r on the flop profitable, but is committed once he makes it that size? Wow. The games seem good at Borgata . His all in was for $396 and the $900 pot goes his way.

I flopped a couple of spade flush draws later and made a pair on a later street to win decent pots. First with KsQd where I doubled 863sssJx and then checked the Qx river OOP. I guess I could have bet but decided to check and evaluate. He turned over T8cc and was pretty mad when I showed my hand lol. I then opened 86ss and got called by both, bet the 732ss flop and was called only by the no chop guy and then checked it down on 6x Jx runout and beat ATo. I'll be exploitable if I always check down after making a pair when betting a flush draw but I thought both of these spots were better as checks. I then lost a pretty big one where I called a $125 river bet with KQ on K65ss5s2x vs the no chop guy. I forget my reasoning and how the hand played out but I felt it unlikely that he had a flush or a 5. He shrugged when I called and turned over K6!!

NJSCOOP Day 3

Around 7:00 I cashed out and got food and got ready to put in a little online session. I hopped in the $200 and $25 Win the Button tourneys that had started at 6:00 while I waited for the 8:00 6 max shootouts to start. When the shootouts did start I got lucky in the $100 version to be heads up when most tables started 3 handed. I was 5 handed in the $20 version and managed to win my first round matches in both. Unfortunately the run good stopped there and I did not advance to the final 6 in either.

The Win the Button tourneys were fun. It's the first time I"ve played one online. I did play one live that ended up being a glorified sit n go and I stone bubbled it in 3rd place, but the dynamics were quite interesting, especially short handed, when winning the button and not being in the blinds was a big deal with everyone short stacked.

I busted the low $25 version and focused on the $200 high. I had about 50K as we approached the money bubble. It got a decent turnout with 147 entrants for a $27K prize pool which is unheard of for a Monday in NJ. With 20 paying it folded to my buddy's SB. This particular friend of mine is aggressive, probably to a fault, and I now had 40K at 1600bb and he had over 100K. I expected him to go after it but I had found AJo in the big. There were 22 left and 20th was paying about $400. He opens to 4K and I think we have 3 options here: call, 3b/c, and shove. I don't like 3b/c since I really don't want to induce ANY hands here being on the bubble. I think I'd rather win the pot pre then get it all in against A2. I might be wrong here and will have to look at the math behind it sometime. There were several players under 10bbs at the time so I think willingly getting it all in just isn't good here. But AJ is too strong to not be 3 betting, so I ripped it in. SB took a while and then called with Q8o!!! He quickly claimed misclick in the chat but now I had a pretty reasonable chance of bubbling the tourney. It's great to have a shot at a big stack but on the bubble with a medium stack I think the idea is to survive and then try to spin it up after. So if you asked me whether or not I wanted to get it in in this spot, I don't know what my answer would be! Very fortunately for me my hand held and I was up to 80K.

I really did not get much going after the bubble but also won enough pots to stay afloat. We got to the final table with me at 60K at 2K/4K, probably in 7th of the 9 remaining, and I was dealt KK in the BB very early on. A guy I had notes on as being a little fishy, who had recently cold 4b a VERY big size and then wrote "wheeeeeee" in the chat when it got through, opens in EP. Reg on his left shoves for 28K, 7bbs, and it folds to me. I wasn't sure if I liked flatting or shoving better. I'd seen the opener snap 3b shove over a small all in and a flat earlier. His all in had been for 275K effective against the flatter, and after the flatter folded he showed AJo. So he was not afraid at all of being trapped in that spot by the flatter, and when stacks are that deep I imagine the flatter will have some nutted hands sometimes. So I was tempted to flat as an exploit and hope that he spazzes with a hand he shouldn't, but in the end I took the lower variance route of jamming to allow him to fold some hands. Similar to the bubble spot, I think it's okay to give up some chip equity to allow yourself to gain some dollar equity with ICM now the factor as opposed to the money bubble.

So I shoved and villain tanked for a pretty long time. I swear to God, I thought to myself while he was tanking, "if someone at this final table was going to do this with AA I bet it'd be him." I didn't actually think he had AA but it wouldn't have shocked me. After about 30-45 seconds he called with AA and I wasn't shocked! Some people just gotta get their kicks I guess. I read/heard (I don't remember) something recently about slowrolling that I really agreed with. The point was that slowrolling has turned into this horrible thing that only evil people do and it seems to appall everyone in the poker world. Who cares? Maybe the slowroller didn't realize what they were doing (I have a story from the Parx $340 about that). Maybe something else was going on. I stuck around to read the chat after the hand and the slowroller claimed he had gone to the bathroom. I don't really believe that but again, who cares. And maybe the slowroller really does just want to rile you up. I'd argue there's no point when he covers you and is going to eliminate you and won't gain anything from you being tilted, but again, who cares.

I finished 8th for $846 ($5600 up top). I also had allll the chips in the Second Chance on Stars with $1600 up top but when we got to the final table I began to move in the wrong direction. Eventually I opened KTs with about 60K at 3kbb and was flatted by the button. I cbet small on TT3ss as I would with my entire range and was called. Turn was an offsuit 6. I bet a size to set up a river shove and was flatted again. River is the Qs bringing the flush draw in. It's a pretty stupid spot since I can't really go around c/f'ing KT on the TT36Q board but the hands I was targeting for value like 99/88/77/55/44 are really going to have a tough time calling now. I also obviously lose to the flush. I'll still stack Tx if he happened to have that but I do now lose to QT and still lose to AT. I don't think checking has ANY merit though as I cannot be c/f'ing and I can't think of any bluffs he can have. I don't think he'll turn a pair into a bluff, although maybe that's more likely than him calling off with it? None of this mattered in the end as I shoved and was snapped by 66 to bust 6th for $272 .

So yesterday was a pretty interesting day. Lost about $175 in live cash but felt very good with how I played and lost a $900 pot in which I had 60% equity when the money got in. I went to write 70% equity but plugged it into a calculator to double check and was really surprised to see just how much equity he has with that hand. It makes me think his play is much better than I gave it credit for. I suppose all the backdoor straights/trips/2 pair give him all the extra equity. The problem I have with his play is that my bet/3b shove is often going to be a better flush draw. Whatever. Despite two disappointing FTs I did make back $465 online for a winning day overall.

I've spent way too much time writing this post as I was planning on getting out of my room by 9:30 this morning! I'll drive to Brigantine to run now and then quickly eat and shower to try to still get my cash session started by noon. There are $100 cubed and $10 cubed SCOOP events at 6:00 and then $300 and $30 HU MTTs at 7:00 which obviously do not have late reg so I'll have to be back by then. I'm normally not super confident HU but playing the 1st round of the $100 shootout heads up yesterday I just felt really comfortable again. Just thinking about ranges, not being afraid to gamble, etc has made me feel like I actually know what I'm doing in this game. So I'm going to go ahead and fire away tonight, especially since I want to keep racking up points for my team in the competition. That'll be the end of this super long post, maybe tomorrow I'll sum everything up in a more reasonable amount of text

Tuesday

Another nice run to start the day, this time 4 miles at 6:42 pace in Brigantine again. It's really nice to run in a place with almost no traffic and no hills. It'll be back to reality when I get back to North Jersey. I had a dream my streak ended (it's back up to 30 consecutive days of running) and I was pretty sad. Determined not to let that happen!

Cash Session

Sat down to 2/5 around 1:30PM. Planned on playing until just before 7:00 then heading up to my room to play the heads up SCOOP events at 7, which obviously cannot be late regged. I again felt comfortable at the table and had a feeling for the second day in a row that I had sat down at a pretty soft table. It's not so much that anyone there was spewing money like you'll see live sometimes, but rather that no one there was ever really going to put me in a tough spot. I got 3b a total of 2 times in that 5.5 hours, both times by the BB vs my EP open where they were very clearly nutted (we'll get more into one of those hands later). And I was opening a ton. I think this is what you'll get from a lot of the standard 2/5 regs. They know they should open strong hands and mix in some medium strength hands sometimes. They know to sometimes play draws aggressively. They have a basic understanding of slow playing and it won't be super obvious when they flop the joint like it sometimes is at 1/2. But they just aren't going to do anything THAT tricky that would lead to headaches for me.

Flopping Bottom Set

I wrote down 4 hands and could easily remember the 5th while playing yesterday that I thought were interesting or notable. In the first hand, EP limps, HJ goes 20, I flat CO with 22, and 2 others call so we go 4 ways to the flop with a little over $80 in the middle.

Flop ($80): Q82r
HJ continues for 40 and I flat. The other 2 players fold.

Turn ($160): (Q82r) 5x
HJ continues for 65 and I flat.

River ($290): (Q825) Ax
HJ bets 130. Here is the decision point in the hand for me imo. My plan was to get it in on all rivers but this does not seem like the best river to get it in on. I have 170 back after calling the 130 and now I need to decide if shoving or flatting is best. Some of the hands I think he'd play this way up to the turn that are value hands: QQ (3 combos), 88 (might limp pre, I'll give him 1.5 combos), AA (3 combos), KK (6 combos), AQ (9 combos), KQ (12 combos). So we've got 34.5 combos in there, but I think once the river hits it's unlikely he has KQ or KK when he continues for 130, cutting us down to 16.5 combos. 7.5 of those combos beat us (QQ/88/AA), 9 of those combos we beat (AQ). Once I put my 130 in the middle the decision is whether or not to put an additional 170 in the middle to try to win his 170, so we're just laying ourselves 1:1 essentially and need to be good >50% of the time. So if he's calling with exactly AA/QQ/88/AQ, and we correctly assume he limps 88 sometimes, then it shows some profit to be all in. If he's always raising 88, then shoving is completely neutral EV since there are 18 combos that call of us and we beat 9 and lose to 9. I talked to Benji for a few hours yesterday (shoutout to Benji reader of the thread) and he pointed out that if we think villain will randomly show up with ANYTHING else that might play the hand this way and then level himself into calling river (like KQ or a very strange AK), then we are now supposed to get it in. So in retrospect it appears I should have shoved. I flatted and he showed 99 for a pair of 9s (?????) and I won the pot.

AK on a Pretty Damn Good Board

One player limps and I raise to 25 with AKo from EP. 4 players flats and we see a flop 5 ways.

Flop ($125): K52r
I c-bet 75 and the player next to act flats while the other 3 fold. This guy clearly plays at Borgata a lot, is very friendly, and claims to own 50 hockey jerseys. He's a middle aged white guy who clearly loves the game. He has played pretty ABC up to this point and I have not seen him get out of line at all. He limps pre occasionally but does it much less so than the average 2/5 player.

Turn ($275): (K52r) 3x
This is where the hand starts getting a little tricky. Villain is not one to get out of line imo and he just flatted a reasonably sized c-bet in a 5 way pot with 3 players behind him left to act. I have a lot of thoughts about the hand but in the interest of getting out of my hotel room before 11AM checkout, I'll simply say that despite me having a pretty huge hand on this board, I think I am behind a big percentage of the time. But I also don't think I can just be c/f'ing right now. I check/call a bet of 140.

River ($555): (K523) 3x
I check again and villain shoves for 240. I can already hear people reading this saying "well if you're gonna call turn you can't fold river!" Why not? On the off chance that he had A4/A3/43 we can't even beat those hands anymore. And the thing that has changed is despite me c/c'ing turn, he still felt confident enough to be all in on river. I think for a while and fold to the shove. I think he has 55 and 22 A TON. He occasionally has AK that I chop with, and I just can't think of many other hands he can have. If he ever has KQ here then this is a disaster but I just think so many people roll KQ over on the river afraid that I have AA/AK. Maybe I was way to MUBSy this hand but I think it may have been okay and an argument can even be made for folding turn.

First Hand Back

Around 3:30 I take a 45 minute break to go get some food and relax in my room. My first hand back I post the $7 from MP. Two player limp and I make it 35 over my post with AJhh and get 3 calls.

Flop ($147) A88 one heart
On dry boards like this I like sizing small with my whole range. I continue for 50 in position and get one call.

Turn ($247) (A88) Tx
Check check. I might get value from worse Ax but the best Ax that I beat on the flop is now ahead of me. We'll occasionally see AK/AQ though I think it's unlikely from the guy limp/calling EP, and of course he can have some 8x, though some of that c/r's flop.

River ($247) (A88T) Jx
He checks again. Well now I beat AK/AQ/AT and I don't think it's likely he's played an 8 this way. I make a pretty small $80 bet. He calls and shakes his head when he sees my hand, revealing he did indeed have AQ.

Getting a Little Spewy

UTG goes 25 at a now 6 handed table and I flat KQss from the HJ. UTG is our villain who had 99 in the hand we flopped a set of 2s. I've since seen him way overbet the pot with 65dd on a J32ddh4h board. Not only did he have the nuts but he blocked one of the flush draws and still shoved 360 over a bet of 80. He got paid by AJ so good for him I guess! I could 3b this KQss but elected to just flat it.

Flop ($57): 752cc
He checks and I bet 30. I think he's going to be c/c'ing with a decent amount of ace high and my plan is to bet twice to make those hands fold. This might be too ambitious given I really have nothing going on on this board but it felt like a good spot to exploit. I don't think they really ever check their over pairs and I'd be surprised to see sets play this way as well. He calls.

Turn ($117): (752cc) 8c
He checks again and this time I bet 65. Once again he calls. I now think he ha a decent amount of ace high with a big club and I'm thinking about betting the river if it's a brick. Again, might be overly ambitious and unnecessary but I really feel this guy is capped.

River ($247): (752cc8c) Qx
Villain donks 140. Oh brother. Against some villains this can be a pretty easy fold but against Mr. 99 it's a pretty bizarre spot. He strikes me as a "I can't win the pot if I check so I have to bluff" kinda guy which would go well with my theory that he has ace high with the ace of clubs. I *think* people check AQ at this level on this river. So I'm assuming I lose to flushes and sets. I suppose he can show up with AA/KK with a club sometimes? Those might check river too though. I don't think flushes and sets play this way. For him to have a flush he'd have to check a flush draw on the flop which seems silly. And c/c c/c donk seems like a weird line with a set. I elect to call and he turns over A9cc for the nuts. I was very surprised to see him checking flop with that hand and placed it in my mental notes.

Pocket Jacks Verse a New Player

Despite the couple of hits I took in the hands above I ran very well yesterday and still had a shade over $1000 in front of me when I took a short break around 6:00. I got back right before 6:30 knowing I was going to have to pick up a little before 7:00 to make sure I wasn't late for the HU tourney. A new player sits down in the same seat as the crazy 99 guy and seems very friendly. He gives me 4 greens and asks for a stack of red and mentions something about me looking like I was a professional. I tell him I don't know what he's talking about and we laugh. This hand comes IMMEDIATELY after this exchange.

I open JJ in EP to 25 and it folds to his BB. He 3b's to 80. I really really think you can make an argument for folding here. It's obviously a pure exploit but a friendly rec player who has just sat down and his 3 betting his BIG BLIND is just going to have it so so so often. I'd be interested in hearing thoughts about this from live cash regs because it seems insane to fold but sorta feels spewy to peel. The other 3b I was talking about earlier came in the exact same spot. An old guy sits down on my direct right, I go 25 from UTG with 88, and he IMMEDIATELY announces 75 when it gets to him. I do a fake little jump thing in my chair and the table laughs as I fold my hand. I tell him welcome to the table and he asks if he can keep his cards. Anyway, back to our current hand. I flat the JJ and we go to the flop heads up.

Flop ($162): JJ6r
A decent flop for JJ. We have a joke that J6 is the "simulation" hand. You get dealt that hand more than other hands and it's proof that we're all just living in a sim. Yesterday I'd gotten dealt J6 about 5 times and was thinking about putting out a tweet about it but decided not to. I got dealt J6 3 times in the next orbit after thinking about it lol. And now we've got the JJ6 flop with JJ. Alright back to the relevant stuff. Borgata runs a promotion on Mondays and Tuesdays called the High Five where the top 5 hands in each 5 hour period (Noon-5PM, 5PM-10PM) all receive $500 in cash. So this is a pretty decent spot to be in. Villain continues for 100 and I call. Side note: My heart is racing pretty hard but in game I realized I need to just continue to do what I do every hand. I need to think about what other hands I can have here (QQ/TT/99) and what I want to do with my whole range. I think this is a great way to avoid giving off tells in spots like this, especially if you're actually playing against a good player who might notice those sorts of things. When you realize "alright, I've got all these hands, and I guess I have JJ as well but it's really unlikely," you realize that your current hand is such a minute part of your range that it isn't something you should worry about villain being "suspicious" of or whatever.

Turn ($362): (JJ6) who the **** cares
Villain shoves, he started the hand with 500 so I guess it's all in for 320, I beat him into the pot and he shows his AA. They call floor over and my name is #1 on the leaderboard:



I feel bad that I have to cash out 15 minutes later, especially since I now have $1500 in front of me and it's fun to cover everyone, but I had to go play the HU tourneys for NJSCOOP. Didn't get a pic of my stack at the table because I felt it'd be rude to the guy I just stacked, especially since he was in really good spirits despite losing that hand, so I just got this pic while cashing out:



I actually had to come back downstairs before 10PM to make sure I was top 5 and to collect the $500, so I was 1 tabling the $300 HU SCOOP tourney while in line for my payout lol. That tourney went as poorly as possible from the NJSCOOP contest perspective. I drafted 3 players in that contest. One did not play the tourney, one I knocked out in round 1, and the other I knocked out in round 2! When I got to the bubble round I played a very solid opponent. We battled back and forth but eventually he got me and I took 11th with 8 paying and the mincash being $1200 . But I ran quite good yesterday so I'm not complaining . My High Five payout:

One of Those Nights

I decided to hop in the $500 8 game SCOOP event tonight, along with the $50 8 game and the 2 Bubble Rush SCOOP events they had ($200 and $20 buy ins respectively). I could tell the $500 8 game was not going to go well when CO opens in limit hold em, I 3b A7s on the button, BB cold 4b's, CO calls, I call, flop comes 774 and I lose over half my stack on the hand. I called BB's c-bet on flop then raised the J turn only to get 3b. Probably coulda flatted and saved a bet but decided QQ-AA might be 3 betting for value so the 4th bet should go in. I guess I can either flat turn and raise river or raise turn and bet river and either way I get the same amount from QQ-AA but at least when he has JJ we get 4 bets in on turn and 1 bet on river instead of 3 on turn and 3 on river (when I flat turn and r/c river). Idk he had JJ and it left me short and I did not recover.

I found a way to fire 4 bullets into the $200 bubble rush and did not get above starting in any of them. I also busted the $20 and was left with just the $50 8 game, which I was in 4 times, pretty short stacked. I was feeling frustrated and annoyed that I just gave back all the profit I made from cash yesterday. At that point I started to realize that it was still pretty early and if my mindset was perfect I'd probably just start registering everything else and playing a standard Wednesday night schedule. I had only been playing those 4 tourneys since I figured I'd need to concentrate harder on the mixed games I wasn't used to playing but now that I was down to just the smaller stakes 8 game I really ought to play a full schedule. I couldn't bring myself to do that and I didn't feel 100% after running this morning and driving the 2.5 hours north back home, so I compromised by taking my tablet and laying in bed and just firing up the Stars 10K. You can probably see where this is going.



I included the black line on the chip graph to show that I had 16K at 1K/2K with 16 players left. I ran very well in this tournament. With 20 left and 18 paying I won AJ>KK to double and survive. I also ran into some pretty gross spots like defending BB with 74cc 3 ways, it checking through on AT6cc and me losing a ton on the 8c turn when original raiser somehow had Q9cc and didn't c-bet. I won KQ>AQ with 2 tables to go for my stack. But after getting those lucky spots I pretty much ran the rest of the tournament. I picked up A LOT of strong hands in all fairness, but with 12 left I started opening a lot of hands since the table was all similar middling 15-20bb stacks that seemed determine not to bust before each other.

I had a small chip lead starting the final table and one of the tougher NJ regs was close behind in 2nd. I opened A6hh from MP and he defended BB. Flop came J82r and he c/r'ed. I just don't think a GTO strategy is going to have you c/r'ing this sort of a flop very often, if at all. So he's exploiting me. And I imagine he assumes I know I should bet small on this flop with my whole range. And he knows most of my range is comprised of weak holdings. So he just goes ahead and exploits by c/r'ing. And it probably works most of the time. And I even found myself seriously considering just folding and moving on. But the problem with overfolding in this spot is that even though it's obvious he has air in this spot a lot, he can just get away with abusing us every time we c-bet these dry flops. So we have to pick some hands that want to continue. This specific combo seems bad as a flat since it doesn't have any equity other than ace high that won't get to showdown much anyway, so I elected to turn it into a 3b bluff. I'm not sure if this is great and if I should find other hands to be doing this with. I also don't think I have many 3b's here for value. But I suppose if he is going to c/r me a bunch on these incredibly dry boards, then I might need to work in a 3b range that has some value and some bluffs, and then flat some hands that have decent equity and playability. The hand reminded me of when Wade Meacham decided to 3b shove the K9o on the T32r flop when I c/r'ed the BB, except that in tonight's tournament we were much deeper, so I was able to go slightly less than double his c/r size and still leave myself room to fold. He made it 39K over 14K or so and I clicked back to 77K. He took his time and then folded.

We started heads up separated by less than a big blind. I never gave up the lead and didn't lose any meaningful pots. I ran incredibly good heads up and was for sure dealt way more hands and good runouts. But I am really happy with how I played against a tough opponent. I was also amazed at how much more comfortable I felt playing heads up after playing the $300 HU tourney last night. Since that tourney was so deep I was granted all this time to try to decide what strategies I wanted to employ on specific boards against specific lines, etc. We started heads up tonight 60 or 70bbs deep and it was still shallower than a lot of last night's matches. We were also only playing for a $700 difference between 1st and 2nd so it wasn't even the most money I'd played heads up for in the last 24 hours given the bubble match last night was for a guaranteed $1250! In any case, the difference I feel playing heads up, and really at any final table, now compared to last year, is staggering. I used to wish the blinds would just go up so I could play my push fold strategy that I knew well. Now I just don't fear playing deeper stacked poker. I know I'm going to make mistakes but it doesn't bother me. I'm more willing to accept the challenge of figuring out how best to go after the win, rather than hoping it just lands in my lap. It was nice to run good in the 10K tonight!

Well I'll comment on the first hand as I feel qualified to answer live 2/5 questions. Great analysis btw. Those are really the type of spots that will separate the "men from the boys" at 2/5. Most people hit that set and don't care how the money goes in.

Can you explain the decision to flat the turn?

My thoughts were similar to yours. Great analysis of combos. Before I saw the opponents hand I'd agree with the advice given. Sometimes at this level we can't over analyze too much. unless I know I'm dealing with a solid player who I have history with or have at least seen i always find its better to put a few random hands into the range as 99% of players aren't thinking the way we are. I highly doubt he has you pinned on an accurate range. I'd also consider your table image.

Hey thanks for response. I didn't explicitly state it in my post and I guess I didn't even consciously think about it during the hand but I flatted the turn basically for the reasons you just gave. If he has air I want to let him continue bluffing. And if he has a made hand we're going to play for it all by the river anyway. I remember thinking that if the river was any card other than an ace I was going to be all in, but since we now lose to AA and I think it's unlikely he's going to bet KK (and less likely he's going to call off if I shove now on river and he has KK) I elected to flat.

It is certainly an excellent rule of thumb to remember to add some combos of air to villains' ranges in spots like this. I've actually thought about that idea in depth in the past after seeing some really random hands after putting opponents on a range that would never include the hand they showed down.

Woot glad you're having fun in the cash games. Agreed that people show up with random hands all the time. My rule is always assign 10% of range to a random bluff hand that makes no sense.

Many decent online grinders are not all the light bb to utg in 6 max. So yes, the rec players at 2/5 fr live has the goods nearly always, barring the occasional maniac.

Also think not getting in set is poor. If v barreled AX he's not folding rivered tp. People also may bet/call stubborn angry random more than you think.

Dan, couple situation, want a answer from a experienced player
Live small buy in tournament
Hand one, blind 200/400 ante 50
Table been passive
Hero(20,000) Utg+1 had JJ, raise to 1000, got 3b to 4K from mp, he is chip leader and have me covered, he have been showing down good hand all day long, never seen him out of line, fold back to hero, call? 4bet? Or fold

Hand 2
Same tournament final table, was down to 7 player
Blind 6000/12000
Hero 250k, fold to me CO AJs, raise to 25000, only BB call, flop T84 rainbows, BB check, hero bet? Check back?
I check back, turn 7, Bb check again, hero check, river 7, bb fire 50k, hero?

Thx a lot if you have time to read my Hh


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Agreed. 10% might be a little on the high side but definitely have to put some non-zero percentage in there.

The only saving grace about peeling the JJ is that we're risking 55 to often win his stack of 500 when we flop a set. So if we're like 100% sure he has QQ+, it's still not the worst thing ever to set mine if we think he's incapable of folding post, but would probably still be a fold.

As for the set hand, I just didn't think he'd show up with much random non pair Ax hands and thought AQ was the only one he'd realistically get to river with. That being said, once he shows 99, I'd be way more inclined to go all in in the same spot against him in the future since he will have some random Ax in there as well that could possibly call.

Hey grinder, I'd suggest posting these hands in strategy forums as opposed to in a PGC thread. In the future if you want to post hands over there and then shoot me a PM requesting I give thoughts in that thread, I'd be happy to. I'll answer these but in the future just make sure to put your hands in the right forum.

Hand 1: I'd seriously considering folding. It's similar to the hand I discussed above where I opened JJ in EP and BB 3b. They're just going to have it so often. I don't think calling is horrible either. Probably not going to want to try to get stacks in, but this is coming from a guy who literally just got JJ in for 40bbs in the Parx $1200 and busted to KK. So maybe I'm not the best to ask

Hand 2: As played I'm probably just going to fold river. Seems like he's repping a 7 or a straight and while it's not super likely he has them, he's gone really big with his sizing so we just don't need to hero with the ace high. I would probably be betting flop if we have a backdoor flush draw with the intention of barreling turns that give us a flush draw and any 9, and obviously A and J turns are good as well. We could even consider barreling Q and K turns to fold out 8x and weak Tx.