Good luck tomorrow. I'll be there Sat and/or Sun.

I almost choked on a donut with the Razor Hunting pic!

Focus on the positive b/c we all make mistakes and bad calls!

Carry over this 2/5/10 crushing into today's tourney!


I think I'm playing the Saturday 3b.

@fluke22 and @hello7027 gl in the tourney Saturday. Both of u r great thinking poker players, and I know u will gv it ur best shot. I don't think I'll b able to play Sat because my gf asked to go Cmas shopping w her mom. So I'll b here w the kiddos Sat, and may play Friday 3a instead.
Time to switch gears from cash to tourney. U betcha I will b giving it everything I hv today.
Time to check the oil level, coolant level, fill er up, and hit the road w a couple other grinders.
I'll b updating on twitter for those wanting a sweat. @rayzrayl

P.s. Even though Nov has been great work wise for me, life wise it's been even better. My little buddy, Aiden Johnson, a family friend who I talk about on here from time to time had a great report yesterday! His biopsy showed no new cancer. This 11yr kid has taught me a lot through his struggles, and is my greatest inspiration! He's is an epitome of a true fighter, true champion, true boss. He's been in and out of the hospital battling cancer for the majority of his life all while giving glory to God. I that kid!
Keep crushing it Aiden! To get more connected with his journey, u can follow here. All prayers welcomed, and appreciated for my friend.
https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=469286126439726

After barely having someone covered in a losing aipf hand w 10 bbs. Left me w 1 small blind in level 8 (100/400/800), and sm how I turned 400 into 15k. Still fighting in level 9 w 12bigs.

Make sure you join the dollar shave club!

Die hard buddy!!!

Sent from my SM-G900P using 2+2 Forums

Event 1 had 137 runners and top 13 got paid. I grinding as far as I could. Busted around 20th. Tourneys are heart breakers.

any interesting spots ? tournament poker is waaaaaaaaaaaay different from cash games in my opinion.

Revolutionary opinion.

I've found my leak.

Hahahaha!!!

Sent from my SM-G900P using 2+2 Forums

Really not too many interesting hands w the tourney, but I will gv u one from a cash game session today.

This hand is between me and a young gun/22 yr old/well respected pro. The V actually finished top 66 in the $10k Main Event this year and cashed for six figures.

The game is 2/5/10nl. Effective stack is 1k. I barely cover him. His VPIP is around 30%, and mine 15%. We both have respect for one another, and know both r capable of higher level.

I have 85 in the bb, and V is in mp, 4 limped pre, flop is 886.

It gets check to V who tosses out $30, I call.

Heads up on the turn of brick 2. This time I decide to lead out $80, and he raises to $225 without much thought. I call. Pot is around $550.

River is a 10 so the straight draw got there which may b in V’s range, and played it as if cd b. To be honest though it didn’t really feel like it was for some reason. Heck, I had trouble narrowing down his range on this one. What I know is he limped pre, lead flop, raised turn, and is VERY creative. To me it’s looking like he can have anything here. It was tricky.

So river, I decide to lead out again a very small $230 bet. I was desperately hoping I wdn’t be facing a raise again. Plus thinking I cd get paid off by some hands I cd beat if I lead. It was a tricky spot. I guess more than anything I didn’t want it to go check/check on the river, or me checking and facing a shove by V to put me in a really tough spot. The feeler bet and a bit of pot control bet seemed to be the best choice. So I push $230 into the middle, and I sit as calm as a person w anxiety can. The heart is racing, and the moment made me feel alive. I didn’t know what was going to happen next! Is V going to shove and put me to the test? Is he calling w an inferior hand? Is he shutting down and folding? Heck, I had no clue. Absolutely not a clue!

I know I took a peculiar line in this one, and sometimes when u play against some of the best u have to mix it up. U don’t ever want to b to predictable in the big nl holdem games. Predictability Kills.

W my head down, after I push in the $230 river bet, I try to sneak a peek to see what V is up to. I c him looking at his chips, he picks up about 6 blacks and thumbing them in his hand. Then he picks up some red, and now has a mixture of red and black in the palm of his betting hand. I’m thinking I don’t want to have a heart attack, and try my hardest to calm the pounding in my chest. Please don’t shove! Please don’t shove!

He then…

Before I say what happened otr, I’ll wait in case anyone wants to guess the end result.

What’s V’s river action? What did V hv?

I’ll let u know tomo

I'm headed to he boat tomorrow for a cpl days maybe I'll see you around.

As for the 85 hand, I like your flat/barrel on the turn but hate your river lead. Against a thinking player you just have to check and bluffcatch the river. I don't know your guy's history, but in general if he's a thinking player he should know when you call the turn raise that you will usually have 8x. It's not like he's going to be valuebetting worse on the river hardly ever (he doesn't raise overpairs on the turn anyway). His range is polarized to better hands and pure bluffs. Let the pure bluffs empty the chamber.

Now, if he is a super laggy type that is prone to spazz, that is a different story and I don't dislike your river bet as much.

I would guess that Villian shoved, you called, and he showed you 66 for a boat.

Pics of shaggy beard (when the time comes) or else!

actually going to edit the wording of my post. the phrasing "let him empty the chamber" is not good wording. if he respects your game and he is *truly* a good player he won't be emptying the chamber very much on the river. this just isn't a good spot to bluff bc your range is so strong.

a better way to put it is that after u get raised on the turn, u just have to check the river and make a decision if he bets---he will often have it. this is not a spot (imo) where u very often can get extra money on the river from a good player with a worse hand.

for him to be grabbing a pile of chips relatively quickly after u donklead my guess is that he was about to fire a huge bomb, thought better of it, and checked behind with a turd.

Tough spot. I'm going to say... he just calls and tables 8x 7x (maybe 8x 9x) and out kicks you by a notch.

Sent from my SM-G900P using 2+2 Forums

Considering you called his raise on the turn, and lead out on the river, I'll go with Villain folds on river.
I'll say he had a busted low end straight draw-57. But if he folds he probably isn't showing his cards, so not sure why you are asking what he had. ???
Now I'm confused. So now this makes me think he doesn't fold. I'm clueless. Lol

Haha, exactly what I thought! He must have at least called... right??? I doubt he would just show and give free information to the table.

Sent from my SM-G900P using 2+2 Forums

He then ... put one purple, four black, and seven red chips in both hands, shook them up, and without looking plopped six random chips down. You called the small raise, and you both had 85.

lol creativity. As played, you quite clearly have 8x and he knows that. Hes never floating two streets with worse.You have an easy decision if raised

I wish I cd give u some thrilling ending to this hand, but basically after a solid minute of V tanking on the river he calls my bet. After he puts the $230 in the middle, I’m still not sure if I’m gd or not. I table my 85, and he gives a head nod and throws his cards in the muck. Sweet! I guess it was a sick value bet on my part. Still have no clue what he had.

This may hv been a situation where both players are thinking the other one is getting crafty. He knows/ that I know/ that he knows – kind of hand. I know this player always tries to find spots to exploit, and puts others to the test very well. He plays a lot of pots in position, and uses that position along w board texture to the fullest. Meaning he will represent any hand that the turn/river card produces. He is one of the best players in the room, so I feel I had to value bet my trips here, and hope he doesn’t shove. If he shoved, I prob wd have to just go w a soul read at the time, and either call or fold. Luckily, that didn’t happen!
If I had to guess, I wd say V had A6. Reasoning he bets flop w 2 pair. He doesn't think I have an 8 when I lead out on the turn, so he raises thinking top 2 w Ace kicker is gd. The river bet is small enough that he has to call. Only hand I cd think of. Really no clue ???? Very curious to know, mayb I can tweet him and c if he wants to chime in on this.

Yesterday: won +$331 playing 1/2nl on 2hrs 42mins. Won +$1,194 playing 2/5/10nl on 2hrs 44mins. Totaling +$1,525 on 5.5hrs
November runs gd continues on…

Thanks for the feedback on this hand! I really enjoy reading everyone’s logic!
*Learn and get better by reviewing together.

OP do u practice playing tourneys online? Honestly I don't see why u keep regging live tourneys if u don't have experience. If ur not gonna practice and learn how to approach some spots a tourney puts u in then, what makes u different from any other fish tying to get lucky?

Obviously I've never played this guy and I wasn't at the table but most competent players would be flatting your turn lead with <8x; a raise polarizes their range to good 8x/air.

I think 9T and T7 are more plausible than anything else. If he called with worse than Tx he is not good at the pokerz imo. You're simply never going to be bluffing with this relatively small lead on the river.

If he's going to bluffraise the turn he has to follow through on the river and represent a monster.

@loudpacquiao nope I don't play online, but have been thinking about going back to it. Just not fully sure it's right at this time. I have many reservations that is keeping me from online. Mostly trust issues, collisions, multi accounting, u know the basic fears. Back in the day I loved it, but too many things have came up since then that has pulled me away.
I get no tourney practice except for the occasional tourneys I play in. I always like my chances in tourneys, but also think it's not really geared for my style of play. I am trying to change and work on it more. My last 2 tourneys...7th out of 30, 20th out of 137. Getting closer, but still no itm.
We'll see how this year ends, and I may just give it up entirely and play straight cash homie.

@blueBerbeez I agree I think 910 & 710 can b in his range. I'll still go w A6, 77 is possible but I think he wd usually raise pre w pp. Who the hell knows!!! I give!! Gl this weekend.