Tournament #2 - 10.43am start - 14/2/19 NZT

$3.30 HORSE $300 GTD

tournament highlights:
=====================

became a big stack early on

lost a big pot with a straight flush draw in Stud

got lucky and won a massive pot being all in in razz

became a big stack again later on

won a big pot with trips in Stud - now 4th in chips with 26 remaining

made the money - now let's go for the win! $70.28 up top

now a short stack after having split Aces in Stud 8 and LAG opponent betting out without hesitation and having 3 to a flush and a 3 card low by 5th street so i decided to fold.

got very lucky being all in with the nut low draw heading to the river and hit it in Omaha 8. now 6th with 13 remaining

nice bluff x2 in Razz, repping the board even though I paired up - my opponents had high cards or pairs. now 4th with 13 remaining.

folded an overpair JJ in Limit Holdem on a 4 card straight on the turn. now 6th with 9 remaining

now at the final table! 4th with 8 remaining

now the short stack with 6 remaining. waiting for a hand to push all in with

just got very lucky with JJ to stay alive in Omaha 8. must be my lucky day..

and just like that, i'm out in 6th place. lost with QQxx vs AAxx in Omaha 8.

i earnt $20.19 for my 6th place finish. i think i played very well, just got unlucky at the final table to run into bigger hands.

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Tournament #3 - 1.05pm start - 15/2/19 NZT

$5.50 PLO8 $300 GTD

tournament highlights:
=====================

bleeded off a few chips at the start. remember this, good hand selection is key.

won a small sized pot with 2 pair

folded AA26 on the river after the nut low draw missed and the board paired up

got unlucky chopping a massive all in pot with a flopped straight, after my opponent trips also upgraded to straight on the river

got back to a starting stack after i called my opponent's preflop 3bet with A2KT and I flopped top 2 pair. he bet on the flop and I went all in and he folded

lost a pot flopping bottom 2 pair and my short stacked opponent went all in with top pair and a flush draw. he hit 2 pair on the turn to double up

folded on the turn with the nut straight draw. as it turned out my draw hit on the river and i would of won the pot. ohwell.

nice bluff on the flop, being in position when the board paired. my 2 opponents folded and i won the pot

folded my missed straight draw and underpair JJ on the river after the 3 card low hit. i figured the best i could do is chop the pot.

won a massive pot after i called a 1/3 of my stack sized bet preflop and i had the nut low draw and top pair on the flop. hit the nut low on the turn and went all in. my opponent called with nothing but a straight draw and i won a massive pot to go above starting stack for the first time. currently 9th with 24 remaining. late reg is still open

folded trips on the river after a 4 card straight hit the river. im still in good shape in this tournament.

won a small pot off a misclick - as i didn't mean to enter the pot. flopped a full house and check raised my opponent and he folded. in hindsight i probably should of called all the way to the river with the probable nuts and then raised on the river.

won a good sized pot hitting trips on the turn. currently 9th with 25 remaining. late reg still open.

donked myself out of the tournament. called a 3bet with nothing but Ace low cards. stupid stupid. called all in vs AAxx with the nut low draw on the flop. i missed it and im out of the tournament. lessons learnt!

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Tell us about yourself, OP.

Hello everyone, it's Richard from Hamilton, New Zealand here!

I have played online poker for over 11 years now. I have never won a online poker tournament! (ones larger than a single table).

My biggest achievements have been though getting 76th in the $55 Sunday Marathon for $266, 40th in a $11 NLHE tournament for $35 and getting 221st out of 10,455 in the $5.50 Sunday Mini Marathon for $34.

Given my recent success, I've decided to stick with online tournaments, playing all varieties on PokerStars. Since last weekend I got lucky and got my biggest ever cash of $266, so I've decided to play micro and low stakes tournaments every week, with the goal of making $50 a week in the mixed games, so I can at least break even from the $55 Sunday Marathon.

Here is my weekly schedule:

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Apart from Poker, I love the Rugby, Darts and Cricket and I'm starting up my own business in Herbalife, helping people live a healthy and active lifestyle. Whether you want to lose weight, boost your energy levels, gain muscle, or lower your health risks, I am the person you need to talk to!

I wish to move to Las Vegas to play in the WSOP eventually.

Anyway, to wrap this up, replies to this thread are encouraged! If you have a home game on PokerStars, feel free to let me know!

Cannot wait to play LIVE!

Best regards,


Richard Cuming

Have started a thread in the Goals and Challenges forum. Feel free to reply to that

This is goals and challenges...

I know. Still the same thing. I set my own goals. Have a look at that thread.

Congrats on your success, Richard. Look forward to following your journey to playing full time in the WSOP.

Thread has lots of potential. Go get em Richard.

This really resonated with me a lot, Richard. Thank you for sharing.

LOVE this thread

Hamilton has quite a few live tourneys that play on a weekly basis.

You talking about Hamilton, New Zealand? Nah, just short stack pub tournies, ie. lotteries.

your 3 betting will work against these opponents in these games.

playing a 2000+ player tourney is a lottery. you have a better chance of making money playing 20 player live sngs with crap or good structure. winning 1 flip is easier than winning 4.

I think the local casino doesn’t even have live poker. Just stupid pokies

The Sunday Marathon is 3,000 players, the WSOP main event is about 7,000 players. Gotta be able to navigate the big fields by 3betting and 4betting.

yeah i can see your logic that playing big fields will help you win the wsop main event. Good Luck.

Cheers buddy, looking forward to meeting you one day.

Going to sleep for 4 hours only to change my sleeping patterns. Then I’ll be giving my all in the $7.50 Limit Omaha 8 tournament. #LetsTakeItDown #IfITakeItDownIllBePlayingInTheMarathonOnSunday #LetsDoThis

Going to sleep for 4 hours only to change my sleeping patterns. Then I’ll be giving my all in the $7.50 Limit Omaha 8 tournament. #LetsTakeItDown #IfITakeItDownIllBePlayingInTheMarathonOnSunday #LetsDoThis

Let's ****ing go Richard

Tournament #4 - 5.43am start - 16/2/19 NZT

$7.50 Limit Omaha 8 $250 GTD

tournament highlights:
=====================

started off well winning a small pot with AA28

unlucky to chop the pot with the nut low and winning with the nut straight

unlucky to chop the pot with a full house and missing out on the nut low draw on the river

won a small sized pot with KKxx on a paired board on the flop

won a massive pot with a flopped full house after my opponent didn't even have a low

won a small pot with the nut low and flush

took a massive risk with AAxx and unlucky to chop the pot after my opponent hit his low on the river

lucky to stay alive with KK37, chopping the pot

lost 1/2 my chips with KKxx and I was out next hand. overall this tournament is a lottery, so i won't be playing it again

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Tournament #5 - 7.42am start - 16/2/19 NZT

$2.20 NL Omaha 8 - $600 GTD

tournament highlights:
=====================

put my opponent all in with the nut low - he folded and i scooped the pot

put my opponent all in with trips on the turn, and he called me with the nut low draw. unfortunately for me, he hit his low on the river to chop the pot

got real lucky by calling all in with the 2nd nut low.. ended up chopping the pot

called down to the river with 2 pair. unlucky to lose vs trips

lost a massive pot calling all in with KKxx vs AAxx. going to rebuy shortly

leaking off chips with marginal holdings. got to stop this

made a nice bluff on a paired board

made quads. could not get any action

went all in with trips, again my opponent got lucky and hit his low on the river to chop the pot

doubled up with trips - beat my opponents straight draw, scooping the pot

won massive pots x2 going all in preflop with AAxx and doubling up x2. currently 13th with 115 remaining. late reg still open.

won a massive pot with trips going all in and my opponent calling with a low draw and missing

won a small pot, hitting a flush on the river

won a large pot, hitting a full house on the river. unfortunately i didn't get paid off

folded Aces on a paired board on the flop vs another big stack

folded Kings on the turn when my big stack opponent lead out

have been taking down small pots with pairs. currently 15th with 83 remaining.

lost a few small pots. now 34th with 72 remaining. we are now on the bubble.

got some of my chips back with a river bluff

just won a massive pot with KKxx vs QQxx. now 10th with 62 remaining.

stupidly went all in getting quartered for only 1/4 of the pot

went all in with QQxx overpair on the flop, my opponent called me with top pair and hit a full house on the river to knock me out.

overall, did not play too badly. cashed for $3.67

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Tournament #6 - 10.35am start - 16/2/19 NZT

$7.50 PL 5 Card Draw - $250 GTD

tournament highlights:

late regged for the tournament after 1 hour.

went all in with KK, won a massive pot against 2 other opponents.

got lucky again! hit a full house after the draw to become a big stack. currently 7th with 20 remaining.

trapped my opponents with trips. won a sizeable pot! now 4th with 18 remaining.

lost a small pot trying to set mine. i missed.

trapped my opponents once again with trips and won a big pot. now 4th with 13 remaining.

now in 1st place!

lost a few chips trying to hit a straight

got back to 2nd place value betting with KK

lost a few chips x2 with AA vs trips

now a short stack with 7 remaining.

out in 7th place, just short of the final table. i cashed for $27.41. i played pretty well.


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UL Richard!

Tournament #7 - 12.43pm start - 16/2/19 NZT

$3.30 NL 5 Card Draw - $400 GTD

tournament highlights:
======================

didn't get off to the best of starts. was 3betted off a few hands and lost 20% of my chips.

lost with a made straight vs flush. i rebuyed.

was 3bet off my 2 pair.

went all in won a massive pot with set over set. i just knew he had it as he only discarded 2 cards.

was bluffed off a pot holding 2 pair. it turns out it would of been the best hand had i stayed in the pot.

won a small pot with a full house. probably could of got value had i bet instead of going all in.

got my first bounty - eliminating a player with a full house vs trips. nice!

got my second bounty - for eliminating another player with trips vs 2 pair.

late reg just closed. i am currently 35th out of 67 remaining.

won a sizeable pot with 2 pair for which i went all in after someone else bet. opponent folded.

went all in with AA and was called with trips. just like that im out of the tournament. did not cash. total bounties earnt: $1.88

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Tournament #8 - 2.43pm start - 16/2/19 NZT

$7.50 Stud 8 - $200 GTD

tournament highlights:
======================

off to a good start. scooped a pot with the low and a straight. also won a small pot with 2 pair on 7th street.

lost a few smallish pots. i'm still 5th out of 11 remaining. late reg still open.

played poorly in a hand. lost a big pot having QQ but was up against a King and lost at showdown.

got real lucky chopping the pot when i was also chasing the flush

won a big pot with a flush, doubling up with also having the low. currently 4th in chips out of 14 remaining. late reg still open.

won a big pot on 7th street with a low repping a bigger hand. got a fold

lost a big pot with 2 pair vs trips on 7th street

went all in with QQ and a low / flush draw heading to 7th street and i missed. so just like that im out. did not cash.

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