The same post can be found on my newly created blog at [outside link deleted, sorry not allowed to link to another site]

On January 1st 2014, I started to play a decent volume of single digit buy-in tournaments as a way of building my bankroll. I felt that aspect of poker was the strongest part of my game. I bought a $50 prepaid vanilla Mastercard from 7-11 and deposited into PokerStars. The field size in these tournaments are in the thousands and first place ranged from $800-$2500. The first day I played in 15 tournaments. The lowest buy in was $1.10 and the highest $4.40. I cashed in 5 of them for $1.55, $11.99, $16.12, $22.70, and $28.83. It’s not much compared to the time spent but that is how it goes when you play the lowest stakes possible.

January 2nd – Played in 8 tournaments with the same buy-in amount and cashed 3 times for $2.49, $5.58, and $30.14.

January 3rd – Played in 13 tournaments and cashed once for $20.36. It was not a great day.

January 4th, 5th and 8th – Played in 14 tournaments where the highest buy-in was $11 and cashed twice for $13.63 and $34.68.

The only other day I played in January was the 23rd and cashed in 2 out of 4 games for $3.99 and $4.14 mostly because I started seeing a girl from school and my interest in the game was decreasing.

Total Winnings in January 2014: $196.20.

April 6th 2014

I bought a $100 Prepaid Card to add into my account because my initial bankroll was gone and this was the day I took an aggressive bankroll approach. I bought into 6 tournaments ranging from $8.80-$22 with the total buy-in amount being $80.30 with a high risk of ruin. This was Sunday and in the bigger $22, I was seated to Joe Cada’s immediate left but unfortunately I busted 45 minutes into that tournament when I opened in the sb and called off a 30-33bb 3bet jam with AQo. That was a terrible call and I busted. I busted in 5 of these tournaments until my last one which was the bigger $11 with a $120K Guaranteed. It started at 10 Am where I finished at 7:41 PM and came in 92nd out of 19773 people for $148.29 which is my biggest tournament score thus far. Some highlights of that tournament was 3betting QJo, T5o, A3s and winning large pots. I’ll do a hand review with interesting hands in the near future.

April 20th 2014

Played in 4 tournaments, 1 Satellite and 1 Sit N Go and cashed once in the Sunday Storm for $83.90.

June 13th 2014

This was the day everything changed. After busting in 5 tournaments for $69.30, I logged off and forgot that I signed up for a heads up winner take all match for $5.50. I logged back on later that afternoon with my last $65 and decided to play in a higher stakes game. My mindset was clearly run it up as high as possible or go broke. In the past I would play as high as 10NL online but today I decided to sit in a $0.25/$0.50 Heads Up Game with a $10 Cap. I’ve never played in this format before but it felt like another tournament but with unlimited re-buys. I played for 2 hours and was up quite a bit and now has become one of my favorite games. I played a bit everyday for the rest of the month as I am working Full time. So far, I’ve only experienced two negative sessions playing H.U. Cap, but have bounced back both times. One tip for all players is to never think about the money when you’re playing as it will make you play sub optimally, thus affecting your true win rate.

Once the bankroll surpassed a couple hundred, Single + Multiple Table SNG’s were the next step, whether it be 18, 45, or 180 players. 18 Sit N Go’s were played ranging from $7-$15 and cashed in 10 of them with the top 3 cashes being $102.31, $98.65 and $76.62.

On my laptop, Holdem manager says I am up $462.67 over 4319 hands at 21.42 bb/100 for 50NL Cap which is somewhat accurate as there are many hands missing that were played on my phone.

At the end of June I am sitting on $805. Once I reach $1K, I will create a challenge to turn that into $10K.

A few goals for July is to reach Gold Star Status as I gained 1900/2500 VPPS in June which is good enough to be a Silver Star and be properly rolled for $50NL HU uncapped, 100NL Cap and 50NL 6 Max. Catch ya later.

July 2nd 2014

I fired up two tables of 50 NL Zoom HU Cap at 10:30 PM and a guy from Brazil asked if I wanted to play 100 NL Cap. I accepted the match and this was my first time playing these stakes online. I didn't have the pro version of holdem manager at the time so I wanted to upgrade to it for $40 more before I played.

I played for 75 minutes. It didn't start well as I was down $40 or $50 but I slowly came back as his cbet% was 90% and like many players at these stakes, they try to rep so many hands that don't make sense. Their turn cbet % was 44% and 3bet was 36%. The match ended after 35-40 minutes and I won $40ish before he left. They 3bet jammed 20 bbs with weak Aces, small PP's and the stronger parts of their range.

Some hands to discuss:

Hand #1

Hero: ($143.10) (Button) Qc8c

BB: ($95.61) (Big Blind)

Hero opens to $2. BB Calls. Pot ($4)

Flop: Ks6d2s. BB Checks. Hero bets $2. BB raises to $5.28. Hero calls. Pot ($14.56)

He doesn't rep much other than a set, a K or Flush draw. Given that we're playing a capped game, they would 3bet, get it in with any PP and strong K as well as most aces. I'm ahead at the moment vs a FD but am behind in terms of equity. I called the raise because of his high cbet % and thought he might give up on the turn.

Turn: 9s. BB bets $3. Hero calls. Pot ($20.56)

You can't really fold here with most of your calling range on the flop. Hitting a Q or an 8 on the river might be good given that price if I was behind.

River. 2c The safest card in the deck. BB instant shoves $9.72 and I call after 2 seconds. Lol. Perhaps thinking it over for a few more seconds would have been a better idea.

BB shows: JsTd for Jack high. They call me a ****** donk and I proceed to advertise this blog in the chat to them and the railbirds.

I had 70% equity on the flop and 80% on the turn vs their actual hand.

Hand #2 was when I opened T9o and the flop came Qs2s2d and I cbet 40% here with my entire range and they raise to $4.99. I flatted. Turn was the 5h and they check and I felt they were giving up so I bet $8.08 into $13.98 and took it down.

Hand #3 was when I missed a cbet on 842 with J8o because I was more focused on the chatbox and thought I was the BB. lol. The turn was the Tc giving me a flush draw and 2nd pair. They bet $2.63 into $4 and I raised to $11.71 and they 3bet to $18 with Ts7c. River was a 5d and I got stacked.

The next person I played was from Estonia and I was doing well at first but in the end lost $60 to him before I decided to call it quits. Their cbet % was 100 for a while but slowly went down to 90 and 85% There was a few coolers but it happens.

I played bad on a 42656 board with 45 which I led the turn after they checked back the flop and left myself vulnerable to getting raised which happened and then I called a 1/4 size pot bet on the river which I'm rarely ever good there.

Overall I lost around $22 over 250 hands on the day but feel more comfortable playing these stakes and am on pace to reach Gold Star Status at 80.65 VPPs per day. Good Game.

I woke up and had a late breakfast and needed to digest the food before going to the gym, so I played 4 tables of SNG’s. (spoiler alert) Little did I know, I would win one of them and increase my bankroll by 45%. Two of the games were $15 each and the other two was $8 and $7. I won the 180 player $8 tourney for $396.49 after 100 minutes.

Game #1: 45 Players $15 – I finished 9th/45, two away from the money after I called off 2 All ins with AQo with my last 6 BB. The table was 5 handed and CO jammed 7 BB and SB had 2 BB. I had 54% equity going to the flop but the board ran out 29598 and that was it.

Game #2: 18 Players $7 – I came in 2nd for $34.83 but I felt I played passive when it was 3 handed so I could ladder up the pay scale because the short stack had under 5 BB’s. Example: Chip leader jams 20 BB on the button. I have A8o and 10 BB’s and the BB has 4 BB’s with 1 already invested. ICM wise, is this a good fold? 2 Hands later the Button is the short stack and folds and the SB jams 22 BB and I have QJs and 9BB and folded. The short stack busted shortly after and it was heads up. I jammed JTo with 9 BB and he called with 44. T4KT7 and the game was over.

Game #3: 180 Players $15 – Busted in 133rd. It was 9 handed and HJ open jams 12 BB with AJo and I call in the CO with KJo with 7 BB’s. It was a close spot but I think I can find a fold here and wait for a better spot as the blinds won’t come around for a few more hands.

Game #4: 180 Players $8 – 1st/180 for $396.49. It started at 12:22 PM and ended at 2:02 PM. I was crippled early on when utg+1 limps for 50 and HJ min raises to 100. I raise to 300 in the SB with AQs and 29 BB’s. HJ rejams for 23 BB with A7o and flops a 7. I was left with 290 chips at 25/50 and my next hand I had KK and doubled up vs JJ. A few hands later I had KJs and 4BB and open jammed in the CO. Button calls with 4BB as well and has A6o and the BB calls with A5s. Board runs out KT726 and I triple up. Shortly after that I have AA and 4 BB in the CO. UTG+1 open jams 11 BB with KK and the LJ calls with their last 7 BB with AA! BB comes along with J7o and their last 3 BB and the board runs out 4J326 and I double up.

2 Hands later I open jam A4o 7BB and am flipping with the SB who has the same stack with 22. We hit a 4 and double up again! Next couple hands I have 44 with 5BB in the SB and LJ opens and calls my jam with AJo. They cover me. I turn a boat and another double up. I open jam A7o in the HJ and BB calls their last 5 BB with QJo and we win. We play 6 Handed now and I open jam A6s in the BB and SB calls off their last 5BB with A7 but we hit a 6 to win.

The last hand before the final table was huge. It was 6 Handed and we have AQo UTG with 16 BB and minraise. The player next to act rejams 13 BB with 99 and BB calls off their last 10 BB with QQ. Board runs out JT8A2 and we almost trippled up and went to the final table as chip leader. When it was down to the final 7 players, UTG+1 jams 9.5 BB with 77 and I have AKo and next to act. I doubled their raise and SB rejams 22 BB with QQ and I call. Board is A6645 4 Spades and I have the K of spades and we eliminate 2 players.

5 Handed: and I lost 10 BB to the player that was 3rd in chips with AQo vs KJs. Not long after, the button opens to 4K and they were 2nd in chips. I had K2o in the SB and 3bet to leverage their stack to 9k. They 4bet to 32K with 29 behind and I fold. I would eliminate the person in 5th place when I had AK and they had 88.

4 Handed: Button open jams 9 BB with Q3s and I call with QQ in the BB and that was it.

3 Handed: This would take a while as I would open and be forced to fold many times. I tried 3Betting a few times and had to fold to a 4Bet jam. #1: Button opens to 6 K and SB calls. I have K2o in BB and squeeze to 15K. SB calls and flop is T32 w/ 2 hearts. He checks and I put him all in for his last 30K with 36 already in pot. They fold. #2: Button opens w/ 14 BB w/ ATo and I rejam with K9o and 61 BB and lose. #3: I doubled up one of the players with 22 when they had QQ. #4: Button opens to 6K and I 3bet to 15K with A2o and flop is K63 and they x/fold. #5: Next hand I open on the Button with T6s to 6K and BB raises to 12K. I call. Flop 9S7H6H They cbet 12 into 26.4 and I call. Turn is 2D and they x and I put a pot size bet to put them all in and they fold. #6 SB completes the blind w/ 12 BB and I check. Flop 9d7d3c x/x Turn 4d and they bet 8k into 17.2. I call. River is Ah and they x and I bet 8 into 33.2 and they fold. #7: I 3bet with T7s and they 4bet jam, I fold. #8: Qd4s I complete from SB for 2 more K. BB raises to 10K with A5cc. I call. Flop Q35 all spades. They cbet 9.9 into 21.2, I call. 8d x/x 9h I bet 8 into 41 K and they call. #8 I opened on the button with J6o and BB shoves for 6 BB AQo, I call and win.

Heads Up lasted one hand: I opened with A4s and they jammed 18 BB with KQo and I call and win!

I Run Good.

I Currently have $1210. That means the challenge of turning 1K into 10K by the end of August has officially begun! Wish me luck!

25 NL + 50/50 SNG

After taking the girlfriend out to her favorite restaurant, L’Abattoir, for our anniversary, I went home and 2 tabled 25NL Zoom. Boy it was a rocky start. I responded by playing like a maniac due to the all around increased aggression and constant 3bets and in essence was down $107. I battled back after 440 hands and made just over $2. The only positive was getting the necessary 80.65 VPP’s per day.

The worst hand I played was this:

It folds to the SB and he opens to 0.62 with QcQd. I have Kc8h in the BB and 3bet to $2. Effective stacks is $25. He 4bets to $4.50. For some reason, I thought he was playing back at me light so I 5bet to $9 and he jams to $25. I thought for 10 seconds and was getting 2.125 to 1 and decided to call. I needed 2.56 to 1 to break even on this call so if my 5bet was slightly bigger, I would get a better price to call.

I also got 100bbs in w/ JJ vs KK and AJ vs QQ preflop on a A28JQ board. Everything else about the session was pretty standard.

I jumped into 4 Single tables of Sit N Go’s. 3 of them were $15 50/50 games and the other was a $7 KO Turbo. How the 50/50 games work is that the table starts with 10 players and once you get down to 5 players, the chips you have is divided by the total chips in play and with that %, you multiply that by the total amount of the prize pool and that’s what you win.

Game #1: $7 – I busted in this pretty early. Button min opens with TT w/ 48.5 BB. I have 32 bbs in the SB w/ 55 and its a tricky spot. If I jam here my hand is face up to a thinking player. I don’t like 3bet folding here either. In hindsight, flatting is best since its a min open and i already invested 1/4 of that bet and I can fold the flop if i miss. I ended up jamming and was eliminated in 7th out of 9.

Game #2: $15 50/50 I ended up w/ 3,365 chips out of 15,000 and that was good enough to win $30.36. I was put in a gross ICM spot on the bubble. I was 2nd in chips and the chip leader who has me covered by 1/2 a BB shoved and I had KdJd. The other 4 players had 5 or 6 BB’s left and I did not want to risk bubbling when I’m second in chips so I folded. 2nd out of 5.

Game #3: $15 50/50 I ended up w/ 6,045 chips in play, good for 1st out of the 5 remaining for $43.14. Everything was standard here. 1st out of 5.

Game #4: $15 50/50 Busted in 9th after calling off my last 3 bb in the sb w/ ATo vs the button’s KQ. 9th out of 10.

I made $22 in the SNGs. Not bad for 30 minutes of work.

Satellites

I completed the Grouse Grind hike in North Vancouver for the first time this year in a time of 75 minutes. The first 1/4 mile took 30 minutes, and the next 3/4 miles took 45 minutes. The reason being, I went w/ the gf and it was her first time. She decided to go back down after 1/4 of the way up. It’s not easy and everyone can attest that their first time is tough. At the top of the grind, I got a brochure for Paragliding off Grouse Mountain. It’s $200 and I’ll probably complete it later this summer.

Today’s online grind was frustrating.

I played a little bit of 50 HU Cap, 800 hands of 25 NL, 3 turbo satellites into the sunday million and one satellite for the Sunday Warmup. I got it in twice with QQ vs AA in 25NL.

25 NL
Tricky hand #1: ATcc in the CO w/102 BB. HJ opens to $0.75 and I call. BB Calls with KcKd w/ 66BB. Pot ($2.35)

Flop: Kh8h5c x/x/x

Turn: 9c BB bets $1.12 and I call. If I raise here I only rep random bluffs, a set of nines, 98, and combo draws like Ax clubs or JcTc, 7c6c(straight). I wouldn’t call a raise preflop with K8, K9, K5, 95, or 85 and If I had a K or a set, I would have bet the flop since I act last and want to protect against draws. Pot ($4.59)

River: He checks and I bet $2.62 and he thinks for a while and I felt like a raise was coming. He raised to $12.24… 4.6x my raise. His passive aggressiveness got him paid off. He could have a weaker flush but they surely would have x called or bet called. How often is this a bluff? The way the hand played out, it felt like a weird bluff. Anyways… moving on.

Hand #2: I raise to $0.50 w/ QdTd on the button. BB calls w/ 5c5h. Pot ($1.10)

Flop: Qc7h5d.They x and I cbet 0.63 and they raise to $2.40. I call. Pot ($5.90)

Turn: 5s I was probably going to fold the turn depending on the bet size but they x and I x back because I’m either way ahead or way behind.

River: 3d They bet $4.90 and I call and lose.

Next came the Satellites:

Game #1: $0.55 Sunday Million Satellite Round 1. Top 3 finishers goes into the $11 Satellite into the actual Sunday Million. Had I known this before registering, I would have skipped this.

I jammed 11 bb in the CO w/33 6 handed and run into KK but river a 3 and survive.

I busted when it was 5 handed and HJ limps and CO limps and I shove J8o w/ 7 BB. The CO calls with AJs and they flop a straight.

Game #2: $1.65 Sunday Million

I open jammed 7 BB utg+1 w/ A5o and CO calls w/ AQs and we river a 5. I busted w/ 77 vs ATo.

Game #3: $1.65 Sunday Million

I re-bought way too many times in this one. It said 15 rebuys but Its actually 7 rebuys and the original buyin because when I rebought I chose the double rebuy option which gives you twice the chips. Note to everyone: Don’t rebuy when the rebuy option is less than 3 BB. I did that way too many times and burned $ even though it’s just $3 to rebuy, the chances of winning are low.

Game #4: $3.33 Sunday Warm Up Satellite

I lost my last 11BB w/ Ako vs JJ vs 88 when the board came A2283.

I might just buy in directly to the Sunday Million. For the day I lost around $77.

Tournaments + SNG’s

Woke up at 9am Pacific Time and registered for six tournaments. I cashed in 3 of them and also cashed once out of three $15 Sit N Go’s. I busted 3 of the tournies I was in, in a span of two minutes.

The Bigger $22 – 343rd/7,870 Players for $61.38

Hand #1: I had 17bb and opened on the CO w/ A7cc and bb 3bet w/ AQo and 23 bb and I 4bet shipped it and flopped an A and a 7 to double.

Hand #2: I was down to my last 12 bb’s w/ TT. I got into a flip vs KQo and the board came 8KJT5.

Hand # 3: Utg opened to 4 k w/ 99and im utg+1 w/77 and shipped 21 bb and bust.

The Hotter $8.80 – 536th/10,822 Players for $25.97

CO open jams 8 BB w/ A5o and we have AJo on the button and 15 bb and rejam and they flop a 5.

The next hand I open jammed Q8s in the CO w/ 7 BB and BB calls w/ QQ and we hit the showers.

$16.50 Turbo – 330th/7,012 Players for $44.17

Hand #1: 4 minutes into this tourney I 2.5x my stack with A5o from the BB and 150 bb. UTG+2 opens to 60. HJ calls w/ ATo and 80 bb. Button calls. SB calls w/ AJs and 149 bb. (Pot: 300)

Flop is AdKc5s. SB leads 160 and I call. HJ rips it for 1545. SB raises to put me all in and I call. Turn and river is a 3 and 6.

Hand #2: I Busted AA w/ KQ when they min 3bet w/ 7 BB after I opened to 2bb preflop. 54Q3K

Hand #3: I open shipped 77 w/ 10 BB in the CO vs AKo on the button and the board came 8J38K to bust.

$11 Sunday Storm – 9,115th/33,830 Players

Hand #1: UTG+2 opens to 240 w/65o and 57 bb and Button calls w/ A5o and 45 BB. We have JsTs in the sb and call w/ 66 BB. Pot (800)

AsQc2s UTG+2 cbets 320. Button calls and I call. Pot 1760 Turn is the 3s. It checks through. River is 4d and I bet 704 and utg+2 ships it for 3995 and button calls for all their chips and I thought for a few seconds before calling. A K or Q high flush and straight flush would have bet the turn. With that said, I called and won 103 BB’s.

Hand #2: I busted w/ AKo and 9BB vs JJ.

The Bigger $11 – 7,741st/16,380 Players

I busted w/ AK and 29 BB vs AQ.

The Hotter $11 – 4,739th/9,500 Players

HJ opens to 500 w/ 15 bb and JsTs and CO calls w/ KQs and 18 bb and sb calls and I have 66 in the BB. I rip 15 BB and HJ + CO call and flop and river comes a Q. We bust.

SNG #1 116th/180 Players

HJ ships 10bb w/ QTo and I rejam 13bb with TT on button and sb calls and covers us w/ AJs. Flop has a J and we bust.

SNG #2 3rd/45 for $102.31.

Hand #1: I opened ATs utg+1 to 6o and HJ 3bets to 180 w/ JJ. I call and flop is 45J goes x/x. I thought they had an ace here a lot and was pot controlling but the board is so dry that they should cbet. Turn is an ace and I check, planning to call. They cbet 180 into 390. River is 3s and they bet 380 into 760. After this hand, I was the shortest stack here with all 45 players still in but would be 1st in chips 5-10 minutes later. Its never over until its over.

Hand #2: I open shipped 16bb w/ 77 utg and utg+1 calls w/ TT and 36 Bb and SB calls with 84s and 16 BB… lol. Flop comes a 7 and we triple up.

Hand #3: I shipped 7 BB w/ Q4o on the button and both players call w/ AQ and TT.

SNG #3 13th/18 Players

I shipped AQo w/ 9bb utg+1 and lost a flip to JJ to bust.

Total Buyins: $125.30

Total Winnings: $61.38+25.97+44.17+102.31=$233.83

Net Winnings: $108.53 + $3.73 From 50 NL Cap during the break = $112.26 after 5 hours

14 SNG’s + 50 NL HU Cap

Hello everyone, I’ve been busy working and studying the game over the last two weeks, but today I found time to fire up a session.

I cashed twice out of the 14 SNG’s. Total buyins were $180 and net winnings were -$67.15.

1st/18 for $100.02

2nd/18 for $34.83

Here is a picture of me 6 tabling today on the laptop:



Five of games I played was the $15 180 Player SNG which 1st place is $796.

I busted in one of the $8 180 Players SNG where 1st is $396 in 29th/180, 2 short of the money.

It was 7 handed. UTG opens w/ 15bb and I shove 5 BB on the BU for 5 BB w/ AJo and the BB has 9bb and QQ. I was playing to win and didn’t think about the min payout which was only a $1.50 more than the buyin.

Most of the bust outs were standard and I got sucked out on a few times. One was w/ AA losing to KK. The other hand was busting early w/ KK and 72 BB. I raised from the SB and the BB and HJ call. On a board of 8d5s2s I cbet and both players called with their flopped set. I knew it wasn’t a good spot to be in after being called twice. I jammed the turn for pot size and disconnected and didn’t know what I busted to until I requested the hand history through Stars. HJ had 55 and turned quads and the BB had 22. Oh well.

After the SNG’s, I fired up a quick 50 NL Game and made $55 ish.

Hand #1: Kd4h in BB. SB raises to $1.00 I call.

Flop: 4d5hTs x/x At these stakes, most players would cbet Ace high and most of their air. Sets would bet here to protect against straight draws.

Turn: 9d I don’t think my hand is strong enough to bet here and if I get raised, I’m in a sticky situation. I x/ planning to call. They bet $1 into $2. A Delay cbet with Ace high here is plausible.

River: Ah I x and they instantly bet $2.50 into $4. I think about what I beat and it’s mostly straight draws. All their broadway hands on the turn have a gutshot. I call after a few seconds.

SB shows: QdJc for Q high. Usually in this spot I will be beat but based on the hand before I played against this player, they thought a few seconds before value betting.

My nemesis in this game is a German player who has seems to always get the best of me. One time I bluffed the river w/ Q8o for Q high after FD’s missed and he called me with Q9o for Q high 9 kicker for the win. I looked up their profile on pokerprolabs and they have over $800K in total winnings this year but only $8000 in net winnings… Anyways, I think they’re a decent player.

Overall I lost $14 today and have just short of $1200 in the account. Finally, I have 845 VPP’s for this month and reaching 2500 for July will be tough but not impossible.

Sunday Million Run

I bought into my first Sunday Million ($215) on August 3rd and had a great time even though I busted in 613th/10,164 people for $569.18. I played in 5 other tournaments and 1 Sit N Go and did not play my A game and punted $80 in those. It started at 1130 AM until I busted at 6:20 PM accumulating a total of 350 hands. I was 7th in chips out of 6500 players around the 2 hour mark. First place was $290K.

The very first hand I was dealt in was an interesting spot:

Level: 25/50 – Hero BB: KQo. UTG+2 raises to 150. I call. Bn calls. I call. Pot (475).

Flop: Kc 4s 7h UTG+2 cbets pot. Its a big bet on such a dry flop. I decided to call and reevaluate turn. Pot (1425).

Turn 4c: They bet the pot again. I lose to AA, AK, 44, 77 and don’t feel they would bet this big with any other PP so I decided to let it go.

Level: 30/60 – Hero CO: 6c 2c I raise to 180. SB and BB call. Pot 540. Generally, I would not open with this hand but the entire table was playing tight and I had position.

Flop: Qs 6h 5s The flop checks through. Cbetting this flop opens me up to getting raised by FDs, sets, and some Qx. I don’t think my hand is strong enough to value bet, especially not to get 3 streets of value.

Turn: 2d: The SB leads 225 and I raise to 540. I would not expect anyone to put me on 43 and I would have cbet all my Qx+ on the flop considering the board is somewhat wet. When they lead 42% of the pot, I discounted a set in their range as they would bet more to protect against draws. Given that, my raise should be closer to 3x to gain more value. They called. Pot (1620)

River: Ks An interesting card. They tanked and bet 725 into 1620. A Flush draw is possible with JTs, ATs, AJs, and suited connecting spades but again I felt they would bet bigger to get more value. I called and SB shows 7h7d. It looks like they decided to turn their hand into a bluff on the river. I think their best play would be to x/r the river. Alternatively, x/folding is not a bad option either. I suppose that since we have only been playing for 40 minutes thus far, there are no reads that I go for thin value on the river and think their line is fine against my line but they should bet closer to pot on the river since I capped my range on the flop and their sizing will be polarized. I picked up 27 BB’s.

Level: 40/80 – Hero: UTG+1 Ad Ac.

I opened to 240. Bn and BB call. Effective stacks is 118 BB. Pot (760)

Flop: Ah Jh 7s I cbet 450 into 760. BB calls. They can have FD’s, Ax, and maybe Jx or a Gutshot here. I don’t expect to be floated by any two cards or a smaller Pocket Pair. Pot (1660)

Turn: Ks A relatively safe card unless they have QT. I cbet 1000 into 1660. They call. Pot (3660)

River: Jh The gin card. They lead 2220 and I put them all in for their last 5520 and they call off with 5h6h for a flush and we win 121 BB’s.

Level: 100/200 - Hero: HJ with Ah Kd. Utg+1 opens to 400. Utg+2 calls. I raise to 1111. CO calls. UTG+1 and 2 calls. Pot (4969)

Flop: Ac 6h 6s I cbet 1234, about 1/4 of the pot. There is no need to bet too much to induce someone to make a move or flat with a wider range. UTG+1 calls w/ 4842 chips behind. Pot (7437)

Turn: Qc. I put them all in and they tank call with As Tc. River is 7d and we win 49.5 BBs.

Level: 125/250

Hand #1: Hero: UTG+2 w/ 6h 6d. I raise to 500. MP raises to 1500. BB calls. Effective stacks are 69 BB’s. I call. Pot (4895).

Flop: Jd 6s 3h Perfect flop! MP cbets 2444. I call. There is no reason to ever raise this flop because it looks like a set. Pot (9783)

Turn: Th They bet 3456 and again I just call. JJ, TT, 66 and 33 are in my 3bet calling range and raising here still seems very strong. Calling here keeps my range wide. Pot (16,695)

River: 8c I put them all in for 9,913. I would never put them all in with a Jack or QQ unless I knew they were capable of folding KK and AA. They tanked for a minute and called with KK. If they folded, they would have 40 BB left.

Hand #2: Hero: Qc Qd UTG. I raise to 500. MP calls. HJ is the tightest player at the table with 47 BB raises to 1500 and I just call. MP folds. Pot (4145)

Flop: 9d 7d 5c This flop does not hit well for them and great for me. I x/call 1750. Pot (7645)

Turn: 8d. I x and they x back.

River: 9h. I put them all in for 8522. I can have diamonds, 88 or turn my over pair into a bluff vs their KK, AA. If I had 99,77,55 I would have raised the flop so those hands can be discounted. Holding JJ, QQ, KK, and AA here is in a really tough spot. They folded.

Level: 150/300

Hand #1: Hero: UTG Ks Ts w/175 BB. I open to 600.

CO calls and BB calls (48BB) . Pot (2,310)

Flop: Tc 9d 8h I have Top pair and second kicker and decided to pot control because its a dangerous board and hits the BB range hard. 99,TT,88, QJ on the flop is possible. Getting raised is not what I wanted so I checked. When the CO checks, I put them on a PP because they played so tight.

Turn: 8c The BB (who I think is also the best player at the table) bets 1624. Its a large bet. I have to call here and reevaluate the river. Pot (5,558)

River: 7h. A bad card to say the least. They bet 3872 and I fold. Looking into their thought process, I never have JJ or a set since I x the flop, but a big Pocket Pair is possible and is in a gross spot on the river. If they are not value betting, they can turn their entire preflop calling range into a bluff here and it would work a majority of the time.

I was not really sure how to play this hand and ended up losing only 7.5 BB.

Hand #2:

Hero: As Jh in Sb. Bn opens to 600. I call. Pot (1860)

Flop: Ad 6s 8s. I x call 800. Pot (3460).

Turn: 5d I led out for 1384 here. The reason was that most of their Pocket Pairs will check in this spot and I don’t want to give them a 5% chance of outdrawing me on the river. Most of their give up hands would x back the turn anyways. I also believe that 66, 88, AQ or AK might have bet more on the flop. They call. Pot (6228).

River: 5h I bet 2491 hoping to get looked up by a worse hand. They tank for a while and fold.

Level: 1500/3000

I was down to my last 14 BB in the SB and well into the money at this point and held AJo. The button open jammed 22 BB with KJo when the BB had 32 BB. This was an easy call for my tournament life and doubled to 29 BB.

I got moved to another table for the first time where I had to fold 30 hands in a row because I was so short stacked.

Blinds were 3000/6000 and MP opens and SB calls. I have 7 BB in the BB with AJs and go all in and lose to AKs. Good Game.

A Canadian guy that I played with (at my original table) doubled up off me when he was short stacked and ended up in 3rd place and picked up $127K. Certainly not a bad day for him.