NLHE $365 Day 1-

Firstly, I’m sorry about the lack of hands during the first few hours. It’s been a long day, and I am quite tired. I had a bunch of hands but I can’t remember some of them.

Hand 1- I get K K and raise a limper. I get two calls, one from the BB (who I just saw check raise the flop and then bet turn/river with a set) and one from the limper.

The flop is 773r and both check to me. I bet and BB calls. The turn and river brick off and I bet both streets, getting a crying call on the river. Nice start to the day.

I start to chip up decently by stealing a few pots. These structures allow for a decent amount of play. Standard c-betting and sometimes barreling the turn can win you a fair amount of pots, and there’s really no reason to get into super marginal situations like flips.

Hand 2- I call an open with 88, BB squeezes (same BB as in the previous hand), opener calls and I call. We’re all fairly deep and the flop is T 8 2. The BB squeezer bets, the opener folds, I raise smallish and he calls. The turn is a brick and he check/folds. Maybe it’s better just to flat there but I don’t know- I had the read on him that he’s fairly passive/station-y all around.

I build my stack slowly. I get a hyper old guy LAG to my direct left, which prevents me from stealing sometimes.

Hand 3- I open T T and BB calls. We’re probably like 50bbs deep at this point. The flop is K T 8. He donk bets fairly strongly into me and I decide to flat call here. Raising seems a bit unnecessary and I don’t want to scare him out of the pot. One benefit to raising is that he will be afraid if a diamond does hit the turn and it could potentially hurt my action…but I think that flatting the flop and making a move on the turn is best.

The turn is the 3 and he bets 2/3rds pot, a fairly large bet. I decide to just ship it at this point and he thinks and then calls with AKo and my hand is good.

Nearing the end of day 1, I am still in a solid position. I have had about 50+ bbs for most of the day and have been fairly steady. My cards have been solid for the most part and I definitely was hitting some hands. I was constantly telling myself “play solid, don’t be stupid”- it’s hard to resist the urges of going back into 6-max cash game mode where I am raising and going ape**** every other hand.

Hand 4- tighter weird middle aged guy opens UTG + 1, I call with A J. We’re about 45-55 bbs deep at this point (I can’t recall the number).

The flop is A22. He checks and I decide to check back. I guess I don’t mind checking one street and am not really going to auto go for 3 streets here against unknowns. Perhaps this is a leak?

The turn is the 6 and he bets 2/3rds pot, I call.

The river is the Q and he bets the same amount as he did on the turn. I raise 2.75x his bet, intending to fold to a jam and he tank calls and my hand is good.

We play on and my stack takes a few hits. I get down to about 25bbs or so. I eat a nice chicken fried steak at the café and am feeling pretty solid about my game.

Hand 5- One hand I was confused about- MP big stack opens 4x (very large) and I have JJ in the button. I don’t know if I should just jam it here with 25bbs? Do I 3-bet smaller? Anyways, I shipped it and he folds.

I start to chip up without ever showing a hand and I steal here or there (or just plain get good hands with zero action). Asian chick LAG shows up at the table with a lot of chips and starts to open a lot. At this point, I probably have about 30-40bbs and am feeling decent. It’s late into the day at this point and we’re down to our final few tables. We’re about 7 players from being ITM (top 21 get paid) and everyone is fairly tired.

Hand 6- Asian LAG opens in MP, I flat call with AQo from the BB. I’m not sure if this is just an auto-3-bet or what with these stack sizes (35bbsish). Off topic a bit: I find that I’m perfectly fine playing a big stack (75bbs+) or a small stack (like 15bbs>), but mid stacks are really tough for me.

Anyways, The flop is K 9 5. I check, she checks back.

The turn is the 3 and I bet, she calls. The river is the 7 and I bet again as a pure bluff (obviously) and she tank raises me 2.5x my bet. I fold.

This hand seemed like a mistake all around. I think I should maybe just try to check the turn and try to get to showdown? But it seems weird because after she checks back the flop, I think she’s got some sort of weird medium SD hand (and she bets all of her air on the flop). Her river raise is super strange all around and I have no idea what to think of it. I had air anyways, so not a big deal.

We end the day at 2:00am, I have about 15bbs at 60k in chips.

bbbbbbb

ggggggg

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

You could min three bet but may as well just ship - anything other than a min three bet commits you.

My usual line is call and soulread postflop. We are IP and villain is likely ******ed

That's true too. Not having a 3b shoving range at 25bb doesn't seem like a bad plan really. I guess the implicit threat of 4x pre is that he's going to pot/pot allin but maybe that's just me being scared.

I sold my last 2 oz's at $1600 bitchez
****'s on sale now!

WSOP $365 Event Day 2-

I woke up super uneasy and tired. I idiotically pre-registered the day before for another $365 that I was planning on playing today (but obviously didn’t due to making it to day 2), so I had to go to the casino 3 hours before my tournament start time to unregister. Luckily, my good friend Mike and his dad (RoundGuy on 2+2) are staying in town and let me crash at their hotel room.

Hand 1- I win vs. a short stack who is all in preflop with KJ vs. my AQ. I hold and that’s a nice start to the day.

People start to bust very quickly and we go in the money within the first 30 minutes of play. We didn’t even have to do hand for hand, which was nice.

I start to really open up and take chips. We’re like 5-6 handed at this point waiting to minimize the tables to 2, and I’m stealing like a mad man. I build my t60k stack up to t180k without much effort.

We get reassigned at 18 and I have to move tables/seats. Again, I go on a stealing rampage and start to hit hands and steal liberally. It seems that I am winning every hand and one guy mentions “This is sick…this is like the Truman Show, and we’re all just watchin’ you. Only it’s the Dave show here”. I build my chip stack up by winning several hands in a row, none of which go to showdown. I’m running well and playing great at this point and am one of the top stacks in the tournament.

Hand 2- confusing spot here- UTG+1 opens (Asian chick LAG) for like 11k at 2.5k/5k and I flat with 9 9. She has like 25bbs effective. Maybe this is a fold or a shove? I don’t know.

Older guy who used to be chip leader jams over the top in the CO for about 100k and Asian chick folds. Maybe this is a call too? I have no idea here… I folded. I folded because I know that I don’t need to push more marginal edges than need be, especially when I am already stealing so many pots uncontested. Maybe someone can give advice though.

Hand 3- I open Q Q and get two callers. One is the asian chick LAG from before (her stack has dwindled from her calling like ATC oop and not playing correctly post flop) and this older guy. The older guy had a bunch of chips at one point and plays fairly passively (with occasional moments of spazziness).

The flop is a beautiful Q J 2 and both check to me. I bet like 1/5th the pot and the older guy jams over me. I call and he has KJs and I hold.

This pot is really massive and at this point, I am a huge chip leader. I’m the Terminator at this point and start knocking other players out. Asian chick LAG loses with J9o vs. my K8o. The board is J238K and she is obviously pissed off.


We go down to 5 handed for a while and we’re waiting for one last person to bust so we can make the final table (10 players).

thanks...i think this line is probably better.

Cool, good luck. I definitely like shoving 99 just because your image means people will call you way lighter than they should.

(even though last time I liked not having a 3b shove range at 25bb, but you always have to change these things based on image)

already played it, just breaking it up into two parts. here is the final table:

I hang back a bit and my steals get shoved on by short stacks. I double a guy up who has A4 against my A7 and he spikes a 4. I still have a ton of chips at this point.

I really need to learn how to use my stack better and put players to decisions for all of their chips. It’s hilarious to actually type that out, but it’s true- betting all in when you cover them instead of just a large amount puts so much more pressure on them than otherwise.


Hand 4- I open Q T on the button and a decent short stack 3-bets me (miniraises). He’s got maybe 17bbs effective. I think for a second and then ship it in. This is an important moment for me; not only because it won me chips, but because it helped with my momentum and statement with the table. He folds after a bit.

We make the final table and the last 10. I’m the big chip leader at this point, with t500,000.

The final table goes quickly. Players are getting knocked out very fast. I win a race with AK vs. 77 and turn a King against a short stack.

Hand 5- I call a raise with K J from the BB. Villain is a solid player who is clearly a live regular but does some decent things all around. The flop is J 2 5 and I check/shove, he folds after tanking. I’m wondering if just c/c-ing a few streets is better.

There is a spazzy old guy who is a goat herder who is playing super aggressively.

Players are still busting quickly and we get down to 6 right before dinner. I’m still a healthy big stack and there are 2 other short stacks/2 medium stacks (decent live reg and old guy).

Hand 6- live reg min-opens from MP, I call with K T from the BB. The flop is 9 Q 8 and I donk bet into him. He tanks and calls. The turn is the glorious 6 and I bet again, he tanks and eventually calls.

The river is the 3 and you obviously know what I’m going to do- I bet a 65% of his remaining chips. This is where I think I made a mistake on my bet sizing- I should have just gone all in at this point instead of doing this. Instead, he tanks and calls with AQo and I show my bluff.

We go on dinner break and I eat another chicken fried steak.

So I have to keep talking to myself and make sure that I’m still playing solid poker.

Hand 7- I open 3 6 on the button for a min open. I get one call from the spazzy old guy. The flop is 8 6 2 and he checks to me. I should have bet here I think, simply because 6x doesn’t have a ton of showdown value. That being said, checking vs. this player is definitely nice because he WILL c/r me fairly light (and has c/r-ed me before).

The turn is the K and he bets 20k into a 50k pot. I call.

The river is the J and he bets 100k, nearly a pot bet. I tank and then call, and my hand is good vs. 52.

The next hand after I see him c/shove with J2 on a 9 T 5 board and lose vs. Q9h.

Hand 8- I open Q 2 on the button for a miniraise. The BB calls. This guy has been playing fairly loose and made some really bad calls (saw him call a 15bb UTG shove with A2o and he got there). All in all, he seemed like a fairly poor player.

The flop is Q 2 8 and he checks, I bet, he c/rs pretty big. I ship it at this point because I know he isn’t folding any Qx. He has Q 9 and my hand is good.

We bust the short stack and it’s down to me and live regular heads up. At this point, I have a small chip lead. First place pays $14.5k and second pays $9k approximately.

We start playing. I use the miniraise strategy and I think it’s best with the stack depth (maybe 50bbs). If he made huge mistakes such as calling way too much OOP and c/f-ing too many flops, I think that I could make it 2.5x or what have you.

He starts to run really hot (or he changes gears insanely and goes from a semi passive player to a fairly aggro player). He wins the first few pots and we don’t really go to showdown.

Hand 9- I open A T and he mini 3-bets. I call.

The flop is T 3 3 and he bets a very small amount. I think and then call.

The turn is the K and he checks, I check back.

The river is the 2 and he bets very large, about pot. This is a tough decision and I decided to call here. He has TT and my hand is NOT good.

This is a huge momentum swing and he continues to play fairly well and win more pots than me. I get grinded down to only about 30bbs.

I start to adjust my strategy so that I’m just betting much more aggressively all around and not checking as many flops. I also incorporate more donk betting into my game. I start to make some progress and get some chips back.

30bbs or so, I open 77 and he ships it. He’s done this every 10 hands or so, and I’m not really sure what to think of it. I decided to call and he has 99 and I lose.

I’m pretty happy with getting 9th, but there’s also a part of me that’s pretty disappointed as well. I had a significant chip lead and am discouraged that I could not finish it out. 9k is a decent pay day though and even after I pay my investors, I will still have a little bit.

There are still 2 more tourneys to play- the 6-max tomorrow and another $365. I’ll update this thread then.

I will also post some thoughts on my critical mistakes this past tournament.

I'm afraid that this means he isn't actually decent.

Nice job, orange!

Yeah that spot sucks but I think you can fold it fairly confidently given bet sizing and read.

gj overall obv

Yeah, actually, after thinking about it, I think he may have had a few more chips than that. Probably closer to like 25bbs. Whatever though!

Another short TR incoming!

NLHE 6-max $365

I’m pretty tired after my long grind last night. I was pretty excited for this 6-max event though and I felt my edge was pretty high in these games.

The structure is pretty good in these events and we started with t10,000 with 25/50 blinds.

Hand 1- I open 6 5 from the BTN and get two callers. One is a super passive station woman who will not fold any hand pre or post flop. The other is an old man who is passive as well.

The flop is 5 8 2 and they both check to me, I bet, Old guy calls, station woman folds. The turn is the 8 and he checks, I check. I figure he’s not folding anything he called the flop with. The turn is the 9 and he check calls my bet and is disgusted when I show my straight.

Hand 2- I open K J blind vs. blind vs. Old man and he calls. The flop is Q T T and I bet, he calls. The turn is the 9 and I bet, he calls. The river is a brick and I bet again, he calls once more and my hand is good.

Definitely running good at this point. Both of these hands are within like 1-2 orbits.

Hand 3- I raise Q T from the SB after station woman limps UTG. Old man and station woman call. The flop is 6 4 2 and I bet and the Old man calls. The turn is the J and I bet, he miniraises, I jam the rest of his stack in and he calls with 98 and he is out of the tournament quickly.

I’m stealing more and have more than doubled my stack at this point.

CRITICAL MISTAKES INCOMING! RANT INCOMING!

I really need to get out of online cash game mode. I usually have to constantly remind myself to calm down and just play solid, simply because the inner spaz within me is so crazy and erratic at times. I definitely need to just FOCUS and play super SOLID, not SPAZ and just play well. Live players are far nittier than some of those online cash games. I just need to remember this and not flip ****.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hand 4- Since the old guy lost, there is no SB. I have seen station woman call a huge % of hands (she generally limp/calls a high amount and then c/c-s tons of boards). I HAVE seen her spaz out once with a weak top pair hand (TPNK) and she c/r-ed flop and then lead turn/checked the river. So I think she does overvalue some hands. But overall, passive.

I open KK on the button, she’s the only BB. She 3-bets me. I 4-bet like a ****** and she 5-bets. Of course she’s never doing this without AA but I’m a tard and decide to call. She has about 100bbs at this point and we get it in on a Jxx board.

Really awful play on my part. There’s no way an old passive woman is 5-betting pre-flop with anything but AA. I should have just called her 3-bet and then called down. Instead, I donate 5k chips back and curse at my own stupidity.

Hand 5- At this point, I’m somewhat annoyed at my poor play, but I truck on. I still am stealing a fair amount but also lose some medium pots along the way, mainly when players raise my c-bets.

I open A 9 from the CO, station woman folds and young kid calls. Young kid is a weird player- fairly passive (limp/calls a lot) and seems a bit loose/passive. He definitely does not seem like an online player though because his mechanics are quite poor from my observations.

The flop is 9 6 3 and he check/calls my bet. The turn is the 7 and he check/calls another bet. The river is the A and he donks out 3/4ths pot.

This was a tough hand for me and I thought about folding…but obviously didn’t. I felt he could do this with some weird lower 2 pair type of hand. Regardless, he had 66 and my hand is not good.

Hand 6- I raise with K K and get a bunch of calls. A total nit who hasn’t really played a hand and has slowly lost his stack by either raising small and then giving up or just calling raises/c/f-ing every flop spaz jams AJo and I obviously call and then win.

I lose a few more medium pots due to not making any hands or just the board not coinciding well with bluffing opportunities.

Hand 7- I open A 8 and I get one call from the BB. The BB is a guy who looks like Alistar Overeem’s brother (if you’re an MMA fan, you know who he is). For those who aren’t, he looks like this:



Anyways, he’s quite passive and fairly donkish. He takes extremely strange lines such as c/c-ing multiple streets with A3o on a 654r J board and then making lighter calls. He also will raise KK and then check/call a 8xxss board and then check the turn/bet the river large. All in all, I don’t really think he knows what he’s doing.

The flop is 9 T Q and he check/calls my bet. The turn is the 9 and he checks, I check. I know he’s a station and he’s never folding anything. The river is the K and he open shoves, I fold, he shows K9o proudly.

Hand 8- A bunch of people limp, the SB raises big with a very short stack and I have AA in the BB. I re-raise a pot committing amount and he shoves over the top with 9 8 and my hand is good.

Despite winning that stack, I really can’t get anything going. I hover around 50bbs or so for the rest of the tournament and can’t make a hand to save my life. I can’t really steal either because calling station woman is there and I don’t have a big stack to work with. I get chipped down to like 14bbs and a tighter guy moves to the table.

Hand 9- Tighter/solid/competent seeming player mini-raises on the button with like 13bbs effective. I jam with K T from the SB and he calls with JJ and my hand is not good.

I’m left with 1bb and some change for antes. I get it in on the last hand before my BB and I have KJ but lose to a flush.

All around, I’m disappointed with my play. I had a great chance to play well and build my stack but instead did that stupid KK hand, which slowed my momentum hugely. I got control of my play near the middle/end, but at that point, it was too late. I missed my opportunity to really exploit my opponents by value betting them to death and being forced to just play much tighter than I would have liked at those early stages. Oh well…I’ll get them tomorrow.

lol live pokeraments

so I finally booked most of Europe, my first time across the pond.

basic itinerary is:

may 16-20 barcelona
may 20-23 amalfi coast
may 23-26 rome
may 26-29 athens
may 29-june 2 santorini

any suggestions on food, clubs, casinos, tourism is much appreciated. we love drinking, eating, scenery, gambling, we will do some of the mandatory tourist stuff but not much of it, probably 1 day in each place

I studied abroad in Bcn and it's literally my favorite city on earth.

drinking: Xampagneria on Reina Cristina street in Barceloneta, cheap champagne and good tapas, you NEED to go here. Chupitos Espirit is a chain of shot bars, good for pregaming. Good sangria bar off of Las Ramblas called Ovella Negra.

eating: Stick to tapas. People like the paella at 7 Portes if you want something pricy.

scenery: All of the Gaudi stuff is cool. My favorites are Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia. I also like the Boqueria market.

Clubs: There are a ton of huge clubs, try to get the "tickets" people hand out to save some money getting in. Otto Zutts, Catwalk, Danzatoria were all popular when I was there in 2006.

gambling: There are 2 casinos by the water, you have to pay an entrance fee. When I went there were never more than 1 or 2 poker tables running and the blinds were 5-10€ or 10-20€.

Have fun

isn't the rake crazy high in european casinos? like 10% capped at 50 or something.

every casino has their own policy (atleast in Belgium). I hate barcelona fwiw.

Pretty sure Curve is just a contrarian. Seems like you always disagree for no reason imo.

I disagree

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V5EybsXDQI

Curve. Also, if I were making a top 5 tracks ever, definitely early on the list. It's a track where I think the only people who don't like it are those who haven't heard it before.