Was just rereading my post about the game at Naga World yesterday, and just wanted to correct a small mistake : when I say that villain looked comfortable (in the K10 bluff catcher hand), I meant uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I cannot edit it. If I could edit my posts, I would go back and work more on the first few posts to this thread, for I find the structure to be weakish and there are some obvious spelling mistakes as well. Oh well, now I take more the time to work my posts and hopefully, I will spot my mistakes in the future before posting...

Yes, I can remember reading arguments about the "best" translation of Demons/The Possessed/The Devils. I've always liked Constance Garnett's translations but, honestly, I'm not in any position to say what's good and what isn't--I don't read any Russian.

The early story of his execution is crazy. The tsar planned the fake execution as a kind of psychological punishment. Instead of death, Dostoevsky "only" had to spend 5 years in Siberia + 4 years in the military. His book The House of Dead is taken from his experiences in prison--it's definitely worth a read.

A Small Naga World Report

Just a few notes for those wondering about the state of the Naga poker game ; I have already updated it in the Cambodian thread, but some might miss it, so will post here as well.

Even though my last time here was in May, I had failed to notice that they had once again changed the rake, but this time for the better. It is 3% capped at 20$; so a 30$ pot rakes 1$, 60$ pot, 2$, 100$ pot, 3$ etc. They nevertheless still take 20$ at 400$ or over (so 5% in this spot), but 10$ - I believe - in between 300-400$. This is by far a friendlier rake then it was in 2012 and makes the game more profitable.

The few times that I have been here, I have been starting the game at 6h30pm and really, it is not worth it. Everyone buys in for 200$ at this early stage and the pots are tentative at best. Where as once 10pm kicks in, new players will buy in usually for 500$ and often for 1k+, which makes some players (like me and 2 others) add an extra 1k to our already somewhat substantial stack.

Even though the game is nit/reg infested, there is still a few spots that buy in for 500$ and spew off by playing around 80% of their hands. And really, the regs (outside of 1 guy) are quite predictable and leak friendly.

I hope this was helpful for you Asian bound grinders.

Run good all!

If any of you all still have some funds on Party, I highly suggest you join us on the sit-out protest this Friday, at 3pm EST time (Saturday 2am for those of us in SE Asia). For more details, check out the link below :

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28...57/index5.html

Your presence would be appreciated to protest vs stuff like the segregated-yet-not-well-supervised fish pool, as well as the constant extra fees added to withdrawal - for example - without any notice.

I had mainly played live over the past 6 months with occasional dips online - particularly on Pokerstars and Fulltilt -, but made a deposit on Party lately, for I did miss the fishy games. Even though Stars has a more diversified game selection and better rakeback, Party remained more profitable as far as beating the game. So I build up my roll over the past week and tried cashing out while leaving a substantial amount on there ; alas!, to no avail. There are doing a security check on my account for no reason and am very scared of the outcome, as a similar withholding of funds has happened to a few Party Poker players over the past week.

Anyhow, wish me luck on this issue and please join the sit out if possible.

Run good all!

This means I will play live for the next little, at least until I get access to my funds online...

Street 51

the sun is gently settling upon Phnom Penh as I stroll through the streets on the way to Naga World. The walk is only 2 blocks away, but at this time of the year - being not exactly the peak touristic season yet -, the tuktuks are hungry for business and cry out offering their service ; I almost feel like a prey in India...

I manage to get the last seat in the game. Sweet. The beginning of my run good! Something to offset this run bad that has been prolonging! But it would not be the case...

I buy in for 500$ and rapidly proceed to dump it... Really, there isn't too much to talk about... Everything is pretty standard : KK vs AA (where I almost folded preflop because he made it so bluntly obvious he had aces)... a flopped 9high flush where I have to unwillingly CR-fold after the third player in the hand 3bets in position... I end up on the wrong side of set over set... and then, a flopped set versus a turned straight where I ultimately kiss my 1k buy-in goodbye... Really, the only question I have about Naga World, is how the hell can so many strong hands happen in such a small sample size... how on earth can 4 straight flushes (with both hole cards being used) happen in a span of about 30 hours... How is it humanly possible to get monsters vs monsters on such a consistent basis... Makes me almost think that the game is rigged, if it wasn't for the mediocre dealers that would have a hard time to credibly pull it off...

Yeah, a downswing is always the worst part of the grind ; that inescapable tilting feeling that follows us in our lives as we leave the table... But I manage to shake it off as I cross the casino doors and engage into the Cambodian night.

Even at this time of the year, Street 51 is heavily populated with foreign men, working girls, and tuktuk drivers trying to sale you the world. The attention that a fairly-young-handsome-man like myself gets, is unavoidable. And at times, annoying.

I like to sit there. To be an observer. To simply gather in all this stimulating information that is being thrown at me. Like the music pounding from 20 different bars. The working girls looking around, fighting boredom. The sexpats trying to look indifferent, uninterested. The torrential flow of alcohol being consumed. The non-stop movement in the streets as the populace wanders by. But then it happens : our smiles ineluctably cross paths and I know that my evening will now take a different turn.

Our conversation soon becomes a forgotten echo in the night, as the drinks and the dancing take over. "She is pretty, very pretty" I say to myself as we end up at a club called Pontoon, communicating quite effectively through the movement of our bodies. Sure there is a ton of beautiful women in this bar (and it seems that all the most gorgeous ones in Cambodia end up here), but even they are lost to my attention, as I dance with her, eyes locked into hers.

As her clothes fall to the floor at 8 am, I forget her name, her past or every bit of info that she told me about herself... I simply enjoy the moment. It all makes sense.

The morning headache is hard pressed to let us know that we are strangers and that the affinity shared, now belongs to the past : we are disconnected. We still manage to fake a good lunch, but the bill cannot arrive soon enough to send us packing in 2 different directions.

Maybe the guilt of the next day separation leaves me a bit when I hand some money over to her and send her on her way... Maybe it doesn't. But it still doesn't stop me from making my way happily back to the hotel, sitting by the pool, and popping open some virtual tables.

Run good all

Hey guys, I had a great time in Phnom Penh, but I most admit : I am all partied out. Sure it was great to see a couple of my friends (one has left for Thailand and the other for Manila), but all this severe partying had affected the quality of my game - a little bit - and my mood - a lot. So now it is time to move on to Kep, this quiet little beach town close to Kampot (pictures to come).

The whole goal is to focus on online grinding within a more peaceful environment. But before I get there, I wanted to get some feedback on a very borderline situation (or at least it was to me...) that happened a couple of hours ago.

I was playing a 54$ MTT which paid the top 6 players ; here is the payout (approximately) :

1- 750

2- 585

3- 415

4- 325

5- 185

6- 155

So it is a top heavy payout, but to bust the bubble is obviously also quite important.


The button is on seat 8 ; antes are 0.1bb

Seat 1 (23bb)

Seat 2 (13bb)

Seat 3 (8bb)

Seat 4 (19bb)

Seat 5 (17bb)

Hero (20bb)

Seat 7 (6bb)

Seat 8 (10bb)


So I am second in chips when I wake up with AKo in MP and make it 2bb. It is folded to the button who shoves for 10bb. At this point, I am always happily calling his shove, but then the SB (the chip leader) shoves for 23bb. What to do? He has me covered, but if I win, I am a massif chip leader, if I lose, I bust out when there is already 2 short stacks.


I ended up tanking for a while before folding. My reasoning was, regardless of who wins, I would be second in chips and there would be either 7 players left, or 8 with 2 small stacks. The problem is, I thought the chip leader's range was capped at AQ-AK or 88-JJ (I think he would of flatted QQ+), and therefore making it a very borderline spot.

What would you do in this marginal situation? We are almost always racing here (against at least 1 of the 2 all ins) and is it worth it, given the ICM implications?

the only way i would call is if i had both players well covered. I don't mind racing in a tourney but if i have other options available... well i like to race at a time and place of my choosing, not someone elses and preferably when i have an unfair advantage

WOW, after watching a video on Runitonce presenting a final table where the ICM implications defined every action of the hero (as oppose to chip EV), I ran this AKo in the ICMizer (which I am just starting to get more familiar with), and it turns out that I would of lost 100$ by calling with the AK. Double WOW! It definitely comes as a surprise... Shouldn't I therefore be shoving with such a strong hand instead of putting it in my raise-fold bluff range?

Maybe shoving is more optimal, but then again, the chip leader remains the only one that I cannot call with my AK (I call the other 3). Well, what do you guys think?

In reality, SB happened to have AQ and button 1010, and I would of scooped it, but I still played it right... Unless shoving 20bb pre was a better option...

Downswings

We are born broke and we die broke, everything in between is just variance

some poker author (sorry, the name escapes me...).


What is worse than a downswing for a poker player? Maybe the walk of shame, after busting out of a tourney, but really, that is but another chapter in the life of a downswing... Or going busto, but that, my friends, is the final chapter...

I have built my roll over the past 3 years, so being busto is nowhere near in sight, thankfully. Nevertheless, a downswing really sucks!!! Don't we know it all, but this by far the longest downswing in my life, spreading over almost a 3 months period. And during these months, I had to cover lots of transportation fees, hotels, tournament buy ins etc. extending my cost well into the 5 figures, but at least I am far removed from my degen days of playing 25-50 HU, frequently playing pots over 7500$... Those were the days that made me realize the importance of bankroll management.

Speaking of degenerates, I have started reading this thread about tons of degen stories that are quite unique and make me feel better about myself.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54...tories-447948/

Haha, it is a great little piece of art, to say the least! But outside of reading this thread, I have reached out for my usual remedies to make it through this downswing :

- Revisiting Rounders. Always a good thing to do and it certainly puts everything in perspective : when I wake up in the morning, I do not have a shiner! My life is not on the line and I do not have a deadline to come up with cash.

- Go back to what makes me happy in my life. The little stuff, you know, whether it be friends, a place or anything, really, that will bring that smile back.

- Study videos. I got complacent this summer in the Yukon and stopped studying. The game is so easy to beat over there, that I contented myself with mediocrity. Sure, we all know that live poker is easier to beat than online, but once I got back to the virtual felt grinding MTTs, I brought with me live cash games tendencies, that do not, unfortunately, blend well with tournament fundamentals. But my game is back on track now, and variance is the only villain to blame!

I am off to Kep tomorrow, this small Cambodian beach town that will be more favourable for focussing on studying and beating the game.

Run good all! and thx for listening to my downswing rant!

wondering where you booked Watana Mansion. I'm seeing it for 750B on their site and 27 on agoda. Not the and of the world but if theres a better deal I might as well get it. thx

Agoda. Paid 23.91$ US, which also came with a free breakfast. Weird that they are charging more now, for I stayed there in January last year for 20$, if I am not mistaken... It is well worth it though, and if you do stay there, let me know what you think of the place.

Take care

Thanks for the recommendation I may just lock in for xmas / new years before prices go up. In your opinion does the desk have room for a laptop and monitor?

Thx for the feedback. I do agree with you. Curiously, the exact same situation repeated itself when we were down to 7 players and it paid equivalent prize money for top 3 (it was a satellite) and shortstacker shoves for 8bb, while the chipleader overshoves. I am in the BB with AK, once again, but did not tank this time and simply folded. They both had the exact same starting hands as the previous scenario : shortstack had 1010 and chipleader AQ. A hits the flop and I would of scooped again. But results don't matter as much as knowing this spot is no longer marginal for me, but a clear fold. I ended up second and chipleader first, for the same prize money.

Piepounder : I am impressed, that is showing dedication to travel with a monitor

Towards the Within


To degen or not to degen, that is the question. Sure, when the cash is flowing in and the alcohol goes down easily, it feels quite natural to let ourselves go in degen mode without second guessing ourselves. But when that downswing ultimately hits and the booze loses some of its appeal, it becomes essential to nit it up. That is exactly what I did by secluding myself in Kep, this charming little sea-side town.


If you do not think of yourself a fish 6 months ago, there is something wrong with your game today.
Jason Koon


And that was just my problem : my game had been relatively static in the past 6 months, in the Yukon.

The Canadian north dwells in a somewhat timeless state. As does the poker game. To the extent that players evolve at a microscopic speed. So I contented myself to study the regs patterns and simply exploited their leaks. Easy game. But once I hit the virtual felt on Stars and Party, I realized that the midstakes MTT players had somewhat rapidly evolved over the past 6 months, and were now capable of moves I had only seen in higher buy ins.

So fast forward to present day in Kep, and I feel my game has finally picked up some steam. All I needed was a routine...

11:30 - The alarm beeps but alas!, it is to no avail! I am by no means a morning person. Even though I keep insisting at setting my clock at this time, my eyes simply refuse to open in the AM.

12:15 - I manage to shake away the laziness, sit up in a more vertical postion, meditate for an hour.

1:30 - After a shower and some pondering around, I set out for a short walk on the beach side, across the crab market - where they sell a ton of squid, prawns and other seafood -, and head towards the spa to get an hour long massage.

2:30 - I settle down on a patio by the seaside and take turns ordering different daily selections. I usually take a couple of hours to not only savor the outdoors, but to sip on a couple of brews while gradually opening more and more MTT tables on my laptop until it is time to head back to the hotel before either of the sunlight or my battery completely fades away.

5-11 - The grind continues on my balcony and in my room.

11-4 - I alternate between training videos on Runitonce (great training site, by the way) and episodes of Dexter (in the 4th season now).

And as simple as the routine seems, it has been a delight. Peaceful. Sure the recent upswing helps to put on a smile in the morning, but every part of the day inspires me, to the point where I am really enjoying poker again and found a renewed motivation in studying the game. I guess there lies the beauty to poker : we will never fully solve the puzzle. And as long as we enjoy the process of learning, then all is good with me.

I will stay in Kep for a few more weeks to keep on increasing my roll once again, but also because I enjoy it here. At least until I meet up with friends in Thailand in December, and then the degen switch will surely be switched on again

But while I am in a full on introvert mode, let me further indulge by suggesting a few great movies that I have seen this year…

Beasts of the Southern Wild : Very nice depiction of New Orleans post-Katrina through a fantasy allegory.

Cloud Atlas : The Wachowski Brothers and Tom Tykwer manage to reconcile the destiny of several characters into a bigger transcending quest.

Mr. Nobody : Great sci-fi film about twisted alternate realities and how they intertwine into a schizophrenic, confusing dimension.

Old Boy : Sick, sick movie. Not sure how Spike Lee is going to manage a remake that will not spoil the Korean original, but am curious to see…

While these movies are great, they showed be not approached lightly, for they are pretty ****ing intense! So make sure to be in the right frame of mind before viewing them, but fear not, they are well worth it!

On the lighter side though, I want to recommend these 2 dark comedies directed by Martin McDonagh and featuring Colin Farrell (I was not a fan of his acting until I saw these 2 great movies).

In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths

Run good all!

And now that I have finally toke enough time to figure out this posting photos enigma, will take the opportunity to post a few more...



Good ole Nagaworld, where I got told to delete this picture and pretended to do so...



Haha, I wish I had better pictures of Pontoon, but I was fairly intoxicated when I took this picture...

Iron Man Challenge and The Grind

Hello all. There is an intriguing tournament coming up in Manila, Philippines, which I want to take a few moments to talk about. It is called the Iron Man Series, running December 11-15.

http://www.theasianpokertour.com/apt...oker-challenge

This tournament draw not only will create some juicy side games, but the main event has a unique aura to it ; let me explain.


The whole goal of this re-entry tournament (up to level 7), is to break the Guinness World Record of non-stop, continuous tournament poker play. The previous official record : 36hrs, 34 min and 41 seconds To reach this milestone, there will be no scheduled break ; the blind levels are simply unheard of for a 700$ re-entry tournament : 60 minutes for the first 10 levels, 90 minutes for the following 10 and 120 minutes to finish off the event!!! And listen to this : the starting stack is 1000bb Which means, assuming that you have your starting stack by the time re-entries are done, you will still have 125bb after 7 hours of play!!! Obviously, the goal is to attract players (hence the low buy-in) and to extend the length of the tournament until the record is broken. Therefore, they made sure to specify that you must play until a winner is declared (no chop allowed). Sick-funky action, no!!!

Yeah, the more I think about this tournament and the structure (did I mention that the juice is under 10%...), it is becoming more and more tempting. Sure, Manila will be a detour and extra added expenses, not to mention that I have to backtrack to Thailand afterwards for the Christmas holidays, but really, can I say no to such a fun-sick proposition

Like an unfamous man once said :

If you do not do the things that are not worthwhile doing, then who will?



The grind has been good in kep (where everyday resembles itself) and I am happy to say that I am on a 9 session winning streak. Sure, part of it is variance, but I know that I corrected a few leaks that I had.

- I am more ICM aware. I thought I had a good feel for the tournament payouts and what to do with which stack sizes, but without sitting down, looking at ICM spots and actually crushing the numbers in the ICMizer, one will still make significant mistakes.

- 4 and 5 betting light. I simply didn't have to do it last year. While I was a dangerous 3better and that my relatively tight opening range gave my 3bets more credit than they deserved, the present state of the game in midstakes MTTs has forced me to adjust ; I now 4bet and 5bet light, which has provided great results, given my knack for understanding stacks, dynamics and meta-game.

- I enjoy playing the game again, which wasn't true for me in the live scene where I found the games to be monotonous and not really challenging (I was content with a B game).

- I am a much better short stack player, especially with 5-12bb left, and show more patience than I use to.

Well, Run good all, and if anyone will be in Manila during the Iron Man Series, hit me with a PM or simply post here, it would be nice to meet up for a drink! (assuming I will make it...).

Well, Siem Reap is good in offering a variety of restaurants and bars (as opposed to a smaller town like Kep), but still, it is not really my kind of place. And sure it is nice to visit the temples, yet - and I don't want to sound jaded here - I have seen plenty in my time in Latin America and India. Nevertheless, it is still peaceful and enjoyable to roam around, but it gets old fast.


Angkor Wat




And nothing ever beats the gratitude of a lazy animal!





Speaking of travelling and always seeking the excitement of novelty, have you guys ever read Scansion's blog? A young grinder in his 20s that goes to play the WSOP for the first time? The guy is a fabulous writer and I highly suggest to look into his blogs if you haven't yet.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...op-tr-1224895/

This is his first TR thread, focussing on the live WSOP events that he played. This next one, is more of a blog documenting his evolution upwards through the highstakes cash games.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...equel-1366126/

Exploring the temples today made me realize that yes, sometimes we experience such highs through our travels, making it therefore difficult to renew the sought after experience. And this eternal quest cannot be translated in better words than Scansion does at the beginning of his second TR, where he paraphrases a story found in a travel forum ; this story is called The Traveller's Curse. I will quote Scansion word per word over here, because there is no way I could do a better job at rewriting it (at least not in English, and probably not in French either) :


I see. But have you ever heard of the Curse of the Traveler?”

“No, what’s that?”

“It involves experiences and their value. The more places you see, the more things you find that appeal and attract you. However, none of these places you visit have them all.”

“But the more you see, the more options you have to choose from, obviously.”

“Yes, but you’re not the same person you were when you began this journey. You have a larger body of experiences to reflect upon, and there are a greater number of things you discover that you love. As a broader person, chances are that the next place you visit has an even smaller percentage of these things, as the number you enjoy has simply increased. But you still find new, fascinating parts of each culture, landscape, cuisine, and lifestyle in these new places that it fuels an addiction to continue searching for your proverbial Final Destination. Which in turn, makes it less likely you will find that place, as you’ve developed this yearning for everything you’ve seen that any current residence doesn’t provide.”

“Well. I could always find a way to reconcile this fact – perhaps there’s a right place for me as a permanent residence, then places I enjoy temporarily?”

“The curse doesn’t stop there.”

“What else is involved?”

“Thing is, you’re meeting many people from all walks of life in your travels, and you develop a certain expertise in engagement – as you’re never in one place for too long, you learn to quickly foster deep connections by actively trying to understand others, willfully listening to their experiences and observing their way of life.”

“A wonderful skill, I’d imagine.”

“Yes, and you do learn to single out those who are worth cultivating a relationship with, because of the sheer number of people you meet. You find inspiring figures in obscure places, individuals who’d be famous if they’d allow the world to see them, and those with certain values that will force you to question your very approach to existence itself.”

“So, what is the problem exactly? This is obviously a very good thing by nearly any measure.”

“The problem, my dear friend, is simply that you will leave. Your skill in developing relationships has come from the obvious intuition that you won’t be around for long. Eventually, you will miss all of them.”
“Yes but –“

“Then you’ll become conscious of this fact, and try to change. You settle down, you stay somewhere and call yourself one of them, dutifully cultivating relationships once again, but this time with some sort of permanence in mind.”

“Ah, so that’s the key to escaping the curse. Recognizing your own wanderlust as ultimately damning, and finding solace in life’s imperfect nature, both in the landscape of where you call home and the people whom you declare your love.”

“Not quite, for a specific reason. Those who you’ve decided to settle down with haven’t lived a similar lifestyle, seen what you’ve seen, or met who you’ve met. You’ll want to communicate your experiences just slightly more than your peers want to hear them, and you’ll never quite be understood just as deeply as you’d hoped. They don’t see you as an entire culmination of your travels, and they will never be capable of bringing out parts of you that you’ve been forced or opted to develop throughout the years. What they don’t see will be disheartening, and you will always feel a tinge of loneliness.

“…Then what?”

“Then, perhaps, you’ll leave again.”

Great little story, no! If you look into Scansion's blog, he links the travel forum where he got this story from, but polishes to the extent of making it exponentially more poetic.

I am off to Manila tomorrow to play the tournaments that I previously posted about. My friends in Manila have rented a flat with 3 bedrooms, a pool and a gym in the building, so I have a place waiting for me when I get there. Sweet! I will soon be posting about hands played in the tournament and hopefully can make a deep run and find some interesting spots to discuss.

Run good all!

I look forward to your posts about the Philippines. Having just returned from a fun week at WPT Montreal, I would rank Playground Poker Club as the #1 place to play tournaments, but Philippines and Bahamas Atlantis are the ones I want to travel to next.

Yeah, I was really impressed with the set up at the Playground as well and hope to hit a few tournaments/cash games there in the future (although I have barely spent time in Montreal in the past 6 years, I think it would be worth to go back for a WPT event, and for friends and family, obviously...). Some people have even gone as far as to state that it is their favourite poker room in North America... How did you do in the tournament and how was the structure? Did you play any side events or cash games? Did you drive from Ontario, for transportation to get to the Playground seems to be the biggest issue for the out of towners...

Even though I believe that is more profitable to either grind MTTs online or to play live cash games as opposed to live tournaments, I am very excited about this Iron Man Challenge and hope to make it deep. Bigger cash games will most likely also be running, so I will start off with a 2-5 game and take it from there. There is also a few side events during this week of tournaments, but the only other one I might look into is a 130$ rebuy tournament, which would make for a deeper structure and a cut in rake (considering the rake-free rebuys). Unfortunately, they do not post the structure on their site, so I am still in the dark about passing up on cash games and playing this tourney or not.

Jeez, I got run into by a moto bike yesterday! The shock when, not looking to my left, I go flying onto the pavement, lift my head up, to see the moto bike speed away! What a wake up call, to say the least! Good on him for leaving the scene though, for lots of Cambodians were circling around and would of probably given him a hard time for something as little as a few bruises and added excitement to my evening! It is also partly my fault : I was probably thinking over a hand played while crossing the street

Well, it's official : they managed to break the previous Guinesss World Record ; the heads up battle started after 46 hours of play. Unfortunately, I am not one of the 2 left over (more to come on HH and notes of the tournaments...).

http://www.theasianpokertour.com/new...le-begins.html

Wow, what a lesson I just learned. At the tail end of my online session and tilting because of lots or run bad (and being hungover), I find myself in my last tournament (I had stopped opening tables, for my TILT was getting out of control) when this hand happened.

I am third in chips with about 36 players left in a 90 person tourney, when I decide to open KJo in MP. I fold here about 90% of the time, but there wasn't any tricky 3betters behind me and the BB didn't defend that often... Except this time. So he calls and we see a flop of AQ10ss (I have Ks). Gin! He checks, and I cbet my standard, about 45% of pot. Call. Turn is a 5s. Don't love it, but have the nut flush draw with my broadway, so when he checks, I put in a 40% bet. Raise. Sigh! Don't like it at all, for what reraises here? A set? So unlikely, for any AA, QQ or 1010s would of reraise preflop and 55 folds the flop... A broadway? Possibly... 2 pairs? They probably call here. Nah, he has a flush so often and sometimes air. I call. River bricks and he shoves 80% pot...

Sheeeeettt! I tilt-tank, my cursor just over the call button. After all, this pot is MINE. I DESERVE IT! When you flop the nuts, badbeats should simply not happen! And I am about to make the call, telling myself "**** it, I am fed up with poker" when I finally come back to myself, and think that outside of say 3-5% air, he has the flush almost always. FOLD. I lose half my stack, but still am just under average in chips.

4 hours later and I take down the tournament. Haha! Sick sick life lesson! Never give up I guess, and never let tilt take over...

I will post the Iron Man Challenge tournament in the next few days ; I almost finished writing it, but got lazy in the past few days.

Run good all!

Nice fold...painful but correct IMO.i think checking back turn might be best.

Great job taking down the tourney!

Babylon

Even at 30 floors from the ground, the constant tumult of the Manila traffic digs into your soul : there is no place to hide here. And even less so at ground level where, after the elevator has finally dumped you into the Manila streets, the sound of lust awaits you : "Massage with extra", "Boom boom", "Service" and the likes float around like an endless temptation...





Both Resort World and The Metro Club are sweet rooms, having about 30-40 tables and English is commonly spoken. The service at Resort World is suspicious though, but is being compensated by offering a better rake (5% and capped at 10$) and bigger games (1-2 nl and higher during events, and mainly 1-2 PLO and 3-6-12 with straddle).

I show up at 8 pm, just in time for the beginning of the tournament, but in rough shape after spending the past 4 days with my buddies dipping into the enticing Manila nightlife (by the way, you know you are on a bender when you wake up in the middle of the night, look around confused, only to ask yourself "who is this girl in my bed?"). Needless to say, but being underslept, I am somewhat apprehensif to hit the felt for 30 hours straight, but cannot pass up on the opportunity.

A few notes :

- Because the whole goal of the house was an act of publicity to break the previous Guiness World Record of 36 hours, 34 minutes and 41 seconds, they overcame the small anticipated field by doubling the starting stack to 2000bbs!!! How sick is a structure like that!

- The set up was pretty decent, with different types of buffet food (albeit simple) popping up every 5 hours. Water and coffee - of course - was abundant.

- The blind structure was simply outstanding and I do not see another tournament (at this low of a buy-in) ever matching it, unless it is another Iron Man Challenge.

So my approach to the tournament is pretty standard : slightly widen my tight opening/calling range in the first 5-8 hours to include speculative hands, and keeping a smallball approach by opening 3x in the first level, and 2.5x in the next levels, even though we are silly deepstacked. But I soon realize that I have to deviate from my online game when I start understanding the patterns of the villains at the table... Here are a few observations about these players and live players in general :

- Live players do not 3 bet bluff very often or 3 bet mid value hands to try to isolate limpers. Only saw 1 guy at the table and he gave me a headache all night, but I still manage to get the better of him in all 4 big pots played.

- They seem to call 3bets very lightly, even OOP. I understand how this can be enticing with this deep of a structure, but even when we started to get in the area of 50-100bbs left, they would call without much thought a 2.5x 3bet OOP. Now this really gave me a headache, for I could only 3bet for value or very playable hands like suited connectors, but without the added fold equity that I am use to. Being card dead that I was for 15 hours, I could barely do any of the above.

- They defend more their blinds than is seen online. While I realize that the latest tendency is to defend wider your Big Blind than it was say 8 months ago, I remain old school, and do not like to get involved with an inferior holding like K5o out of position. Personal preference, sure, but I counter my apparent leak by 3betting more from the blinds than most do (and 5betting shoving).

- Their sizing is WAY bigger than mine, which often makes them attack my 30-60% pot cbets and raise them. Also, they call more wide not giving me a credit for a strong hand (but still often folding to my bargain triple barrel bluffs).

Anyhow, even after an infinitesimal amount of sleep and 4 days of heavy partying, I still manage to play a B+/A- game. Problem is, I am card dead and can barely play speculative hands, even as weak as Q9. Sigh! Sure, not being dealt big pairs in the early levels does not matter in the slightest, but I don't even get dealt 107s, jeezusss!!!


So I am actually somewhat happy to look down at J8s and min raise it from MP. Of course, that hand usually finds the muck pretty fast, but in these circumstances and with these stack sizes... BB calls my open. Villain is a smart/tricky player who is also capable of hero calls and big laydowns. Flop comes 792 with 1spade, giving me a couple of backdoor draws (gutshot + flush draw) with 1 over, giving me plenty of reason to cbet 50% with the intention of barreling quite a few turn and river cards. Call. Turn brings the king, not the dream card, but still a decent barreling card that hits my range. Bet 50%. Call. River brings the A, not a great card to triple barrel, but I can still easily rep it and would barrel any K against this specific opponent for thin value... But then he leads out for a smallish bet of 40%, which doesn't make any sense. Since there is no flush draws on board, I do not see how he can ever have an Ace here... A7? A9? Maybe. But since the A is more part of my range, I can see him Check-raising those hands, especially that he is a capable player. So I do not take too long before raising his 12k donk bet to 28k.

He goes in the tank for 5 minutes. 5 minutes during which my body cannot contain its nervousness... I usually handle the pressure pretty well without giving too many live tells, but alas!, not when this hungover! He asks "you have AK?", putting me on a narrow range of hands. Sure, I am not repping too much except the very top of my range, but my line makes more sense than the story he tried to tell by leading out on the river... to my great relief, his hand finds the muck. So just like that, I manage to counter my cold cards with a bit of imagination and a well timed river reraise bluff... Easy game (yeah, right!).

I will finish off this TR in another installment during the next few days. Although, we are having a few people over at Christmas and I will be cooking my universally famous "coquille St-Jacques", so I gather that the torrential amount of wine that will be consumed might prevent me from posting in the next couple of days... Happy holidays all, and Run Good!!!

Nice update! Really liking your thread. Don't know why it's not getting more reads/replies than it has.

Thx. I wish it was getting more reads as well, but since I enjoy the process of writing as well as projecting thoughts on paper in order to put stuff in perspective, I am still enjoying blogging regardless. Perhaps with time it will get more attention...

Thx for reading and replying!