FellKnight

ATLARGE

2007-02-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I'm about to leave for Atlantic City for ATLARGE. I've heard lots of fun things about it, and I'm looking very much forward to the HOE tourney, the pink chip game, and meeting and beating my favourite donks, Super Steamer and elg26.

Fell

1 Month

2006-12-21T23:54:00.000-08:00

So the store has been open for exactly 4 weeks now. I'll not pretend that it has met our exceedingly unrealistic expectations, but it has been holding its own, and has taught me many things about being a businessman.

Firstly, you must always work to improve yourself and your business. I never really had to do this in the military. There were times when I did, of course, but never like this. I take great pride in this business, and have been treating it like my baby. Constant self-improvement is the ticket... much like poker, for that matter.

I won't go into the nitty-gritty details, because they are unnecessary, but I am really looking forward to the future of this business (and the many offshoots, knock wood).

Fell

Kingman bound

2006-11-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a really long time since I updated the b log (almost 3 months in fact, but it has also been a really busy 3 months).

The enactment of the Safe Port Act (and compliance by Pacific Poker and Party Poker specifically) really screwed me over. Those were the sites that I was making bank on. The action on both sites dried up to a trickle, and I withdrew my funds. I had a successful WCOOP (14 events, 6 cashes, 14k in profits (of which I got about 4k). I recently played all 9 FTOPS events, but only managed a cash in the Razz event (narrowly missing making both FTOPS and WCOOP Razz Final Tables), but that was still good for a net breakeven considering satellites.

However, I really have not been playing much, if any, poker of late. This is because I have moved to Kingman, Arizona to work on a new business venture called RagZ for TeenZ (a clothing store geared towards teenagers). My partner in the business is none other than Tanya Peck aka MissT74, and we are very optimistic about the long-term success of the business. As such, I have basically withdrawn my bankroll from online, and have sunk it into both this business and the RagZ Womens' Boutique (to be opened Jan/Feb 2007). My goals are to be able to build a chain of stores in the Kingman area (and eventually statewide and perhaps nationwide) and to be able to play poker solely for fun. Tanya has been a tremendous asset with her business acumen and has helped us open the TeenZ store as of Black Friday, Nov 24th.

All in all, we are tremendously excited about our future, and look forward to great successes down the line. If you are ever in the Kingman area, stop by to check us out! :)

Signed,
FellKnight the businessman

WCOOP Event #1 RAZZ Tourney Report

2006-09-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

I really would love to make a big long post detailing my run to the WCOOP final table.

2 problems.

1. I played over 850 hands to get there.

2. It's freakin Razz!!

It was painful enough to play Razz for 12 hours, I don't have the patience to read through 12 hours of hand histories.

So. I suggest that you watch the final table replay if interested. :)

Fell

USPC Qualifier Tourney Report

2006-09-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

On a lark, I saw the $650 Round 2 satellite for the US Poker Championships which take place at the Taj in Atlantic City Oct 3rd - Oct 7th. I have always enjoyed watching them, and I had been successful is a few WCOOP satellites, so I had some W$ lying around. I decided to take a shot at it.

On the 3rd hand of the tourney (Blinds 10/20, 2500 starting chips, 30 minute levels), I am dealt KK on the button. UTG and an MP player limp, and I raise to 120 (6x the BB). The blinds fold and the UTG player limp re-raises 300 more to 420. Uh oh. Am I going to go out with KK vs AA on the 3rd hand??

I deliberate and make the call, deciding to play after the flop.

The flop comes down Q72 rainbow. UTG checks. Odd. I check behind, not wanting to have to make a big decision if I get checkraised.

The turn is a 5, making a rainbow on board. UTG bets 320. I call 320.

The river is a 2. UTG checks. Now I no longer put him on AA. I think he has either QQ (for the nut boat), or AK/JJ. I decide to value bet 560, fully intending to fold if he moves in. He calls, I show KK and check the Hand History to find out that he mucked JJ. I am up to 3820 in chips.

10/20: I get 87o in the SB. There are 4 limpers to me and I complete. The BB checks and we are off to the flop of T64 rainbow, giving me a double gutshot draw.

I check, not wanting to try to bluff 5 opponents. The BB bet 100, and was called in 3 places. I was more than getting the odds to call, so I called.

The turn was a Jack, completing the rainbow again (which is obviously good, because I cannot lose to a flush). I check, the BB bets 260 into the 620 pot. There is one caller, the pot is now ~1200, and I call, still getting odds.

The river is a 9. I lead out for 600. The BB calls, the other guy folds, and I win with my straight (he had JT for top two pair).

I now have 5000 chips.

Around hand 26, one guy who is "short" with only 1200 in chips, goes on tilt and starts moving in preflop. He does this 3 hands in a row.

15/30: I pick up AsAd on the button. The tilter moves in again, and I move in over the top. The blinds fold, and he shows 9c9h

The flop comes Ks Qc Jc. The turn is the Kc. The river is the 8c. ARG!

Down to 3300 in chips.

I made one gutsy and quite probably donkish play that worked out for me:

15/30: I am in the cutoff with 8h6h. MP raises 3x to 90, CO-1 calls, and I call. The button raises 210 more to 300 total. All fold to me. Now, I am a big dog to everything but AK here, but I elect to call, getting abvout 2.5:1. The flop comes J75 with one heart, and I check. The button bets 420, and I raise him all-in for 1200 more. He thinks and folds, and I am back over 4000.

25/50: I am in the BB with 55. There are 2 limpers to the SB who completes. I check.

The flop comes down 985 with two clubs. The SB leads out for the pot of 200. I make it 600. The limpers fold and the SB moves in. I instacall him and he shows Kc2c. The turn is the 7d and the river is the Tc. Dammit!!!!

Down to under 2000 in chips.

I win a couple of pots with continuation bets, and chip up without seeing a showdown to 2800 chips.

I really don't see a hand for a long time, and I blind down to 2100 again.

50/100: I have KcJc in MP. I open for 300. The button and SB call, the BB folds. The flop comes Tc 7h 6d. The SB checks, I check, and the button bets 500. The SB calls, and I make a loose call, hoping to hit a scare card on the turn. The turn is a beautiful Ac. The SB checks, and I move my 1315 into the 2500 pot. Both fold, and I am back over 3800.

50/100: I am in the SB with As4s. There is an EP limper and an MP raiser to 300 total. I call 250, the BB calls, and the limper folds (getting 5:1?)

The flop is a beautiful 844. I lead for 400, and both, unfortunately, fold. Up to 5000.

50/100: I reraise a looser opener and a caller with AQ and take it down preflop. Up to 5600.

75/150: UTG min-raises to 300. I call in MP with AcQc. The button makes it 900 total, and the BB moves in. UM, I THINK AQ NO GOOD. UTG folds, I fold, and they show JJ (BB) vs AK (button) JJ wins.

100/200: I get TT in EP. I make it 600 to go. The button reraises to 2200, and the BB moves in for 6500 total. I instafold, and the button thinks a long time and folds. Down to 4000.

100/200: I have A8 on the button. UTG limps is a loose player and limps, I raise to 800. Blinds fold, he calls. Flop J82 rainbow, he leads for 1200 (which screams bluff to me), I move in, and he mucks quickly. Up to 6000.

Hand # 195 (lot of play in this thing):

100/200: I get AhAd on the button. MP raises to 600 with 5000 behind. I elect to play it slow, knowing that I risk getting my aces cracked. Flop comes K83 and he checks. That's odd. I check behind. Turn 3. He checks again! Now I am a little worries that he flopped a set of 8s, because he should not be so passive. I check behind. River is another King. He checks again! Now, despite my better judgement, I make a value bet of 800, thinking he will have to call with a dry ace (I cannot put him on any hand any more. He check-raises to 3000, and I foolishly pay him off. He shows KJ. Down to 2000. I deserved that for playing the hand so poorly.

Next hand, same guy raises to 600. I jam with presto, he calls with AdTd and we are off to the races! Flop J43, turn 2, river 3, and I double up to 4580.

100/200, I get AT in MP, and make it 600 to go. I am called by the cutoff and the BB. Flop A95. BB checks, I bet 1200, and both fold. Up to 6000.

100/200: I get TT and make it 600 from MP. The button (same guy from the last two hands) makes it 2222 total. Looking back now, I hope that wasn't a Tell saying that he had pocket 22, lol. I called 1622 more. Flop KJ5 with 2 diamonds. I check, he bets 1800, and I elect to fold. Down to 4200.

100/200: I have QTo on the button. The cutoff limps, I limp, the SB completes, and the BB checks. Flop KQ4. The blidns check, the cutoff bets 600, I call with position. The blinds fold. Turn is a 2. The cutofdf checks, and I move in for 3000 (pot size 2000). He thinks for a bit and folds. Up to 5000.

100/200 a25: I chop a pot all-in preflop with AKs vs AKs.

100/200 a25: We are 6 handed, nearing the final table (3 spots win the seat, and 4th and 5th get their money back). I am dealt 33 on the button. The cutoff raises to 600, and I jam for 4400 total. The blinds fold and he calls with AdQd. Race it up!

Flop comes down T82 with 2 clubs. Turn 4c which takes away 2 outs for him. River Kh and I double up to 9300.

100/200 a25: I raise on the button with AhTh. The BB calls me. The flop is QT4 with two hearts. He checks, I bet 800, he checkraises to 2400, and I move in for 6700 more. He mucks quickly. Up to 13000.

But I donk it right back off again.

100/200 a25: I raise on the button with 8d7d. The BB reraises to 1800. I call. The flop comes AK3 with one diamond. He checks. Now, in my experience, a reraiser often has a pocket pair. This is a very bad flop for a hand like 99 or TT. I bet 4000, putting him all-in. He instacalls. Shit. He shows A9o. I miss my runner runner draw and am down to 6700.

100/200 a25: I am in the BB with Q6o. It is folded to the SB who makes it 600 to go. I call. Flop comes A62 with 2 spades. He bets 1000, and I raise the minimum to 2000. He calls. Turn is the 5d putting 2 flush draws on board. He checks, and I check behind. River is the Qh. He checks, and I move in, hoping that it will look like a busted flush draw, but he folds. Up to 8000.

100/200 a25: We are playing 5 handed now, on the Final table bubble. UTG min-raises to 400, and I make it 1200 to go on the button with A8o. The blinds fold and UTG calls. Flop 842. He checks, I bet 1500, and he folds. Up to 9000.

The bubble bursts when 33 moves in against AK. Flop 422. Turn J. River K. Final table of 9.

Our first confrontation happens when MP opens with a minimum raise. The SB reraises to 1600, and the BB moves in. MP folds, and the SB deliberates a long time before calling with AJo. The BB shows 88. The flop comes A94, the turn J, and the river Q, and we are down to 8.

The next comes when the blinds have doubled to 200/400 a25. MP raises to 1200, and the SB calls. The flop comes 5h3h2h. The SB checks, and MP moves in. The SB calls with 6h6d. MP shows AhTs. Race it up! Turn turn is the Kd and the river is the Qs. 66 wins the pot and eliminates his opponent. We are down to 7. Here are the stacks:

Seat 1: Octavian_C (31215 in chips)
Seat 3: FellKnight (8067 in chips)
Seat 5: AAAplease (11629 in chips)
Seat 6: pooli (33150 in chips)
Seat 7: ixorv (24868 in chips)
Seat 8: EthericWiki (7354 in chips)
Seat 9: MazeOrBowie (11217 in chips)

Maze doubles up on ixorv 2 hands later when his 88 flops a set against AK (all-in preflop).

I get my first taste of action at 200/400 a25 when I move in for 6500 with AJ against an MP raise to 1200. He foldsm and I am up to 8500, but still a short stack.

Ixorv raises on the button to 1200, and the shortstack, EthericWiki moves in for 4200 more. Ixorv deliberates for a long time and calls with J8o, getting 2:1 pot odds. EthericWiki shows pocket deuces.

The flop comes KQJ, turn 9, river 7, and we are down to 6, and on the first bubble.

The very next hand, I am in the BB with 86o. It is folded to the big stack in the SB who moves in. Aha, so that's the game is it? I fold, but please keep doing that. There are still tons of chips and play left (even though I am the shortest stack, I still have 20xBB).

200/400 a25: I raise UTG to 1200 with AcJc. UTG+1 moves in for 12000. The bigstack then moves in for 26000. Yeah, I fold. The big stack shows AKo, and the shorty shows pocket TT. The flop comes 742 with 2 clubs. The turn is the Kd, and the river is a 5. We are down to 5, and "in the money".

Seat 1: Octavian_C (39319 in chips)
Seat 3: FellKnight (7267 in chips)
Seat 6: pooli (36350 in chips)
Seat 7: ixorv (14430 in chips)
Seat 9: MazeOrBowie (30134 in chips)

Obviously, I am feeling in trouble, and know that I will need to win a couple of hands.

My tournament life is probably saved when I fold A8o UTG. I would have been against AK on the A high flop.

200/400 a25: I make a couple of steals to keep my stack around 7500. Octavian raises to 1600 on his button. I jam from the SB with AK. The BB folds and he thinks a long time before calling me with Qd7d. Flop is a gorgeous AT9, and the turn 3 has him drawing dead. I have doubled to 15600.

200/400 a25: Octavian raises from the cutoff, and I call on the button with ATo. The flop comes Q85 rainbow, he bets 2400, and I fold.

KEY HAND!

200/400 a25: I raise to 1200 UTG with AQo.the button reraises me to 3600 total. I move all-in for 12000 more (not wanting to play a pot out of position with AQo). He calls. He shows Ac Kh. I have the Ad Qs. Damn. Flop is an ugly 5h 4h 3h. I would be ecstatic with an offsuit deuce right now. The turn is the Tc. The river is the most beautiful Qc I have ever seen, and I double up to 31000.

Somewhere, a dog is kicked.

200/400 a25: I raise UTG to 1200 with As 4s (opening up now that I have a stack, and am playing more aggressively to force folds). Ixorv calls on the button. The flop is A92 rainbow. I hesitate and bet 1200. He raises me to 3600. I reraise to 6400 (fully intending to lay down to a jam), and he folds. I am now the chipleader with 36500.

200/400 a25: I donate some chips back to ixorv when I raise in the cutoff with the Jc Tc. Ixorv calls from the SB, and we see a flop of Q85 rainbow. He checks, and I bet 1600. He calls. The turn is a 7. He checks, and I shut down. I take the free card, hoping for the 9. The river comes a Ten. He bets 6000 into me, and I think for a while, and elect to call. The bet smelled a little too big to be a value bet, so I thought I might be picking off a bluff. Unfortunately, I was shown QJ.

300/600 a50: Huge hands, and terribly played. Folded to Ixorv on the button who raises to 1800. Octavian, the big stack, reraises from the BB to 6000, and Ixorv flat calls with AKo. Terrible play. His move was all-in. The flop comes 8d7d6d. Octavian moves in for 25k. Ixorv calls (with the Ad). Octavian shows 9c5c for the flopped straight. Turn Tc River Jc, and Ixorv is out in 5th.

Seat 1: Octavian_C (55506 in chips)
Seat 3: FellKnight (26168 in chips)
Seat 6: pooli (23591 in chips)
Seat 9: MazeOrBowie (22235 in chips)

Just 2 hands later, I raise from the SB with Ah 5h. pooli, who has been itching to get back at me after that AQ vs AK hand, reraises to 5400. I elect to call and see a flop. Pushing was an option too. The flop comes down Jd 8s 5s. I check, and pooli moves all-in for 18000. I go into the tank. I really feel that my hand is best right now.

The options, as I see them, are that he has missed the flop with a hand like KQ/AQ/AK/AT/A9, that he is bluffing with the best hand with a hand like A8 or 77 or 66, or that he actually has the JAck and my read is way off. I muster up my courage and go with my read that I have the best hand.

He shows Kc Qd.

Turn is the 9h. He needs a King, Queen, or Ten to double up and cripple me, basically winning a $10,000 seat. I need any other card. River. 2.

I erupt in joy, and the people who have been railbirding me cannot believe I made that call.

Somewhere, the name of FellKnight is cursed repeatedly.

Oct 3 - Oct 7, I'll be in Atlantic City, playing in the USPC.

Fell

Hell of a week

2006-09-17T15:27:00.001-07:00

Wow.

So this week has been the best week of my life, poker-wise. It started with a big win playing 30/60 HU O8, where I broke a guy to the tune of $6000. I won over $10,000 this week playing primarily shorthanded 15/30 and 30/60 O8.

Then I played the $650 buyin USPC qualifier on Stars, and despite getting my aces cracked both time I held them, I still managed to win a $10,000 seat in next month's US Poker Championships at the Taj in Atlantic City.

Then! I final tabled WCOOP Event #1, finishing 5th for $13,750 (of which I kept just over $5,000, as I was backed).

As I speak, I am among the chipleaders of WCOOP Event #2.

May this rush never end!!!

Fell

BARGE trip report (long)

2006-09-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay on this report, but it has been a long time in travelling and getting settled in, ready to play professionally.

So I was in Vegas from the 9th-14th for the ITH (Internet Texas Holdem) convention. That was fun, even though I did not manage a cash in any on the 4 events.

BARGE started on the 15th with an 8 p.m. Lazy Pineapple tourney (holdem where you are dealt 3 cards, do not discard, and may use 0, 1, or 2 cards from your hand to make the best 5 card hand).

We started with 2000 chips and 50/100 limits. I do not recall very many hands, just a couple of wrap straight draws and overplayed 2 pair hands that led to my quick demise (~75/80)

After that, I played in a 6/12 mix game at the Venetian (Stud, O8, Crazy Pineapple8 and Razz), and lost about $50 over a 2 hour period. As usual, Razz was my nemesis. I recall starting with 5 hands in the first razz orbit 7 or lower and winning none of them.

It was about 1 a.m. and I called it an early night, crawling into bed before the lobah tourney the next day.

The next event was not until 7 p.m, as the blackjack and video poker events had been cancelled, and we had the non-smokers dinner at 9ine at the Palms at 5 p.m. Met a bunch of great people, shared a nice bottle of wine, and generally ate far too much :)

It was my first time playing draw lowball, and I sucked. Didn't help that I bricked every draw but one, and again I went out early. Tanya and a bunch of virgins went out to the IP to Kareoke, and I passed, not being a kareoke person myself. They did, apparently, have a good time though, and I would not miss it in the future, given the great times that were to come at BARGE.

Thursday morning was the Team CHORSE event, and I played Stud for the team. We played 3 rounds of the event, I managed to book a profit for the team in each and every stud round, but unfortunately our team lost about half our buyin (each chip had cash value).

There was some time before the evening's stud shootout event, so I played a 3/6 holdem and 3/6 HORSE game most of the day (with other BARGErs of course). I got my ass handed to me in Holdem, and destroyed the HORSE game, so it was a wash.

The stud shootout event was quite fun. I was sitting at a table with Howard Beale (not his real name), and Jerrod Ankenman. I took an early chiplead when I was dealt rolled up 6s and Jerrod had Aces which became Aces up.

I felt that I played a good game, and got 3 handed with a shared chiplead against Howard Beale and an unknown, but very aggressive player.

Howard was knocked out quickly by my opponent, and we got headsup, where I went completely card dead and draw dead, and went out very shortly afterward against a well disguised and well played big pair.

After this, Super Steamer and I went up to Elg26's room and played some of our heads-up matches as planned. He was a worthy adversary, and defeated me soundly in the first O8 HU match, then we quit shortly into the second match with him at a 2:1 chiplead as Tanya called to ask us to railbird her at the final table of the evening $200 buyin tourney at the Venetian. We railbirded for over an hour before there was a bustout. It was the longest final table, with the most play, that I have ever seen at a non-major event. Tanya, unfortunately, busted in 8th.

We hit the sack, and showed up a little red-eyed for the next day's TOC-style event (Limit Holdem, Limit Omaha8, Limit Stud). I felt great, and quickly amassed the table chiplead. Again, Stud was my bread and butter, but Omaha8 was kind to me as well. After about 7 levels, there were less than a quarter of the field left, and I still had the table chiplead. I got a maniacal opponent all-in with QQ against his A4o for 5 bets preflop, but he spiked the Ace to beat me. Then, I raised with JJ, he reraised, and I called. The flop came J32, I bet, he raised, I called. The turn 5. I checked, he bet, I raised, he reraised, I rereraised, and he called. At this point I was sure that I was ahaead, either against another set or against an overpair to the board. The river was a harmless 8, I bet, and he called, showing me A4 again, like a punch to the gut.

I was now down to a tiny stack, and was all-in with A9s and missed, busting from the table chiplead to out in 4 hands flat.

After this was the Symposium/Calcutta auction. I was paired with Tanya, and we sold for $150, which was a good price. We bought about $500 worth of other players, but only one of our horses cashed in the Main Event, so we took a loss of around $300.

Super Steamer was among the chipleaders as the TOC resumed, and the rest of us went downtown for the Craps Crawl and BARGE wedding of Chris and Amy. Craps is a lot of fun when playing with a bunch of gambooolers, I will tell you that. That dealers sure earned their pay on this night. After the crawl, we went to the Fitzgerald, where the wedding and kareoke was to take place. This was probably the most fun I have ever had at a party. All the BARGErs were doing personal renditions of favourite love (and anti-love) songs for Chris and Amy. The virgins of BARGE (myself included), sang a heartfelt rendition of "Like a Virgin". The wedding itself was beautiful, with Patti Beadles as judicator, but then came the party afterward!

Sl1mder kicked it off with an incredible rendition of "Rapper's delight". He had the entire room bouncing. The ADBers sang "One bourbon, one scotch, one beer", and then there were several other very funny performances of some oldie-but-goodies, before Tanya and Sl1mder took the stage for "Baby got back". This was the performance of the year, IMHO. Sl1mder can do wonders with the microphone, and Tanya danced along with the song, which made for one of the best performances ever. Major props to both of you!

Around this time, Super Steamer showed up, with his 1st place trophy in hand, and we were all very excited and proud for him.

Management finally gave us the boot around 3 a.m. and I went back and slept like a log.

In the morning, I showed up in time for the NLHE main event. I am seated at a good table, with Phil Gordon 2 seats to my left, and Chris in Texas 2 seats to my right.

Early on, I get into a pot with Phil, which he remembers vividly. The blinds were 25/50, and he and I both had stacks about 3000 deep. I raised to 150 in the CO-1 with T7o, and he called on the button (as he had been apt to do with many hands), trying to take pots away on the flop. The flop comes Q87 rainbow. Instantly, I knew that this was the type of flop that Phil would expect me to have missed, and so I started staring at the flop, giving out the reverse Tell I expected him to pick up on where a player who misses the flop and is weak. I bet 150, still staring at the flop. As I expected, he raised me to 400. I called. The turn was a 5. I checked, and Phil carefully checked behind. The river was a 3, and I checked again, knowing that my hand was probably good, but not enough to bet. He checked, and couldnt believe that I had called him with 3rd pair no kicker.

A few hands later, I got KK against Chris in Texas's EP raise. He made it 200, and I moved all-in (he had only 900 or so behind, and I knew that he had a strong hand to raise with in EP). He called, showing QQ, and my Kings held up to win.

I lasted another 3 or 4 levels, getting my money in with the best hand every time but once (when I had AJ against a shortstack's slowplayed AK on the Axx flop), but could not get my hands to hold up, and I busted about halfway in.

One hand of interest was a hand that put Phil Gordon on mega-tilt. The action was as follows:

Phil raised to 400 (blinds 50/100) in EP with his huge stack of 10k chips. He was called on the button by the other big stack of 6500. The BB moved allin for 1000 more. Phil and the other big stack both called. The flop came 7s4s4h. Phil checked. His opponent bet 1500. Phil checkraised all-in, and was quickly called. I was astounded to see 6s5s for Phil (justifiable play), and 8c7c for the other big stack (wow!!!). The BB, of course, had the overpair of TT. The turn and river were bricks, and 8c7c won a massive sidepot. Phil went off on him, saying that it was the worst call he had ever seen, that he makes that checkraise with any hand that beats sevens with an 8 kicker... when his opponent said "or 6 high." Phil lost it, and was tilting for the next hour.

That evening was the banquet, and Phil was the guest speaker. His presentation was hilarious, and was an analysis on how to become (and stay) and overrated poker player).

After the banquet was "crazy games night". I played in the 3/6 Must-Drink mix game. That was an experience. It started off fairly tight, until the entire world went on tilt. There was one memorable hand that must be shared. Pots were being blind-capped, and called around. On one Omaha8 pot, the pot was being played blind by half the table. capped preflop ($15*9), capped on the flop, ($15*9), capped on the turn ($30*9), and capped on the river ($30*9), creating an over $700 pot at 3/6!

The flop was A7J, turn 4, and river was another 7. A blind player finally turned over her cards to find AAxx, for a huge score (and 25xx won the low).

That was fun.

So I'm cruising around, and Patti asks me if I finally understand BARGE. I said that it took a while, but I think I finally do (not at all what I had expected). I could use another drink though...

Patti hands me a full brandy snifter. I have no idea what is in it, but I decide to chug it. Patti's eyes bug out as she watches me down about 6 shots of scotch. I don't feel so good anymore. I feel like I'm gonna hurl all over a nice poker table, but manage to hold it down. Wow. Never again.

I decide it would be good to leave, so I bid farewell to the BARGErs, promising to return next year.

This is a must-experience for anyone. Seriously.

Fell

Moving

2006-07-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

I'm moving back to Ottawa next week (Tuesday), but my stuff had to be ready to be packed and such by Thurdsay, so I've been busy with that. The Pro career begins.

I recently rediscovered my love affair with Party Poker, and have been tearing up their Limit Holdem tournaments (2/380 and 4/130 in the two that I have played).

Between that and acting as go-between for my friends at the WSOP and RGP, I've been pretty busy. Oh. Finally got around to reading The Davinci Code. Good book.

As always, I could use more sleep, but soon, that won't be a problem.

Fell

Busy, busy!

2006-07-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but I have been really really busy lately preparing for my upcoming move to Ottawa, and work, and various miscellany.

I'd like to publicly congratulate good friend Alan Gilbert for his excellent performance and final table finish at the $1500 PLHE WSOP event. Great job Alan!

I haven't played much lately, but did take down a $50 Limit Holdem MTT on Stars last week, and went deep (though just short of a cash) in last sunday's Pokerstars Million.

Fell

PokerStars Blogger Freeroll this Sunday!

2006-06-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Pokerstars is running a blogger freeroll this Sunday at 4 p.m. EST, and I have been honoured with a bounty on my head! Whoever knocks me out of the freeroll will immediately earn a $370 entry fee into the 150 guaranteed seat WSOP Main Event Qualifier on Pokerstars, July 16th.

Other bounties are:

- Fellow RGP'er ADB DaVoice (Rick Charles, the voice of poker)
- Guinness aka the BlogFather
- Up 4 Poker aka The LuckBox
and
- Wil Wheaton of Team Pokerstars

Good luck to all!!

Fell

WPS - Costa Rica

2006-06-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

I played a $100+8 qualifier on Americas CardRoom tonight, with 15 players. Winner gets $2000 cash for travel and hotel expenses, and is staked in the $2600 Main event for 50% of their winnings.

For the math challenged, thats a helluvan overlay ($1500 in buyins for a $4600 prize package)!

Although I got my AA cracked early (rivered by top pair hitting his kicker), I battled back and ended up taking it down. I'm looking forward to another WPS trip, as they host a great event.

Also, after much consideration these past couple weeks, I have decided not to re-sigh with the military and will move back home to Ottawa to be an online pro for awhile.

Fell

Video games and poker, the benefits and the dangers.

2006-05-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've mentionned this on RGP before, but never really expounded on my thoughts. I feel that I have had a big advantage, growing up in the video game world, in that I am much more easily able to completely ignore the monetary reprecussions of losses, simply because the number on the screen is simply a score. The goal in poker, as in most video games, is simply to get the highest score possible. It sounds so simple, yet I notice that few people can effectively put it into practice. I don't know if it is a skill that can be learned, or one that is naturally honed after years and years of game playing.

I notice a similar attitude when it comes to driving. I played lots of driving games as a child, and I truly believe that they helped prepare me for the real thing. I never had any major difficulties learning how to drive, nor do high speeds affect me at all. I've never been in an accident, and the few times where I have begun to lose control on the wet/icy roads, I know instinctively how to regain control.

There are, however, a few problems that come with the benefits. With the driving thing, I have always had a certain nonchalance about high speeds. Driving 100+ mph is no big deal to me, on the right roads. The police, however, do not see things in the same light :)

In online poker, if you lose all your money, the words "game over" come to mind. The problem is that "game over" does not have a big deterrent effect in the video game world.
"Damn, game over? I guess I'll play again." Not so easy when it costs a significant amount of money to play again. This also does not help me when I play live, as the cards, the chips have more tangible values. I know that I need cash to buy more chips if I run out. Losses always hit closer to home.

Finally, tournament play combined with a video game background has conditionned me to not fear going broke nearly as much as the average person. So what if I go broke? It's just game over! The problem with this benefit is that it can spill over into cash game play, where there is a good reason to fear going broke.

Anyone else feel the same way?

Ramblingly yours,
Fell

Rampaging totally rules!

2006-05-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

This has quite possibly been the best week of my life.

I received some news on tuesday which has put a permanent smile on my face since then, and poker has been going absolutely spectacularily. I have been playing 10/20 and 15/30 O8 on Pacific, and have won $1000, $500, $1000, and $400. Then, today my good buddy Bryan Slick told me about this 10/20 PLO table on Party that was insane. I had $450 at Party. Minimum buyin is $400. RAMPAGE!!!!!

I got down to $230 or so, then tripled up with AQTT. So I have $680, and blind down to $350 or so, and the game gets down to heads up. I get it all in preflop with AAQ5 and it holds up vs AJJx. I was up to around $700. Bryan goads me into GAMBOOLING at the other table, saying that some of the idiots had moved, so I followed.

Buyin for $700, limp in with KK44 with the K4 of clubs. SB raises pot. 4 callers to me for $110. I jam it all in, knowing that I am 33% to hit a set by the river. Call, call call, and then a limp-caller jams for $2000! Everyone calls. There are sidepots galore and about $7000 in the pots. Flop is Tc 9s 5c. Not good. Turn is Ah. Really uh oh. River is the 6c. The other players show 7c 9c Qh Th for a smaller flush, 6h 5h 9s 8s for 2 pair, Ad Ac 3h 6s for trip aces, and my king high club flush takes it down to the tune of $2000!

4 hands later, I have 9963 double suited in clubs and diamonds on the button. There are 2 limpers and a pot sized raise. I elect to make a loose call, hoping to get the pot heads up. Unfortunately, there are 4 callers. Fortunately, the flop comes Ts 9h 2s. Pretty good flop! It is checked to the preflop raiser who pots it for $577. I know that I am not getting away from the hand if somebody made three tens, so I jammed to protect my vulnerable, but probably best hand. Everyone folded to the bettor (which relieved me), and he called. With AQJT with hearts. The turn 3h gave him many outs, but the river Ad left him with only top 2 pair. I won a $4547 pot!

At this stage, I decided to take my $4500 and bank it. I love rampaging. :)

Fell

Pokerstars Tourney

2006-05-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

An injury and a decision

2006-05-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

To the decision first, I was offered a 3 year extention to my contract with the military, and I am going to accept it, which puts my dreams of going pro on the back burner, but I am happy with the dicision. There were a ton of things standing in the way to me being able to move to Vegas notwithstanding the desire to do it.

As for the injury, I was playing ball hockey with other coworkers on tuesday when I, as goaltender, attempted to slide across to make a save, but got my stick caught in the net, which wrenched my back around violently. I have been on ice and heavy painkillers, but am starting to feel better. Back injuries are no fun.

Fell

Return from St. Maartens

2006-05-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Boy am I tired.

This is what happens when you mix poker, partying, drinking, and then throw on a 36 hour trip home on the end of it all :)

The trip did not go as well as I had hoped. The high points were a 4th place finish in the initial $300 buyin event, a victory in the $300 supersatellite to the $2600 Main Event, and strong finishes in most events, but these were overshadowed by several key bankroll mistakes that I made over the course of the trip.

The first mistake was my decision to agree to help start a 2/5 NL game by playing shorthanded for an hour prior to the $300 PLHE tournament. Shorthanded NLHE is not my specialty, and though luck played a small role, I was playing a game that I am not good at against players who are good, and I dropped $1500 prior to the start of the event.

The second (and probably most major) was my decision to play in the $300 + rebuys PLO event. There were tons of Europeans in attendance who play the game regularily, plus the fact that a $300 + rebuys event is way out of my bankroll. I did play well, and got busted by a guy who made a great read on me (I later found out that I have a rather significant Tell), but should never have been playing the event in the first place.

The third mistake was deciding to play in the $500 NLHE event after waking up dead tired and in no condition to play my 'A' game. I busted out very quickly.

The fourth mistake was playing house games after busting out when there was little else to do in the poker room. I did have other things I could have done (such as read/watch a movie/etc), but instead chose to gamble. These mistakes (and my lack of experience withthe nuances of live play) lead me to question my decision to "go pro".

All in all, the tournament was very well organized, with excellent play and staff. I highly recommend it, especially to players more proficient in NLHE than me. I was disappointed with the fact that it was near impossible to get a full table of Limit together (we tried many combinations of straight Holdem and mixed games, to no avail). There are more WPS events in the future, and I would love to return (unfortunately, the next is during BARGE).

I haven't even been to RGP to see all the stuff I have missed. I'll save that for later, when I have much more time :)

Fell

Going, Going, Gone!

2006-04-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, I am driving to Seattle to take a red-eye flight to Philly for a flight to St. Maartens, where I will arrive around noon tomorrow. For those of you who read RGP... I have not "abandoned" RGP, nor will RGP fall apart in my absence (satire warning).

See you all in May, hopefully returning with a much fuller wallet ;)

Fell

A GRAND start to the Grand Series of Poker

2006-04-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I've been looking forward to playing in the Grand Series of Poker on America's Card Room for some time now. It is a series of $500 buyin events in various disciplines played with deep stacks and long levels (5000 starting chips, 30 minute levels).

Yesterday was Event #1, 6-max (actually 5-max) NLHE. There were 580 runners, and I finished in 8th place for $5700! I never really built a big stack(was pretty much always below average), but thanks to the EXCELLENT structure, I was also never in critical blinds territory, and picked my spots, showing down only 3-4 hands in as many hours on my way to the final 10.

In the end, I was the shortest stack (after the 9th break, lol), with 10xBB, and a guy who had been personally gunning for me raised UTG (4 handed). I jammed my BB with 66, and he called with AQc. The flop came KJ7. The turn was a J. The river was an ugly 10.

Tonight, $500 Deep Stacked Pot Limit Omaha. I look forward to it.

Remaining schedule:
Wednesday: $500 Pot Limit 5 Card Draw
Thursday: $500 Limit Holdem
Friday: $500 Limit Omaha 8 or better
Saturday/Sunday: $1000 NLHE with 10,000 chips.

Fell

EDIT: PLO: 77th/201, no money, but good for 29 more leaderboard points. I should be in the top three right now.

EDIT: PL5CD: 130/159. Got repeatedly donkstruck by holdem players catching their draws. Critical hand was when I was dealt a pat 65432 UTG. I limped, as the table was very aggro, the button raises pot, the blidns folded, I repotted, he called, I stood pat, he drew 1. Well, either he has 2 pair and is unlikely to improve or he was drawing to beat me, so I'll check to him. He bets all-in (for about 1/2 pot), I call, and he shows T9876. IGHN.

EDIT: LHE: Things started well, and I was up to 7000 by the first break, but the play was crazy. People were raising and re-raising preflop with suited connectors. I gave some credit the first few times I missed a flop and gave up some chips, and then once I realized what was happening, they started hitting on me! I got down to only 1000 chips, and lost it with AJ when it ran into AQ.

10 Days until St. Maartens

2006-04-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Not much to report from this weekend, I won 2 seats to the GSOP (Grand Series of Poker, a series of $500 buyin deepstack events) in 3 satellites. Looking forward to winning more, and hopefully making a big cash in the GSOP events themselves :)

I'm only 10 days away from my trip to St. Maartens for the World Poker Showdown. It's a shame that so few people have shown an interest in coming. This looks to be one of the best events of the year (assuming that making money is your primary goal at poker). The scenery won't hurt either :)

Fell

Best. Rampage. Ever.

2006-04-04T00:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight, at $3/$6 PLO, I turned $120 into $3000 :)

RAMPAGING ROOLZ!!!!!

Fell

edit: I have been advised to clarify that this is, in fact, not the best rampage ever, but $3k is still a nice score :)

Breaks

2006-04-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

A weird thing happens most times when I take a break from the game. I come back invigorated and kick ass. I took a few days off last week, came back to play Tanya's Stud8 WSOP satellite, and won it. I took a few more days off and came back last night to finish in the money (14th/130) in the $200 HORSE tourney on Full Tilt, and I came 4th/1800 in a $10 tourney on Stars, which I dominated from start to the 4th break (when I turned down the talk of a chop as chipleader and suffered the no deals curse).

It's an odd thing. I felt liek I played some of the best poker of my life, making laser reads, throwing in a lot of chips on bluffs when I felt that it was necessary, making re-steals, all-in-all playing great. I got a bit unlucky at the end when I raised the button with 55, had the BB shortstack move in, I called getting 2:1, he showed A7o, flop 443, turn 8 river 7. I was now short, and I made two more preflop raises that go re-raised all-in (by a tight player), and I laid them down. I was now on life support, and pushed all-in against the button with A2 when he had shown a propensity to raise (and call with) mediocre hands). Unfortunately, he had A9 and IGHN.

Still, I am happy with the way I played, and find it interesting how time off affects my game.

Fell

Won a $1,000 WSOP seat!

2006-03-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty happy, as I beat 23 other players in Tanya aka MissT74's Stud8 WSOP satellite, including the extremely dangerous Tanya herself, headsup at the end. It was great fun, and an excellent challenge. A few shoutouts:

PapaChippi: I'm moving in!
Chewbot: Welcome to 2nd level thinking ;)
RazzO: It's rigged.
and Tanya: I can't wait for the rematch hun :)

Anybody who is interested in small (20 player) satellites to early WSOP events, I highly recommend the MissT satellites. Simply email Tanya AT PecksMedicalBilling DOT com to join the mainling list.

Until next time!

Fell

Preliminary Review: Fortune's Formula

2006-03-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

I got a tip on RGP about this book, and so far, the tip was dead on! This book is a history of the men of the 20th century who changed gambling forever. Starting with the background of the mob-controlled gambling scene in the early 20th century, the author details the use of first the wire system, then computers in gambling, specifically, the use of computers to solve blackjack, and how information technology pioneers Shannon and Kelly created an optimal gambling strategy, known as the Kelly formula. In part two, the exploits of Ed Thorp of blackjack card counting fame are chronicled, and how he used the Kelly formula to create a winning blackjack strategy.

It's a riveting read, and explains the math behind the formulae in an easy-to-grasp way. Recommended to anyone who has an interest in gambling.

Fell

No luck.

2006-03-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I played in the $550 tourney in Vancouver... and lasted 30 minutes.

Players started with T10000, blinds 25/50 and 20 minutes levels. I saw 2 flops (one with 62h free from my BB) and calling one small raise with 55 and missing my set when my demise hand came at the 50/100 level.

I get black KK in the SB. An early player limps, a middle aggressive player makes it 400 to go. It is folded to me and I make it 1200. The BB and early limper fold. The raiser think for a few seconds and says "3200". I am now worried about Aces, but with all the donkey play I have seen at this room and these tournies, I cannot put him reliably on AA. Perhaps if the action had gone differently. I thought for about 30 seconds, to make sure on my decision. I pushed all-in, he called, and I knew. He flips over red AA. The board comes Q4758, and IGHN. Oh well.

In other news, H/L games were recently allowed in this province, and wow. What fish. :) It was rare to see more than 2 people fold preflop, and lots of chasing and raising with sets and 2 pair on coordinated boards. God bless it.

Fell

Computers Suck

2006-03-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

After a whopping 15 months of use, my hard drive decided to crap out, so I am left without access to RGP, poker sites, or anything else at home until they fix it (still under warranty).

In other news, I'm going to Vancouver this weekend to play in a $500 + 50 tourney. Hopefully I will have a successful trip report to share upon my return! :)

Fell

Going to St. Maartens

2006-03-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

I've decided to go to St. Maartens for the World Poker Showdown in late April/early May. I've heard nothing but good things about the tournies, the atmosphere, the location, so I'm making it my first major event of the year.

Details can be found on www.worldpokershowdown.com.

Anybody else feel like a poker vacation to the Caribbean? I'd be happy to see you there! Rooms and flights (special packages are available) can be booked by calling 1-800-582-8069 or 1-757-428-4444.

Fell

The Rampage - PLO Style

2006-03-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

I've had some requests to write up a strategy article on how to rampage at Pot Limit Omaha, so here goes. For those who are unfamiliar with the basic tenets of the rampage, please read my initial article here: http://www.fellknight.com/blog/2006/02/rampaging-how-to-build-bankroll.html

First, let me say this: The PLO rampage is a very different beast from the NLHE rampage. Among the differences:

1. It is unlikely that you will be able to go all-in preflop, due to the Pot Limit betting structure.

2. Preflop steals and re-steals are out. Forget about them entirely.

For those who know PLO, it is a game of the nuts. Sets, straights, flushes, and full houses (often quads). We will be playing slightly less than the nuts, as will be seen.

Table selection: You are looking for passive tables with few preflop raises. The size of the pots is relatively unimportant.

Buy-in to the table for the minimum (20xBB). The general strategy is to see a lot of flops for the price of the big blind. Thus, you will want to throw away a lot of hands in EP (due to the fear of having the pot raised behind you). The hands you are looking for:

1. Doublesuited hands (preferably with at least one nut flush draw)

2. 4 cards that are connected and can make straights (9876, T865, QJ98). The value of these hands goes up when they are single suited, and more when doublesuited.

3. Pairs 88 and higher (for set/boat value), preferably with a suited Ace, or connected cards (i.e. 9976). These are tricky hands to play, but basically, you are looking to flop a set and fold otherwise. Any draw you might pick up will usually be far too weak to play on its own.

With big starting hands (primarily only AAxx), you should raise the pot if doing so would set you all-in, or deny the odds of any opponents from chasing you down (i.e. at least half your stack goes in). The best part of playing a rampaging strategy is that your opponents will have no implied odds to outdraw you. They will have to rely on simple pot odds decisions, and will often make mistakes. If you are a good PLO player already, you should recognize the situations where it is appropriate to raise the pot with KKxx, AKQJ, QQJJ, etc.

On the flop, we will break our playmaking down into a few categories: Flopping a monster, flopping a set, flopping the nuts, flopping strong hands that may be 2nd best, and flopping monster draws.

1. Flopping a monster: This would be something like J99 when you hold JJxx. You are likely to get action from anyone with a 9, and possibly some donkey with a straight/flush draw.

Another example of a monster is something like QJT8 suited on the 987 2 suited flop. Here, you have the nut straight with a redraw to a higher straight, as well as a flush redraw.

Your strategy is to bet and raise. No need to slowplay, as you will get action. Get all your chips into the pot with your opponent(s) drawing near dead (or where you are freerolling). This is the dream situation for the rampager.

2. Flopping a set: Your play depends greatly on the texture of the board. Let's examine a few situations:

a. Rainbow and unconnected board(3 different suits with no flopped straight possible): you can play the hand strongly, not fearing a flush draw, however you do not want to give free cards to any straight draws, and 3/4 of the time, the turn will make a flush draw possible. Your goal is to get all your money in the pot on the flop, but you may have to play it in such a way as to make a small flop bet with a turn all-in, or a checkraise on the flop in order to get the money in. You are only behind to a higher set here.

b. Rainbow and connected (possible straight): This board can be difficult to play. The more players who saw the flop, the more likely it is that somebody flopped the straight and you are behind. Your judgement comes into play (which is why we love having position). If you think your set is beaten, you should lay it down. This usually means one player betting the pot out of position. They are trying to protect their hand. You cannot give free cards if it is checked to you, so you put in a pot bet and call any re-raise. There are certain situations where you cannot escape being a dog for all your chips, and this is one of them.

Sidenote #1: A flop like T86 is much better than 987 for your set of eights. On the 987 flop, it is advisable to generally give up the hand unless you get a free card. Also, this is where other draws can come in handy. If you have 9885 on the T86 flop, and get it all in against a made straight, you have 3 additional outs to chop the pot (sevens). This is small, but in PLO, small edges add up quickly.

Sidenote #2: If you have middle or top set and two (or more) people are raising and re-raising, you should be more than happy to get your money in with a shot to triple up.

c. 2 suited and unconnected: On this type of flop, you should play fast. You will probably get action from any nut flush draw, and you are happy to be 60% to double up (assuming he has some other backdoor outs). Push your edges. If you are headsup into the flop and a bet will not put you all in, you can consider slowplaying one street and betting hard if the flush card does not come, but this type of fancy play is not generally recommended for the rampager.

d. 2 suited and connected: Many of the same considerations as the rainbow connected flop apply here, except that if you have a flush draw (even non-nut) to go with your set, you should be willing to go to the felt. You are a favourite against a flopped straight with no flush draw.

e. 3 suited, unconnected or connected. These board both play the same. When a flush flops and there are more than one opponent, you are almost always behind. Your stack is unthreatening enough that somebody with a King high or Queen high flush might look you up if you bet strongly. Rarely continue with this flop.

3. Flopping the nuts: Again, we have to break this down:

a. Nut straight, no redraws: This is a good, but not great flop. Fortunately, we have a small buyin, so we will go broke on this flop every time. The lack of redraws hurts particularily for deepstacked PLO. Bet and raise. Get it all in.

b. Nut straight, redraws: These redraws can either be to a higher straight or to a flush (or full house). The more outs your redraws give you, the more powerful they are. Note that flush redraws are not worth the full 9 outs, because a low flush might not be good. The strategy is the same, bet and raise.

c. Nut flush: This can be a tricky one to get others to play with you. If anybody shows any interest in the pot, be aggressive and try to get it all in. Otherwise, bet half the pot. This denies the proper odds to a set to continue (and he has little in the way of implied odds). Push the remainder of your stack in on the turn (if you still have the nuts). If the board pairs, you must be very careful, as the only hands likely to call you are sets, top two pair (some people love thise hand), and lower flushes.

d. Top Set, no straights or flushes possible: Similar to the examples of how to play a set, with top set you have no fear of a higher set. Your goal is to get your money into the pot, especially if there are likely draws. The one difference is that you can, more often, give another player the chance to catch up on the turn for free if the board is unthreatening. Best case scenario is letting him catch trips or an underfull (i.e. 64xx on the J646 board).

4. Flopping strong, possibly 2nd best hands: Breaking it down:

a. Non-nut straight: This depends greatly on the board texture and betting action to determine if your hand is currently best. Examples: 76xx on a T98 board is worthless. J7 is only marginally better. 24xx on a 356 flop is much stronger, as it is much less likely that someone has specifically 74xx in their hand. On boards and with betting patterns where it is unlikely that you have the best hand, check and fold. On boards where the likelihood of you holding the best hand is good, bet and raise, get your chips all-in.

Sidenote: Redraws to higher (preferably nut) straights and flushes increase the value of your hand, and can sometimes swing a fold to a call.

b. Non-nut flushes: These hands are generally worthless. Even with a King high flush, you may run into somebody slowplaying the nut flush. If you chose to check/fold these hands every time, you would not be losing much. If it is checked to you in LP, bet your hand (1/2 - 2/3 pot). If you are flat called, beware and prepare to shut down. If you are check-raised, RUN FOR THE HILLS! :)

c. Trips: These can be among the hardest hands to play in PLO. Let's break it down further:

i. Undertrips: 9xxx on A99 board. This is a very dangerous flop, and has led to many a donkey losing his stack. Against A9, you are drawing dead. Against AAxx, you are drawing to one out. Against another 9, you may be drawing to 9 outs if you do not have K9 (nut kicker). Play this flop very carefully. If others are showing strength, fold. If nobody shows any strength, bet and hope to take it.

ii. Trips: i.e. 9xxx on 994 board. This is a better spot, because you have 9 or 10 outs against a flopped boat (assuming all your xxx are above 4). Each out that may be no good if you hit it decreases your hand strength greatly. Also, having the nut kicker is important, as it will make the nut boat against another 9, and will win unimproved if neither or you fill. You can generally play these trips much faster, and risk going broke occasionally.

5. Monster draws: Breakdown:

a. Wrap straight draw, rainbow board (i.e. QJ98 on the KT7 flop): This is a great flop, and though not all your outs are to the nuts, this is a great flop. Bet and raise, get it all-in.

b. Wrap straight draw, 2 suited board: This is less powerfult because some of your outs are not outs at all, and will, in fact, have you drawing dead. I prefer to play these flops more carefully, betting, but hoping to catch my card before putting all the chips into the pot.

c. Wrap straight draw, suited board: Obviously, these are pure trash. Fold.

d. 3 card wrap draw to the nut straight, rainbow board (i.e. QJT on the 98x flop): This is a strong flop, and warrants strong play. You have 13 outs to the nuts. You should happily get all your money in. If the flop is 2 suited, you have 9 outs, and should play a bit more carefully.

e. Open-ended straight and nut flush draw (i.e. Ad Td 8 x on the 9d 7d x flop): This is a very strong draw, bet and raise until you are all-in (obviously, the x on the flop cannot pair the board).

f. Wrap straight and non-nut flush draw: This is a flop that can get some people into trouble. It looks so pretty, but the non-nut flush draw might not be good. In fact, you may quite likely have only 6-7 outs. Proceed with caution. This is a good flop if nobody is interested, but should be dumped quickly after a decent sized bet and a call.

g. Set and straight draw (i.e. 889T on the Q87 board): You are likely ahead, but have 9 outs even if you are against a set of Queens. Don't stop betting.

The thing to remember about monster draws is that the draws must generally be to nut hands, and you must have a lot of outs. Don't get BSOD (Big Shiny Object Disorder) when you see a pretty looking flop that fits nicely with your hand, always consider the texture of the board and the betting patterns to determine if you are against better draws.

Finally, a bit about play on the flop. You want to be in position most of the time, so that you will as much info about your opponents hands as possible. If you are in late position and your opponents check to you, I recommend putting in a bet of 2/3 the pot in most cases as a bluff. This will help pay for the flops you are seeing until you manage a double or triple up. The key to effective bluffing: Imagine what you would do if you had the hand you are trying to represent. Consult this strategy guide if needs be, and play accordingly.

I should warn you, rampaging PLO games can be a blast. Have fun, stay safe, and happy rampaging!

Fell

p.s. Please comment if you feel I have missed any key situations.

An Update

2006-03-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

I have caught a bit of flack lately for not updating my blog *ahem*, so here goes:

Since giving notice to my superiors at work, work has sucked. Guess it happens to everyone when you don't really have anything to motivate you to work harder. Also, it has been a busier period than normal, but I intend to put in a good effort until I leave.

I've been busy with Curling and other stuff the last few weekends, so I haven't played any of the big events. Instead, I've been grinding it out at 15/30 and 30/60 cash games. Been doing quite weel, and am up about $5k since my last entry.

I also bought an XBox 360, and cannot say enough good things about it. It truly owns (and is an excellent way to get away from poker when I need to). I have Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, and Project Gotham Racing 3. All are superb games. It's especially fun driving through the streets of Vegas in PGR3... they got all the colours just right.

Not a whole lot else to report. I'm trying to build even more, and am going to be going to St Maarten's in April/May for the WPS II. I'm looking forward to the live tournament atmosphere again.

Fell

It begins.

2006-02-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

I have finally pulled the trigger, and am quitting my job in the military to pursue a career as a professional poker player. I certainly can't imagine just 2 years ago, not knowing how to play poker, seeing Phil Ivey, Layne Flack, and Howard Lederer on TV in season 1 of the WPT, and being told at that point that I would play poker professionally :)

I have to serve the remainder of my contract (until July 31 2006), but will be moving to Vegas in August and am looking at BARGE as the perfect way to kickstart my career.

Hope to see a bunch of you out in Vegas sometime!

Fell

Vegas Trip Report

2006-02-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

After a rough week at work, I was totally ready to kick back for a weekend in Vegas.

I arrived in Vancouver about 2 hours before my flight, and met Nina at the airport. She was pumped and ready to visit Vegas for her 21st birthday. Unfortunately, our flight was running about 90 minutes late from Los Angeles, and so we wouldn't be getting in until after midnight. Tanya (MissT74) had agreed to pick us up from the airport and go clubbing, so I called her to let her know we would be late. We didn't actually arrive until almost 1 a.m, and the airport was totally dead. Off to the Flamingo (they comped me for the weekend). Although I had reserved the room 3 weeks in advance (and told them I would not be showing up until midnight), they had no room ready for us. Fast-forward 45 minutes and they finally get a room prepared. It's now after 2 a.m. and last call has passed. Forget it, we decided to just play nickle slots and get free drinks from the casino. By 5 a.m. we were nicely buzzed and decided to hit the sack.

Saturday morning, we woke up at around 11 and had a little breakfast. Tanya called me up and said that we should play in the 12 p.m. at Caesars, so I told her to reserve me a seat and I would be over there. Nina went to play some table games for awhile. The tourney started great. I rebought immediately for 3000 more chips, and got QQ 2nd hand. UTG raised 5x to 250 (only 1500 total), and there were 3 callers to my SB. All-in. Only UTG called my raise, and showed 77. He missed, and I added 2500 to my stack. An orbit later, I was UTG with AdJd and elected to limp. A loose raiser in MP bumped it to 200, one call, and so I called 150 more, closing the action. Flop A87 with 1 diamond. I check, MP bets 200, call, and I decide to find out right here what it up (MP had 4500 total). I check-raise to 1000. MP calls, and the other caller folds. Hrm, not so sure I like that call. The turn is a nice 9d. I bet 1500, and he calls again. Weird. He has around 1500 left. River is an offsuit 3, and I check with the intention of calling an all-in bet. He checks behind, turning over A6o. I flip my AJ and take the pot, and am up to almost 10k early.

I made a few speculative calls with position and my big stack (suited connectors, pairs), but they fizzle, and I am down to 7k at the 1st break, which is still well above average. I do decide to tighten up though, with blinds reaching 100/200 a25. I managed to win a couple nice pots to get over 11k again, and then blinds went up to 200/400 a50. UTG with 3000 limped for 400, I look down to TT in LP and raise to 1400, folded to UTG who decides quickly to push. I call, he shows 88. Flop 762r. Turn 5. River 9. Ugh.

A new guy moves into the table and we trade a few blows (both being very aggressive), but he gets the best of me with several bets that would commit my stacko n marginal hands. I blind down awhile. 2nd break, I am at 10k. Blinds 400/800 a100, I blind down for an orbit finding no cards and no opportunities to push, and I am down to 7800 when I look down to Ac5c in MP. I push, and the button calls. Crud. Blinds fold, button shows ATo. I was very surprised, as I did not expect such a loose call, and I sheepishly showed my hand. Flop was a decent 663. Turn A. Lots of chop outs, but the river 4 and IGHN. Next time. :)

So I go get Nina (who had actually done well at the slots), and we went to walk the strip (something I had, amusingly, never done during my previous trips). We started at Bellagio, watched a couple of water shows, went to Monte Carlo, New York New York (and rode the rollercoaster), Excalibur (where the comp agents tried to convince us to go to the chapel upstairs and get hitched to get comps, LOL!), and across the street to MGM Grand, Aladdin, Paris, and Bally's. All in all, took about 3 hours, and my legs were sore afterwards :)

Went back to Caesars a couple hours later to see how Tanya was doing in the 7 p.m, but she had busted out early and was at the bar with RazzO. He was very pleased to meet me, and we had a nice chat about poker, RGP, life, and various other topics before deciding to head to Carnaval Court (between Harrah's and the IP) to drink more, party, and dance. RazzO and I got to talking, and all I have to say is that if I still have that much passion for the game of poker after being involved for 22 years, I'll be a happy man! He was great fun to hang out with, and I would be happy to do it again sometime!

Fast forward through 4-5 hours of drinking and dancing, the rent-a-cops kicked us out, and I collapsed in my room in a drunken stupor. I woke up around 2 p.m, hungover. The price we pay... :) Took a shwoer and threw on some clothes and headed to Caesars palace sportsbook for the big game. The place was packed of course. Crapola. Everywhere was packed solid, so Nina and I just found a little sports bar and watched the game and drank. Wasn't really partial to either team, but I was put off by all the penalties and mediocre play, so it wasn't quite what I had hyped myself up for :) Grabbed a taxi after the game and caught a red-eye flight home, slept most of the way and got home around 5 a.m, work at 7. LOL.

I love Vegas. Can't wait to go back :)

Fell

Rampaging - How to build a bankroll quickly

2006-02-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Tired of grinding it out at the low limits? Want to prove that you can hang with the big boys, but just don't have a bankroll to withstand the swings? Rampaging may be the answer for you.

First of all, a disclaimer: The "true" rampage involves putting your entire bankroll on the line at once and attempting this massive parlay. I do not recommend this. Let's say you have only $100 in your bankroll, and normally play $0.05/$0.10 NL. Your goal is $1000 so you can play $0.50/$1 comfortably. How long would it take you to grind up to $1000? A LONG DAMN TIME that's how long! Now, let's say we take a higher risk, but higher reward path to the top?

I present to you: The "Diet Coke" of rampages (coined by XaQ Morphy)

With this $100, take $5 and sit at a $0.10/$0.25 table. Do not be intimated by the higher stakes. You will be playing for much higher stakes soon. Post your blind. If you have a big hand (AQ/AK, JJ+), and there is a raise in front, you push. You will be paid off by inferior hands, and ANY edge is good enough for the rampager. The hands you want to play, if you can get in for a limp, are small pairs and suited cards (especially in position). You are looking for a big flop (either a set or a draw). With the set, your goal is to get all your money in the pot. This should not be too hard, since you only have 20xBB. I'll leave it to you to figure out the best way to accomplish this goal. With the draw, you are looking to either get all your money in on the flop against a bettor, or to take a cheap card if there are likely to be multiple callers. If you hit your draw, do everything you can to get the rest of your money in the pot. This should not take too long, from 10-50 hands. Do not let your buy-in diminish to less than $4. Reload to $5 as necessary. At higher stakes, we will discuss stealing to maintain your stack, but not at this level.

Once you have $10 in front of you, get the hell out of dodge. Look for a $0.25/$0.50 table. Buy-in for however much you had at the other table. Post your blind. Apply the same strategy as you did at the last table. When you hit $20, get out of there.

So far, so good. We now have over $20, and are going to hit the $0.50/$1.00 tables. This will be your home soon. Get used to it. At these stakes, we can now consider the profitability of stealing. If it gets folded to the button or small blind in your small blind, and they raise, you should push with any 2 cards (unless they make such a large raise as to commit themselves). If it is your BB and there are multiple limpers, push any hand with at least one paint, if you have a small pair or suited cards, take the flop (reason: you may get called by some donk with 77, and you want an out). If you do this a couple of times, the table will get pissed off, and they will play back, so before you push a third time, make sure you have a bigger hand. If you have a medium pair (88-TT), and there is a non-steal raise, you can still jam, looking to be a 53-47 favourite against overcards. Do not fear the coinflip. When you hit $40 (all it usually takes is one hand, or 3-4 steals), move on out!

Now it gets fun. Take your $40+ to the $1/2 tables. Apply the same strategy as before (obviously, you are no longer reloading to $40 if you drop to $30, so make sure not to let that happen. Steals are your friend! You should be able to break $100 on this table, but either way, once you have $80, mosey along!

Congratulations, you have doubled your bankroll! Of course, we cannot stop quite yet!

If you were fortunate enough to finish with more than $120, hit the $3/$6 NL tables. If not, hit $2/$4. Steals work wonders here. Look for a relatively tight table and rape them. Don't bother stealing as the first guy in... resteals are where it is at!

Hit $120 or $200. At $200, we play $5/$10 NL. This tends to be a much more aggressive game. Game selection is critical. Look for games with low flop % and low average pots. This indicates a game where there are lots of steals and few flops seen. We now change our strategy. We are primarily looking to push preflop, preferably against a late position raiser. Overbets make people curious, and betting $200 into the $15 pot with QQ is not a horrible move, as it may elicit calls from TT, AJ, etc. I got called at this level by 88. Good times. Our bread and butter are steals. Each steal reasonably add $50 to our stack. The limp-reraise with a wide variety of hands is great too. Players expect that you have AA/KK at this level, and thus are less likely to call you down. Hit $400-$500. Leave. Almost done.

Ok, so you have quintupled your bankroll. You can either stop now and play only $0.25/$0.50, or go for the gusto! NO FEAR! Take what you have left, and sit at $10/$20 NL. You may recognize some of the names here. These are the sharks. They make their living playing these games. Some of them will be sitting at the table with $10,000 or more. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED. You are the leech. You are here to feed off the sharks. Expect your all-ins to get called, especially by the big stacks. Good. We wait for above average hands (AJ+, 88+), and go for it. Ideally, we get called by a dominated hand, but even if we end up flipping, this is the end of it! Win one last time, and your goal is complete. Pump your fists in the air, try to slow your racing heart, and click "leave table". Go to the cashier's screen. Smile. Take the rest of the day off poker (trust me on this, you will feel invincible. You are not.)

Congratulations!

As for sites on which to rampage, I recommend Bodog for the early levels and likelihood of them paying your big hands off, and Stars for the later levels.

Now you have a bankroll for playing $0.50/$1.00, and strangely, you will not be playing scared money at those stakes when you first move up (gee, I wonder why?)

There is another way to rampage slightly more safely (as you must expect to go broke a *few* times), and that is to bank some of your winnings when you move up, and just buyin to the next level with the minimum. This does make it a bit harder to do, but will allow you to rampage longer. It is up to you whether or not to try the "caffeine free diet coke" of Rampages.

Good luck, and happy rampaging!

Fell

Random musings

2006-02-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Pokerstove (www.pokerstove.com) is an incredibly useful tool. Since plugging in a few situations, I have realized just how large some of the mistakes that people make really are, and how some "fishy" calls of all-in bets (with cards to come) really aren't as fishy as they look. Highly recommended.

Matt Lessinger's Book of Bluffs: Please do not read this book if you intend to sit at a table with me. That is all.

Going to Vegas this weekend, hoping to catch a tourney or two and generally have a good time on superbowl weekend.

CincyKid: This upstart has challenged me to a series of headsup matches. He is going down in flames.

Poker: No major cashes lately, but I have also been grinding it on the cash games again. Turning a profit, so I cannot complain. Played some HU PLO matches yesterday. This one guy managed to catch a straight flush against my ace flush, and flop a Royal in the same match. Yuck.

Rampages: The new "in" thing to do. Basically, attempting to parlay a small buyin into a major score with a very high probablility of going bust. Fun stuff, I've done 3 or 4.

Fell

Ultimate Bet Sunday $200 Weekly Tourney Report

2006-01-25T13:42:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the report of my crazy journey to the final table of the weekly $150k guaranteed on UB.

712 players ponied up $215 each, to create a $150k prize pool.

My first flop seen was at the 10/20 level when I limped preflop with AJo, 3 people see the flop of Ad Qd 6c. Guy bets the pot, and I raise his bet 3x because I think my aces are best. He calls. Turn is the Jh. He checks, I bet pot, he calls. HMM. River Kh. He checks. Okay, I cannot expect a call from any hand I beat, so I check behind. He shows 6d 4d (too bad he didnt river a 4!).

15/30: I have A9d in the BB. MP loose raiser raises to 105. I elect to call. Flop Kd 5s 2d. I bet out 130. He calls. Turn Jd. I elect to bet the pot, hoping I look scared of the flush. It works. He minimum raises. With a huge pot, I just move in for 2000 more. He folds.

30/60: Huge hand, very high risk, but I made a read and followed thru. I am dealt 88 in EP and limp after a limper. LP raises to 275. We both call. Flop 9c 3s 2c. EP limper bets minimum. I flat call. Preflop raiser raises to 425. Limper calls, I call(already planning my move on the turn). Then turn is the 5d. We both check, raiser bets 1200, Other limper elects to fold (later siad he had the flush draw), and I check-raised to 3000, representing strongly the slowplayed set. He thinks for a LONG time and eventually calls. River 7c. I move in. He thinks, thinks, thinks, and folds. I get pushed the 8200 pot, and am over 10k in chips. I am not entirely sure how wise the move was, given the prediliction of donkeys to call, but it worked out for me here.

50/100: I am dealt JJ in LP. There is a pot raise and a huge all-in push for 7.5k. I elected to fold.

75/150: I double up a shortstack when I have AKd, he has QJo, and hits.

75/150: Shortstack moves in for 1k, I elect to call with KsJs. He shows A8o, and I hit a Jack on the flop, and another on the turn, and bust him, but am still just shy of 10k in chips.

75/150: I am dealt 77 in MP and limp. The pot is raised. I call. Flop K74. I check, he bets pot, I put him all-in for 1k more, he calls showing AA, and I win a nice pot (8k), bumping me to over 13k.

I am moved tables at this point.

Other than a couple of blind steals, I do not play a hand until I re-raise with AK and take the pot preflop.

I lose one pot with AQ when I miss the flop, and win another with TT on the 732 flop, and am moved tables again (now at the 150/300 a25 level with 12k).

Most amusing "Please bust me" move of the tourney: Guy raises minimum in EP to 600 with an obvious AA, gets 4 callers, I, of course call in the BB with 33. Flop Jh Ts 4s. Check, Check, OMFG ALLIN FOR 11k!!!! All fold, and he shows AA. Nice play sir.

150/300 a25: I get As Qs in MP. Guy to my right raises minimum to 600. I elect to flat call, and get one more caller. Flop Ks 6s 6x. Raiser bets pot, I elect to push, figuring I likely have 12 outs even against a King, plus fold equity. He instacalls with KQ, but I luck out and river a spade to bust him. I now have 22k.

300/600 a75: I have AA UTG and limp. Guy raises in MP to 3400. He has 11k behind, so I re-raise to 7k. He calls. Flop T97. I put him all-in, he folds. Up to 30k.

300/600 a75: I have KTh in LP and raise. BB calls. Flop T85. He checks, I bet 2k. He calls. Turn A. He checks again, I bet strong, he folds. Now at 32.5k

600/1200 a125: I donk a bunch of chips by firing a 2 barrel bluff at a Kxx flop. Down to 21k.

600/1200 a125: I get AA in EP and raise to 3k. MP moves all-in for 9k, all fold to me, I call. He shows QQ. Flop 84Q. DAMMIT! Turn J. River A. OMFG! Up to 35k

Bubble approaches.

Bubble hand. 800/1600 a150: I havd Jh Th in the BB. 2 stacks (10k and 12k) limp. I push all-in. Guy thinks and thinks. All of a sudden, this asshole at the table, MasterofAces, says "bubble just burst!" Guy with 12k elects to call. GODDAMMIT! He has 66. I lose the race. I make a resolution to personally bust this mofo who interefered in the play of my hand.

We are moved tables, in the money, with 80 left, and I am down to 22k, around the average stack.

800/1600 a150: I have 33 in LP. A guy on a very short stack min raises to 3200. I decide to isolate him and hopefully race (while losing a race would not totally cripple me), and bump it to 6500. All fold to him who pushes for 600 more, I call. He shows A8, flop 632. Ding! I'm up to 34k.

800/1600 a150: I win a pot with a re-raise all-in with AQ, adding another 7k to my stack.

Couple blind steals put me up to 45k.

1000/2000 a200: I get As Ks in LP. Guy in MP raises to 6000 and shorty to his left pushes for 10k. I push all-in, knowing that the pusher will have a wide range of hands. The initial raiser eventually folds. 1st pusher has AT. Flop KQT. Turn 9. River 5. NICE. Up to 63k now.

I blind down for a couple orbits, then at 1000/2000 a200 I am in the SB with Q9o. Folded to me, shortstack of 7.5k in the BB, so I push him all-in. He calls quickly with AT. Flop 632. Turn Q. River 2. GG. Now at 67k.

I am moved tables again with 50 or 60 left. It is at this point that I meet JJProdigy, who would quickly become my nemesis. He is sitting 2 seats to my left.

2000/4000 a400: I was feeling short with ~70k, but I get AA in LP. UTG (tourney chipleader) raises to 12k. I make it 30k. He thinks for awhile then calls. Flop 532. He instapushes. I call quickly. He shows JJ. He misses, and I double up to 150k.

I then lose a few pots in a row as every hand that I raise with, JJProdigy comes over the top with. Arg. What an annoying player to have on your left...

Sick hand just before the table breaks: JJ repushes with KK, guy calls allin with TT. Flop xxx. Turn T. River K. Yikes.

We are moved to Table 2 (with 30 left I think). Guess who draws the seat to my left. Yup. JJProdigy. Sigh.

2000/4000 a400: I am in the BB with A7o. Folded to the SB who raises to 15k. I push for 130k. He folds, showing 33. Cool.

2000/4000 a400: I lose 20k when I raise to 12k with 44, and this fool min re-raises to 20k. Ok, I call, and I'm doubling thru if I set up, lol. Flop T76, he pushes, and I fold.

I tread water for awhile, then have A4 on the button, and raise to 15k (blinds 2500/5000 a500). JJProdigy pushes and apestyles calls allin. I fold. JJ shows K9o. Ape shows AQ. The flop brings a King, and JJ is a huge force at the table, while I am down to 80k.

Down to 60k from blinds when at the 3000/6000 a300 level, I get AA. I decide to just push. I get called by TT. Flop T4..A! Turn and river bricks. First time my AA has beaten TT all-in in a tourney since before the 2005 WSOP, lol.

We are down to 12-13, and are playing 6 handed, approaching the Final Table. A few hands later, we are there. Here are the stack sizes going in:

rumprammer is at seat 0 with 198495.
masterofaces is at seat 1 with 89580.
FellKnight is at seat 2 with 180260.
paulie187 is at seat 3 with 67510.
sirio11 is at seat 4 with 205460.
JJProdigy is at seat 5 with 385430.
Pokar M 82A1 is at seat 6 with 79020.
jimmie23 is at seat 7 with 289275.
Neill543 is at seat 8 with 187650.
reszel is at seat 9 with 97320.

4000/8000 a800: The first hand at the table, I raise to 24k in LP with QsJs. JJProdigy pushes for 300k. I fold. God. Dammit!

10th place is only a couple hundred more than 11th, and then the prizes go up by $1000 or mre each spot, so there is some really tight play right here.

4000/8000 a800: Still 10 left. I have 99 and raise to 24k. JJ re-raises to 75k. I think for a bit. I would have been more prone to calling a push here, but I elected to lay it down. Down to 115k.

Blunder hand of the tourney:

5000/10000 a1000: I have 33 UTG. With only 80k left, I intend to just push and hopefully take the pot (or maybe race). Instead, I accidentally minimum raise. All fold to the BB who calls. Flop KQT. Ugh. He checks, and I check behind. Turn Q. He checks, I elect to check. River A. He checks, I check. He shows 86o, and I take the pot. WHEW.

I stay alive with around 1 steal per round. The Shorties WILL NOT DIE. Still 10 left.

FINALLY, a guy busts when his QJ fails to improve against AT, and we are down to 9, with a $2600 guaranteed payout.

Another bust shortly after, and we are at 8.

6000/12000 a1200: JJProdigy raises to 36k. I decide to push with 88 for 100k. JJ calls. He shows AK. I am praying to win this race. Flop 722. Turn 3. HOLDDDDDD River 5. WOO.

I am sitting at 225k now.

An interesting play that I rarely if ever make: UTG (a tight player) raises to 34k. I elect to fold AK. JJ pushes, and UTG folds, so I am not sure if it was the correct fold, but I felt that UTG was tight enough not to be raising with many hands 8 handed that I had in great shape.

We are down to 7 when a shortstack loses a race.

JJ Prodigy is now to my direct left again (sigh). I have QhTh in the SB and elcet to limp (planning an all-in against a small raise). He checks. Flop AT4. I check, JJ bets 12k, I checkraise, and he folds).

With 6 players left, I am in the BB with AK. Remember the guy who interfered on the bubble and I swore to bust? He is in the SB. Folded to him, he raises pot to 43k (blinds still 6/12). I re-raise to 140k. He pushes a few k more, I call him. He shows KJ. Flop Axx and HGHN. WOOT.

5 left, $7500 guaranteed payout.

rumprammer is at seat 0 with 491270.
masterofaces is at seat 1 with 0 (sitting out).
FellKnight is at seat 2 with 370085.
JJProdigy is at seat 5 with 335610.
jimmie23 is at seat 7 with 279475.
Neill543 is at seat 8 with 303560.

As you can see, a very, VERY close match.

JJ doubles up and busts Neill on the Kxx flop with KJ vs KT. $10k guaranteed.

Big hand:

8000/16000 a1600: I have AK in the BB. JJProdigy raises to 48k. I push for 320k. He thinks for a bit then calls with AJ. All blanks and I double up! WOO!!! I am now the chipleader with 4 left!

A few hands later, JJProdigy raises in the SB with A6h. The BB pushes, JJ says "hmm, ok lets gamble" and calls. BB shows JsTs and misses. Down to 3!

rumprammer is at seat 0 with 379070.
FellKnight is at seat 2 with 675770.
JJProdigy is at seat 5 with 725160.

Rumprammer raises his button to 48k. I fold J5. JJ pushes all-in. Rum calls showing KJ. JJ has AT. Flop xxx. Turn x. River... K. OOF!

The very next hand, I have QQ on the button. I raise to 40k. JJ pushes 380k into the pot. BB folds, and I call quickly. JJ shows 33, saying "gg".

Flop AJ6. HOLD. Turn... 3. ARG@!$@$!@%%!%#)#@(_)@!(_)$!#@(%#!)*!@# River 4. I double him up and am down to less than 200k.

About 5 orbits later, I get AT on the button. I raise to 40k. JJ prodigy re-raises to 160k. I push, he calls, showing 44. flop 422. Ouch. IGHN. The QQ vs 33 hand killed me, and the King on the river the hand before denied me an extra $7k in prize money, but I was ecstatic with my play, and I congratulated JJ as he went on to win the HU match for $35k in prize money.

Next time I win!

Fell

An epiphany at the tables, and a great night besides!

2006-01-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, NLHE cash games have been my weakest game for some time now. I either get impatient and put too much money in the pot with a hand that doesn't justify it, or would fail to extract value, or whatever. Last night, playing live, it all came together and I *got* it. I understood what Doyle meant and how to put pressure on my opponents, and to truly control the table. This is something I have done to good effect in NLHE tournies, but those tend to involve much shallower stacks, and people have more of a propensity to fold as the bubble approaches.

I did not lose a single showdown last night, and won a couple of nice pots without showing down my bluffs :)

On to the hands of interest.

The game is 3/6 NL with a $600 buyin. I am sitting at the must-move game, and buyin for the max. My first hand in the BB is Q3o, I see a free flop of Q88, bet and take it. The next two hands were 99 and AK, both of which I raised preflop and took it. Welcome to the table!

A couple of orbits later, everybody limps to my button of 84o. I consider mucking, but other than the social aspects of the family pot, I elect to call, knowing that if I hit, I may get paid off nicely. 9 players see the flop of A44 2 hearts. DING.

UTG moves all-in for $90. UTG + 1 hesitates for awhile and calls with $90 behind. Folded around to me, and I make it $250. Blinds fold, and UTG + 1 tosses in his last $90. They show ATo and A8o. Turn and river are bricks, and I take down a nice $500 pot. Not bad for 84o :)

My first bluff of the night comes when 3 players see the flop of Qc Tx 4c. I fire $20 at the pot on the flop(I am holding Jh5h in the BB, but that is unimportant). Only the SB calls. The turn is the 3s. He checks again. I think he is on a draw, but am not 100% sure. I bet $60. He calls again. Ok, now I am quite sure he is on a draw, as a slowplayed hand usually check-raises the turn. River 2d. All draws miss. He checks to me, I bet $100 and take it. This puts me up to $1000 or so.

On my next button, I am dealt the Royal Arlo of clubs (64 for non-RGPers). There is one limper, and a good player raises to $40. This is a large raise, and I think it means a fairly big hand like Jacks or Queens, but one that doesn't want action. I elect to call, and the limper calls the $40 too. The flop is a nice one, Kc 6h 5c. I am looking at the raiser as the flop comes, and there was a slight grimace. The limper checks, the raiser hesitates for a moment and checks. I slide out a stack of red ($100). Limper folds, and the raiser tries to look into my soul. I know that he has Jacks or Queens now, and am unconcerned about gambling if he chooses to do so. He elects to fold. I'll take that too.

An orbit later, I get 33 in my small blind, and limp after 2 limpers. BB checks, and we see a flop of Q43 rainbow. I check, and the last player bets $10. I smoothcall, one caller, and we see the turn of the Ace of clubs (putting a club draw out. I check, check, and the better now bets $25. I don't really want to check-raise here and make him fold if he is drawing dead to my set, and I am not too worried about the flush draw. I call, and the other caller folds. The river pairs Queens. Nice card! I elect to bet out $50, hoping that he will raise me if he made trips. Alas, he just calls and shows A4 for a counterfeited 2 pair. Oops! I could probably have extracted much more had I known how strong he was on the turn! :)

I take down a pot preflop with Kings when I re-raise from $20 to $70. I elect to show. They are seeing nothing but good cards from me.

Most people have already been moved to the main game by this point, and soon enough it is my turn. I take stock of the new table, and see that stacks are much deeper on average, including one guy sitting with around $2700 in front of him! I am to the left of a guy whom I have identified as a live one, who is sitting with $700 in front of him, and it doesn't take long for us to mix it up. I limp in the cutoff behind him with Ks Qs. 5 people take the flop of JT8 one spade. It is checked around to me, and I throw in a $10 teaser bet. Only the live one calls. Turn 9, putting 2 diamonds on board. He quickly bets $25. BINGO! I know that he has a straight, he is not the type to bluff at scary boards, and I know he will pay off my nut hand, so make an over-raise to $125. He looks at me, and then raises $200 more! Well! I am now ever so slightly worried about Kd Qd, but I am going absolutely nowhere, and I don't want a scary card to freeze the river action, so I re-raise $500 more (putting him all-in). He calls fairly quickly, showing QTo, and is drawing at 3 outs to chop the pot. Sweet :) The river is a blank, and I take down the $1400 pot, bringing me close to $2000 total. The live one tilts after this, and rebuys for $500, but is down to $200 when the next hand happens.

I am in the BB with AcJc, and elect to just check the 3 limpers. The flop is J73 1 club. I check, and the big stack ($2700) bets $25. The live one calls, and I check-raise $100 more. The big stack looks at me and calls quickly. The live one also calls. The turn is the Qd. I bet out $200 (wanting the big stack to just go away). He looks at me and says: "You're lucky he's (pointing to the live one) in the hand, otherwise I blow you off your hand here." He folds. The live one calls all-in showing AJ, and we chop it. That statement from the other big stack was my epiphany. Of course! THAT is how to play a big stack against another big stack!!!

My biggest live bluff ever comes on what ends up being my last hand of the night. I limp after 3 limpers with Ah 9h, and the button (with $1000 behind) raises to $40. This guy, I know has a nice hand, but I elect to call, to see if I might be able to take the pot away later (trying out my newfound knowledge). The flop comes Qc 9c 7s. I check, and he bets $100. This, from him, is a protection bet. I know that he likes his hand, but is scared by the flop. I call the $100 fairly quickly. The turn is a beautiful 8c. I have acted like I am on a drawing hand, so I keep up the act, and bet $275 into him. He definitely doesn't like that, and thinks for about 2 minutes (counting his chips and the pot) before calling. Oh man, he is a lot stronger than I thought if he is doing pot odds calculations! He either has the nut flush draw or has trips and thinks he needs to fill up to win. The river is the Ks. I pause for a couple of seconds, eyeing his stack of $600 or so, and declare "all-in". He REALLY doesn't like this bet. Now, reading the strength I read from him on the previous street, I would have backed down against most other opponents, but I truly felt that this opponent was good enough to lay down a big hand on a scary board facing a scary bet. He thought for a good 5 minutes, and I tried to evoke a feeling of strength that I knew I had the best hand, and was looking for the call. I sat back, was relaxed, taking a couple sips of my drink, and eventually (he almost mucked about 3 times), he mucked his pocket QQ (top set on the flop), face up. Wow. What a rush!

I told him after the hand that I had the straight (which I quite probably would have played the same way)

I took a bathroom break at this point, and as it was getting late, decided to cashout my $2000 in profit, and go sleep. On the schedule for today: The big $250 + 20 buyin MTT (250 players). I am feeling VERY good about my poker game, and I know that I will go deep, barring a beat.

Fell

p.s. The UB report is half written, and will be posted next week.

$22R Tourney Report

2006-01-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

As promised: The tourney report from my 5th place finish in the $22R on Stars.

3rd hand, I get AK, and raise. 2 callers. Flop K94, I check, check, and 3rd guy bets 400. I check-raise all-in and the next guy instacalls. Uh oh. He flopped a set of nines, rivers quads, and I lose my first double buy-in. REBUY!

4 hands later: I get AJ in the BB. Folded to the button who makes a big over-raise. I push, he calls with TT and wins the race. REBUY!!

14 hands later, I get AK again, and re-raise all-in preflop after a raiser and a caller. Both call, showing Kh Qs and 6s 4s.

The flop is an ugly Jh Th 5h. Turn 7c. River 3d. ARLO!!!!!

I won the small sidepot with KQ boy.

I get nothing for a bunch of hands, then As Qs. I re-raise all-in. Called by Kd Td. Flop Ad 7h Th. Turn Jc. River Qc. DOH! REBUY!!!!!

Finally, 10 hands later, I catch my break. I get it all in 3 ways preflop with AK vs QQ vs QJ, and triple up to 11k in chips. End of rebuy period (I made that hit with about 5 hands left, phew!)

The big hand that propelled me to the top of the leaderboard:

100/200. I am dealt AA in MP. I raise to 600. Cutoff and Button both flat call. Flop Jc 7s 4d. I bet 1400. Short-stacked maniac moves all-in for 2500 more. Button flat calls. Now, this flat call scares me. When a good player flat calls here, he usually has a set (on such a non-threatening board). SO... I went to www.thepokerdb.com, and looked this guy up. He seemed inexperienced with few cashes, and almost nothing deep. Ok, so he sucks. Think. Think. OK, I re-raise all-in. He calls quickly... and shows KK. PHEW! Shorter all-in shows T9 for the gutshot draw. Nice move buddy. Turn 3d. River 2c. DING! I am now at 31k in chips, and atop the leaderboard.

I play tight for about 25 hands, then get dealt As Ah in EP. Blinds 100/200 a25. UTG +1 limps, I raise to 900. Folded around to UTG +1 who calls. Flop 5s 4h 3h (glad I got rid of the limpers!) He checks, I hesitate and bet 1400. He calls. Turn Jh. I hold the Ah, and am not too worried about him holding a flush, though I hold a redraw even in this worst case scenario. He checks again. The pot is around 6k, and he has 14k behind. I decide to make a play and bet 32k all-in, hoping to look weak (like a naked Ah draw). He thinks and calls with 9d 9s. Sweet. All-in, one out. River 2d. GG sir. I now have 50k in chips, still atop the leaderboard.

I now start wielding my stack like the bully that I am :)
For example, I have 44 in my BB. Now, sometimes I'll take a flop. 2 limpers to me. HELL NO. Raise it up! Both fold.

Oddest hand of the night: Blinds 300/600 a50. I raise in LP to 1800 with 9s 8s. SB calls. HALLINGGOL pushes. Now, I know him well enough to know that he is likely to be making a move here, but I cannot call it with 9 high, so I lay it down. The SB immediately calls off 90% of his chips with Jh 8h. HALLINGGOL shows Tc 8c. LOL! No help for either and Jack high wins the pot, busting HALLINGGOL.

I build my stack up to 57k or so from steals, and then start losing. Blinds 400/800 a50. I am in the SB with KQo. Folded to the button who raises to 2400. I figure him for a steal and re-raise to 7000 (putting him all-in). BB folds, and button calls all-in showing Kc 8c. Flop 9c 6c 4d (uh oh). Turn 4h. River 5c. Doh.

I literally don't play a hand (lay down a couple of steals to re-raises) until late in the 800/1600 a75 level. I get AA UTG. I raise to 4800. Folded to the big stack SB who calls. Flop Td Tc 7c. He checks, I bet 5500. He calls. Turn 6d. He checks. I pause and move all-in on the 23k pot for 25k. he folds. Back to 50k.

I don't play a hand through the 1k/2k level.

Critical hand of the tourney! Top 45 players pay, there are 46 left and we are Hand-for-hand. Blinds 1500/3000 a150. It is folded to my button with A7o. SB folds, and the BB bigger stack moves all-in. This is G6Dragon who has made 2 final tables in the Stars weekly events, and knows full well how to put pressure on the bubble. I know he could (and would!) literally be making this play with any 2 cards. Do I call? Well, 45th place pays only $140. I won $14k yesterday. Strangely, I have absolutely no fear of bubbling. Hell with it. I call your lying ass. All-in.

He shows 74o and misses his suckout. He is down to 25k, and I double up to 104k! WOO!

2 hands later, I get QT in MP, and raise it to 9k. Short stack moves in for 16k more. I call. He has A9h, flop JT5, turn 9, river 3, and the bubble is burst. (with me at 140k, back in the chiplead!)

New table, and G6Dragon is on my right now. Blinds 1500/3000 a150. I get TT in the BB. Folded to the button who limps. G6Dragon limps. I know, because G6 is a good player, that he will see an all-in here as weakness, and might take a shot with any decent hand. And hey, if they fold, so be it. I push 144k into the pot. G6Dragon calls all-in with A8o. He misses, and I am up to 181k.

Blinds 2k/4k a200. I have TT UTG+1. UTG moves in for 56k. I elect to fold, not wanting to risk 33% of my chips and my chiplead in this spot. All fold.

I re-raise from the BB with JJ against a raise. He mucks saying AT. I show my JJ. I am now at 200k, in 2nd/3rd place.

Big hand: Blinds 3k/6k a300. Guy in LP raises to 18k, and has 80k behind. I have AQo in the BB, and think that I can push him off a lot of hands. I push all-in. He thinks and calls. He shows TT. Flop Ad Qd 8c. Turn 3h. River Jc. Nice. Over 300k now.

That lasts one orbit until it is folded to jonrasool's button and he raises. I have QQ and put him all-in. He calls with AA. Enjoy the chips sir. I am down to 220k, still in the top 5.

I lose some more chips when I try to steal wit T2o, and run into QQ who raises me on the Q84 flop. Down to only 130k!

2 tables left now.

Blinds 4k/8k a400. It's folded to the button who raises to 24k. I push all-in for 120k more with A9o. Button thinks and folds, claiming AQ. Consensus is that he is full of shit, as any player worth his salt calls with AQ there.

Blinds 6k/12k a600. I have Ad 9c again in the BB. It is folded to the SB who pushes for 81k. I am up to 183k and decide to call 70k more. He shows Qd 9d. Flop is a hideous Kd 8d 4s. Turn Jh. River Tc. Doh.

Down to 100k.

Blinds still 6k/12k a600. I have JJ in MP and push for 93k. The SB pushes. Uh oh? BB folds. SB shows TT. Nice. Flop Q66. Turn K, River 9. Sweet. Up to 200k, and back in the top 10 of 13 left.

3 hands later, in my BB, same guy raises all-in for 50k. It's folded to my BB. I have 87o. Pot is 78k, and it is 38k to me. 2:1... it's close, but I play to win. I call. He shows AT. Flop J75. YAY. Turn T. DOH. River 9. YAY!

He busts 13th, and I am in the top 5 with 12 left with 260k.

2 more people bust from the other table, and then an amusing thing happens. I get moved to the other table, and all 5 of us are the 5 biggest stacks in the tourney. Heh. Fortunately, that only lasted 1 hand before we made the final table and redrew seats.

These are the stacks going in:

Seat 1: H3G3MON (465266 in chips)
Seat 2: jonrasool (292076 in chips)
Seat 3: hmay111 (242483 in chips)
Seat 4: Addakis (205456 in chips)
Seat 5: dracula15thc (245481 in chips)
Seat 6: dmandon (195627 in chips)
Seat 7: FellKnight (183937 in chips)
Seat 8: Shiners (356691 in chips)
Seat 9: wiklund (474983 in chips)

First hand, I get 22. One limper to my button. NO SIR. I push. All fold, and I add a nice 50k to my stack.

Blinds 8k/16k a800, and I push a couple of times to pad my stack, but overall am playing tight with 9 players still left.

Folded to the button who raises to 32k (minimum). SB flat calls. I figure quickly that I have fold equity. I come over the top for 225k more with 7c 6c. Both fold, and I add another 75k to my stack.

I play tight for a few hands, and before I know it, we are down to 6. We eventually agree to have support come and talk about terms for a deal. They arrive, give the figures, and we decide to reject them, opting to play on.

We play on for a while nothing much happening. Blinds 15k/30k a1500. The SB had raised my blinds the minimum twice in a row, and I had let him have them, when I get Ah 3h in the BB. Folded to the SB who... limps? Hmm. Ok, he probably has total trash, but let's take a flop, and maybe I can get him to bluff at it. Flop Ad Jh 9h. NICE!!! He bets 60k at the pot. I minimum raise him (that would commit him all the way anyway). He folds.

I am now up to 475k in 2nd place.

I get AK UTG+1. UTG hesistates for a long time then pushes for 200k. I push. All fold. UTG has A8o. Flop T95. Turn K. GG!

I am now chipleader with 5 left, with 700k of the 2.7M in play.

And then it begins. Blinds 20k/40k. I have built thru steals up to 880k. I have Ac Js in the BB. Folded to the button who pushes for 312k. I call. He shows As Th. Nice. Flop Kc 6c 3c. NIIIIIIICE. Turn 6s. Ok, some chop outs. River. Th. UGH!!!!!!

I am down to 450k. I take one pot in a re-steal, and am back to 650k when my bustout hand happens. I have 55 in the Cutoff. I raise 3x to 120k. BB hesitates then moves in for 720k. I use over a minute to consider my options. I am sure thta he is on a big ace, and that we are flipping with me as the slight favourite. I run a few equity calculations thru my head, but underestimated the amount of clout I would have had if I folded. Knowing that if I win, I was a shoo-in for top 2, and a big favourite to win the whole $8500, I decided to call. He did indeed show AQo. Unfortunately, the flop brought a Q, and IGHN. Had I figured out my equity correctly on the fly, I would probably have folded (mathematically, it turned out to be almost a breakeven call in terms of Tourney equity, but I thought I actually had a huge overlay). Oh well, live and learn. 5th for $1850 aint bad. :)

Fell

What a Rush

2006-01-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

Wow. Other than the RGP game tonight, I played the $22R on Stars. Picked up right where I left off yesterday, building my stack throughout the tourney. Again I'll post a full report tomorrow (if I have time), but I finished in 5th place for $1850. I lost a big hand with 5 left with Ac Js vs As Td on the Kc 6c 3c flop, when the river was a cruel Th, and then decided to flip a coin with 55, and lost to AQ (more analysis on that hand in my writeup).

In my last 5 non home-game tournies, I am 5/5 ITM with 4 final tables, 1 win, 1 second, 1 third, and 1 fifth. May the rush never end!

Fell

A Legendary Night

2006-01-16T03:11:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a night.

I came back from Curling this morning, watched the football games, and the WPT, then decided to see what was happening online.

I registered for the $33 Stud on Full Tilt. ~55 players. I came 2nd for ~$300.

I registered for the $109 Stud on Pokerstars. 24 players. I chopped 50-50 Headsup for $960.

I played the $215 HORSE on Full Tilt. ~90 players. I came 11th for ~$375.

Meanwhile, I am playing the $215 NLHE on UB ($150k guaranteed). 712 players, and plodding along doing well.

All of a sudden there are 200 left. 100. 80 (in the money), 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, 10... and 10 forever!!!! Couple of key double ups. 8 left. 7 left. 6 left. 5 left. I bust the guy in 5th place, so am 2nd place with 4 left. I double up. I am chipleader. 3 left. QQ on the button. Raise. JJProdigy moves over the top (again). BB folds. I call. JJProdigy shows 33. Flop AJx. Turn, the hideous 3. River blank, and I am crippled with 250k, blinds 10k/20k. Couple orbits later, I get AT on the button. Raise. JJProdigy re-raises (big surprise), BB folds. I push, he calls. Shows 44. Flop... 422. OOPS, IGHN. Still $14k in that event, and $15k on the night is pretty good. Unreal how I only played 4 MTTs, and not only cashed all 4, but went deep in all 4. I don't even want to know how lucky I got :)

Full Tourney report from UB forthcoming when I get the HH file.

Fell

What to do?

2006-01-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

My contract with the military expires in July, and as far as I know (they are checking into it), the renewal is for 22 more years. I really don't feel like committing myself for so long, so I am planning on turning it down.

What's next for FellKnight?

Well, I'm going to give the pro thing a try. Not 100% sure yet if I will move to Vegas (though I am leaning toward it), or do the online thing, but it should be an interesting time!

Recently, I have been playing a lot of SNGs on Party (mostly Limit, but now trying NL more and more), and have been doing quite well. Those things can be a bit boring, but are quite profitable (I can easily average about $50/hr 4 tabling $50s and $100s). I have considered going back to the cash games too, but they are a bit harder of late, and require a larger bankroll for the same ROI.

Also, it's gonna be really hard to hit the WSOP this summer, because I simply won't have much time off work. The Main Event is completely out of the picture, though I may be able to squeeze a week in.

So now you're all caught up on my crazy life. :)

Fell

New Years Poker Resolutions and initial results

2006-01-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

so coming into the new year, I had realized some things about my poker play that I really did not like. Namely, I was becoming far too emotionally attached to results and I had forgotten that people pay money to play their chips however they damn well please.

So, I resolved to stop getting angry at the tables (online or otherwise), and to learn how to enjoy the game again. So far, so good. I have experienced several hideous beats of course, but they do not seem to have the same effect on me. Life is good, and too short to get caught up in the details.

Also, I resolve not to use the words "fish" and "donkey" in a derogatory sense anymore. Hopefully this will further improve my outlook.

Fell

Merry Christmas to All!

2005-12-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

I am planning a quiet Christmas at home this year, but I hope that all reading this have a wonderful holiday and I will see you in the new year!

Fell

Adventures in Vegas (WBPT Weekend)

2005-12-12T14:12:00.001-08:00

This weekend was the WBPT (hell if I know what it stands for) :)

I arrived in Vegas too late on Friday night (nearly midnight) to play in the HORSE cash game at the MGM, which is a shame, because I would have loved to play some HORSE for cash, even at low limits!

I was staying at Harrah's (next to the Imperial Palace, where most of the action took place), because I had some leftover comps to use up. I got there and checked in at around 12:30, and had a bite to eat at the cafe, then had the oddest urge to play some stupid slot, and donked off $40 at the nickel slots in about 10 minutes. Heh. WELCOME TO VEGAS, FELL! :)

Being tired from a long work week, I actually went to bed around 2 and woke up at 9, heading over to the IP where things were supposed to get started around 10. Once there, I met up with Tanya (MissT74), and also ran into Rick "J2" Wampler, Dr. Pauly, Scott, Al Can Hang, and several others. Barry Greenstein spoke at length about his experiences with various bloggers, including Charlie Tuttle, and why he feels that bloggers are an important part of the poker community. He received thunderous applause at the end.

Also speaking were Wil Wheaton and Michael Craig (author of The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King). Michael spoke for over half an hour, and damn that man can talk!

Finally, we registered for the first blogger tourney itself. I did not pre-register, so I had to go on the alternates list. Fortunately, I did not have long to wait to play, and the structure was a decent one, with 2500 chips, and 20 minutes levels.

MissT74 was the first one out when she moved all-in with AQh, and was called by AKo. One can debate who made the worse play here :) Both players made trip Aces, but the King held up, and Tanya went bust, receiving a huge round of applause. She then decided to take on the role of cocktail waitress, until the real waitress showed up and gave her shit. Oh well. I had several drinks before the tourney, and made full use of Tanya while she lasted.

Once I sat at the table, I introduced myself to the group. I was sitting to the left of Brad "Otis" Willis from PokerStars, and we spoke for most of the event. It was my pleasure to meet you Otis. Several other people at the table recognized "FellKnight", which was pretty cool.

I called a raise in position with KQs against one guy who was raising lots (and getting AA lots, 4 times in the first 2 levels!!). I folded when I totally missed the flop. I then called him once again (preflop raise to 300) with ATo on the button. The flop came Kc Tc 6x. He lead out for 400, and I called. The turn was the 5x. He checked to me, and I bet 600 or 700. He called. The river was an offsuit deuce. He quickly bet 500 (half my remaining stack). I thought for a few seconds, realizing that his actions were inconsistant with the betting of most hands (possibly a set, but I would have expected a check-raise on the Turn). I decided that there was a high likelihood of a bluff, and I called the 500 chip bet. He said "nice call", showed his QJ, and mucked when I showed my pair of Tens.

Now, I had a stack with which to bludgeon!

I stole a couple of pots preflop, taking advantage of the tight play.

With 75/150 blinds, I look down at AA UTG. I limped. The guy to my left said "just call?" I replied "yup, it's the old limp re-raise play.", hiding my strength by openly displaying it. All folded to Otis in the BB, who checked. We saw a flop of Q77 rainbow. He checked, and I checked behind, figuring that if he had managed to outflop me, I was WAY behind anyway, and if I was still ahead, I did not have to worry about giving a free card. The turn was a King, putting 2 to a flush on the board. He checked, and I bet the minimum, 150. He called. I figured that I had let him catch his King. The river was a deuce, he checked, I bet 250, and he called and mucked. Now the table was set up for an early position limp meaning strength. EXCELLENT.

I stole another couple of pots, and went into the 1st break with over 6500 in chips, among the leaders of the event.

At this point, I broke the seal, and needed to take washroom breaks every 10 minutes or so. Oops.

We returned to 100/200 blinds. At the end of the first orbit, I looked down at 72o (known in blogger parlance as "THE HAMMER!" UTG and limped. It was folded to a player in middle position who raised to 600, and all folded (fearing my UTG limp, lol). I called the raise. The flop came J44. I checked, and the raiser checked behind (a bet here would certainly have made me fold). The turn was a Queen. I bet 800. He flat called. Aha! He is either weak or flopped a boat. The river was an 8. I bet 1500 (2/3 of his remianing stack), and he folded his AKs face up disgustedly. I tabled my cards declaring "THE HAMMER!", as I raked in the pot. The table cracked up (except for the villain), and Otis congratulated me on my extremely cagey play with the hammer. I was now up to 8000 or so. I got KK and no action (150/300 blinds), and chipped my way up to 10200 by the 2nd break (2nd place in the tournament). The table broke shortly afterwards, and I wished everyone luck.

With the blinds now at 500/1000, even my large stack was now only at 10xBB. Doh. We were down to 30 players, and I was dealt 99 in MP. I raised to 3000. It was folded to the BB who moved in for just over 2000 more. I called instantly, knowing that it was a "must-call". He had TT. Doh. His hand held up, and dropped me to just under 5000. I had to fold my blinds, and then in MP picked up 99 again (now with 24 players left). I moved in for 3600. The Button re-raised to 10000 straight. "God, I hope he has AK", I thought to myself. The BB then went into the tank. "Aw crap". The BB decided to call all-in with AKo. The button showed QQ, which held up and IGHN. Damn, but I detest 99.

Had a great with with all the bloggers!

I returned back to Harrah's, foolishly had ANOTHER couple drinks in the pits, and went to my room to pass out. I woke up a few hours later, and decided to stay in and recover from my aching head. Damned Tanya and her damned Kamikaze shots. I BLAME YOU TOO SCOTT!

I went over the Caesars Palace, and had lunch. The poker room will not be open until Christmas, though it sounds like it will kick TOTAL ass once it does open! So I went back to Harrah's and got my ass kicked playing the new "Texas Holdem Bonus" pit game to the tune of around $600. Sigh.

There was one dealer who was making a procedural error at the game, which was causing a +EV situation for the player. I took full advantage, and when the pit boss found out, he gave me, not the dealer, shit for it (because he had seen me play the game before). I told the pit boss that it is his job to ensure that the dealers know how to deal a game, and if he is neglecting his duties, then he should not be giving shit to the players for it. I cashed out, and went to play some video poker instead.

I bought in for $100 (on a $1 machine), and drew to my pair of 8s, hitting quad 8s. DING!. I played and played, then went I was back down to 100 credits, I was dealt 888xx, drew, and hit quad 8s again! DING! I played until I was broke, and went to catch my flight. Me, with my great money management skills, realized that I had only $16. Shit. So I take $200 out of the ATM machine, and hit the High-Limit Slot area, playing $5 Video poker. I figured if I got down to 5 credits ($25), I cash out, and take my losses. I bought in for $100 (20 credits, lol), playing 5 credits a hand. I push first hand, lose the next two, push one. I am then deal 444AA pat. Ding! I am at 50 credits. Shall I quit? Nah, one or two more hands!! I push one hand, and then get deal 4 diamonds. I say "Ok, give me the flush, and I'll quit". Draw. Kd. DING! I cash out for 80 credits ($400) :)

Ok, time to hit the airport. I get my bags, get a cab, and arrive into Hell (1 hr 45 minutes before my flight). The conveyor belt is broken, the agents are literally swimming in bags, and they are hand carrying bags to some other place. Guess what that means? One agent giving out tickets. YAY. 45 minutes later, I get to the front of the line, and she tells me to hurry if I want to catch my flight. I wanted to punch her in the face for saying something so stupid. I grab my ticket, scurry over to the D-Gates, and see a lineup for screening about 500 people deep. About 45 minutes later, I get screened, and pass thru. I get to the Gate at 5:30 (flight is scheduled to leave at 5:35). I ask if I am too late, they have not started boarding yet, even though the flight is still marked as "on time". Phew. They say that it will be a few minutes at least, so I hit the video poker machines. LOL.

I buy in for $100, and go card dead. Nothing but pushes and losses. Sigh. I'm down to my last 5 credits when they announce boarding for my flight. Ok. "I'M ALL IN!". I am dealt Qxxxx. I hold the Q and draw. 5. 5. 5. 5. PRESTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cash my ass out for $250, and jump on the plane. It's a turbulent flight for almost the whole trip, with us being confined to our seats except for "emergency washroom breaks". Fortunately, we arrive safely, and I get my bags. I get picked for a random customs check of my bags. Sigh.

Anyhoo, it's now 10 p.m by the time I get thru customs, and I need to get to the ferry terminal for the 10:30 sailing (last one of the night)

So I take off down the highway to the ferries. As I am driving at 120 kph (80 mph) in an 80 kph (50 mph) zone, I pass a well-concealed cop car. I say a silent prayer and hope that I don't see his lights coming on, as I will undoubtedly miss the ferry if he does stop me. Thank the Lord, he stayed put. I arrived at the ferry terminal as they were loading vehicles, with perhaps 5 minutes to spare.

The rest of the trip was smooth, and I got home at around 2:30, after a crazy weekend in Vegas.

Fell

Tournament of Champions!

2005-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

When I was in Vegas last month, I (unlikelily) won an entry into this month's TOC at Binion's. I am headed to Vegas tonight. The tourney is Sunday, and I will update the blog. Wish me luck!

Fell

Grey Cup in Vancouver

2005-11-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

So I went to Vancouver this weekend to watch the 93rd Grey Cup (Canada's version of the Superbowl). It was a helluva party! The game was incredible! Edmonton was facing Montreal (two perennially strong teams), and the game was back and forth all game. Edmonton took the lead early with a 10-1 score at halftime (we have single points in Canadian Football), but Montreal (the team I was cheering for roared back on the first drive of the 2nd half to score a touchdown, closing the gap to 10-8. Edmonton managed a field goal (13-10), and then Montreal drove all the way for another TD to take the lead 15-13. The crowd was really into the game by this point! On the Montreal kickoff, Edmonton ran it back 96 yards for the touchdown, 20-15. Montreal then kicked a field goal to narrow the gap to 20-18 (having been stopped just short of the goal line). It was now about 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter, when Montreal aired out a 40 yard pass to get to 1st and goal, and they scored the touchdown the next play to take the lead 25-20. Montreal made a key defensive stop with 2:30 left, but then inexplicably threw two incomplete passes, stopping the clock each time, and giving Edmonton the ball back with 2:15 to go.

Montreal made two key stops, forcing a 3rd and 4 situation for Edmonton (there are only 3 downs in Canadian Football). The defence put big pressure on the Edmonton QB, but he rolled out of the pocket and found a receiver 30 yards upfield to keep the game alive. 2 plays later, Edmonton scored a TD to take the 26-25 lead. They decided to go for 2 points, and found a reciever in the endzone for a 28-25 lead with 1:03 to go.

The kickoff was returned by Montreal all the way to the 50! Montreal had 50 seconds to at least tie. After a couple of idiot penalties by Edmonton, Montreal found themselves at the 25 yard line with 5 seconds left on the clock, needing to kick a game-tying field goal. The snap was good, and the kick went dead center as time expired to send the game into OT, 28-28!

Nothing was decided in the first OT, so we went to double OT! Montreal took a bad penalty, and then had their QB sacked which, after a 3rd and 31 yards allowed Edmonton to kick an easy field goal for the win.

All-in-all, one of the most exciting games I have ever seen, and worth every penny!

Fell

Weekend Wedding in Winnipeg

2005-11-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

My good army buddy (he transferred to the air force last year) Jon, got hitched with his girlfriend Teena in Winnipeg this weekend. What a blast! Them French Canadians sure know how to party!!! :)

Winnipeg itself sucks, of course, being around 20 degrees (farenheit) with slush and snow all over the ground, and I arrived there on Saturday at 3 p.m, having spent friday evening in Vancouver with my father who was visitng on business. The wedding was at 7 p.m, and after driving around for awhile looking for the base, I finally arrived with about 5 minutes to spare. Whew.

After the ceremony, we went to the Officers' Mess for the reception, and began the drinking! The mess was highly lame, having very very few mixers and a crappy selection of beer, so I made friends with the table and got them to let me experiment in bartending. After an initial mediocre drink (Southern comfort + Bol's Blue), we found that Creme de Banane goes very well with Bol's Blue. I got in a drinking contest with Mark from Ottawa, and his date Sandra from Winnipeg. An absolute blast. The party wound down around 2 a.m, so I picked up a taxi coupon from the bar and headed back to my hotel room to crash. It has been a long time since I drank 20 or so drinks, so when I woke up at 6 to catch my 9 a.m. flight (BAD IDEA!), I was very hungover. I sucked down a lot of water, checked in, and slept almost the whole way to Vancouver. Much. Better.

Stayed at the casino for awhile to play, won about $250, and went home, arriving at 9 p.m, and crashed.

Good stuff.

Fell

5 Card Draw, and lessons about Poker

2005-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

I saw an RGP post about an $11 + 1 Rebuy + 1 Add-on Pot-Limit 5 Card Draw tourney on Pokerroom, and decided to play. I have never played 5 Card Draw for money, but I was curious as to how much I could just apply basic PL MTT strategy, and other general poker knowledge in order to go deep. I found that I was highly successful by being aggressive (tables were all 5 handed), by taking a couple of cheap draws from the blinds and value betting after the draw, and bluffing after the draw.

I completely dominated every table I played at, consistantly accumulating chips. I was in the top 5 all tourney, until the 3rd hour when I ran into KKKxx with my 999xx. However, I built my stack back up, making the Final table in 2nd place. I busted the guy in 5th place (he was shortstacked), when I re-raised him all-in with AAxxx before the draw. He called, I did not improve, but won the hand nonetheless.

I then busted the 4th place guy with my TTT9J predraw when he drew to an 888xx. We got it all in post draw, and I took him out.

I laid down acouple hands to the other big stack, showing him respect as we were chipping away at the short stack. The shortstack was down to 2 big blinds when I got dealt KKQQx in the SB. The button min raises (as he always did), I potted it, and the BB folded. The button re-potted it all-in. I would have been left with only 5-6 BB if I folded, so I called. He had JJ88x. He drew an 8, and I missed my boat. ARG. Out in 3rd.

Nonetheless, this tourney really drove home the lesson that knowing how to play various forms of poker will markedly improve your understanding of poker theory in general.

Fell

The drought, and the sweet rains thereafter

2005-11-14T13:20:00.000-08:00

This was a tough week at the tables. I don't know the exact number offhand, but I had played in 30-40 MTTs in a row without cashing. This is a horrible record for me. So I was down about $1200, when I entered the $100+9 Limit Holdem on Stars and the $200+16 NLHE Weekly 50K on Full Tilt.

I was short stacked in both of them for most of the tourney. Finally, in the LHE, at the 100/200 level, I had 99 in MP and raised. The button 3-bet, and I called. The flop was a nice looking T82 rainbow. I started thinking about how to get my last 700 chips in the pot. I check-called his flop bet, then check-raised the turn 8. The river 7 brought no help, and I bet my last 200. He called with AJ, and I doubled up. I then won a few more big pots (once getting lucky with TT and sucking out on AA), building my way into the top 4 as we hit the final table. I took out one guy early, doubled someone else up, and then took out 2 more (6th and 5th) with AJh against 55 and K8c. I was in 2nd in chips, and the shortstack raised (over 2/3 his stack) with K8c. I know his range is wide here. The other shortstack 3-bet in MP. I 4 bet on the button, the blinds folded, and the EP called all-in and LP called. The flop was 7c 3h 2h. Nice. The LP checked, I bet, and he called all-in.

The river was the Ac, giving me top pair, but K8c the nut flush draw. The river was the Ad. We then chipped away at the two shorter stacks and got headsup for the title, I offered a deal, he said no, we played. He was hyper-aggressive, so I checked and called with middle pairs, but he kept having better hands (and when I tried check-raise bluffs, he was having none of it). I went out in 2nd shortly thereafter for $1200.

In the meantime, I had been treading water in the Full Tilt. We were down to 100 of 300, but I had not had an above average stack since the first break. I was not liking my chances, but still tried to play my best game. I won most pots uncontested, allowing me to survive as we lost table after table. We were ITM at 36 players, I was still very short stacked. Ever so slowly, I crawled up the pay ladder. We were forever at 16 players (with top 15 making $600), and I was the short stack. Someone else went out. I pushed all-in a few times with good hands or good situations, getting no callers. People kept busting. We were down to 10, on the final table bubble. At 5 players per table, and 2000/4000 blinds, 500 ante, I was in huge trouble with my 19k stack. I knew I was getting called when I pushed, so I had to fold my trash hands. Finally, the 3 hands which changed everything. I had J8o in the BB (17k stack). The CO raised to 10k, and the SB re-raised to 35k (enough to put the CO all-in). I folded of course. The CO opted to fold.

I folded my SB the next hand.

I then had KT on the button with 11k in my stack. The BB (CO from the last hand) was in the BB for 4k of his 18k. I pushed. The SB folded, and the BB called with AJh. I hit a T on the flop, and another on the river for a key double up. The SB next hand was in for 2k of 7k, and called off his chips against a raise by AK with Q7, the big stack BB had AA and pushed. AK folded, Q7 did not improve, and we hit the final table. Finally, with a few chips and 9 handed, I felt I could afford to sit back a bit, and play a touch tighter. This lasted an orbit, when I was dealt 99 in CO-1. I pushed and the button called with AA, flopping an Ace to send me home with $1190. A shame that I couldn't go further and take down the $15k 1st prize, but all-in-all I was very impressed with how long I held on with a short stack. I had no business cashing that event, farless final tabling it.

Here's to a good week ahead!

Fell

Weekend in Vegas

2005-11-07T23:16:00.000-08:00

What a weekend.

Okay... so Friday night, I drop my dog off at the kennel for the weekend, and drive down to Vancouver for the night (2.5 hour drive and 1.5 hour ferry, plus waiting time). I have friends there that I stay with when I go down. Also, my sister Rachel(20), whom I have not seen since June 2004, was in Vancouver for the weekend to recieve an athletic award from the CIAU (Canada's NCAA). We went out and had some drinks, catching up on old times, which was very nice. She has always been a great sister, and I miss her.

I get back to my friends' place at 12:30 a.m, and set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. to catch my 6:50 flight to Vegas. I wake up energized and ready to go (rare for me, after 4 hours sleep). After showering, taking care of things, I leave the house at 5:05, for the 20 minute drive to the airport. Until I get lost. In some god forsaken back roads in Vancouver. Sigh. I get to the airport at 6:05, and they tell me they cannot let me on my flight, so instead they schedule me for the 7:30 a.m. flight to Portland, OR, with a 10:05 transfer to Vegas. I arrive in Vegas at 11:40. Turns out my original flight has some issues, and even though it was a direct flight, it didn't arrive until 12:00 noon. Heh. Funny how things happen sometimes.

I go to Harrah's to check in, and take a quick nap, as I am now crashing from the lack of sleep. Around 5 p.m, I wake up, have a bite to eat, and gamble for a little bit before heading over to the 8 p.m. Binion's tourney. I run into RGPers Tanya aka MissT74 and PokerManiac there, and Tanya is having a great time at the tables, although we both busted out early (my hand was AK vs KT, flop came KTx). Oh well. Tanya and I decided to hang out and gamb00l for awhile, but she had to get some sleep before the "Tournament of Champions" freeroll that she was playing in on sunday at 10 a.m. I told her that I would come back in the morning to cheer her on.

Fast forward to Sunday morning. I get to Binion's at 9:45, and decide to play in the 10 a.m. tourney, as Tanya plays hers. We make a pledge to both make our respective Final Tables. There were 66 players in her tourney, and 49 in mine. The T.O.C. is a "freeroll" for tourney winners thoroughout the month funded by the 2% they take out of each prize pool, so there was about $10,000 in the pool, and they were paying 10 spots. Unfortunately, the structure sucks balls, 1500 in chips, no rebuys, and 25/50 starting blinds, 20 minute levels. It is a very "make your move early" tourney. VeeRob was the only other player I recognized there.

In my tourney, I had a couple nice hands in the first hour. First: 25/50 blinds, I have TT in LP, I raise to 150. The button makes it 300, and I call. Flop T62 rainbow. I check, he bets 200, I call. Turn Q. I check, he quickly checks behind. River T. QUADS!!!! I bet 200, he throws the chips in saying "Q is good", I show the Quads and get approving nods from the table.

I then had AJh on the button. EP limps, CO -1 raises to 300 (blinds now 50/100), I call, and EP calls. Flop Ax Qh 6h. EP bets out 500. CO -1 folds. I raise all-in, EP calls, showing A9o. He misses his 2 outer, and I double thru.

Again at 50/100 blinds, I have AQ in the SB. EP limps, folded to me, I make it 400. BB folds, EP immediately says "all-in". I agonize for awhile, and fold AQ face up. He kindly shows 66. Good info.

I could not get ANYTHING going (all my continuation/probe bets were being raised), and finished the first hour with 2475 chips (start with 1500, plus the 1000 rebuy).

Tanya, on the other hand, was dominating her tourney, having taken out 4 people early and amassing a stack of 8000 at the first break.

Upon return, the blinds were 100/200. I was looking to make a move, but couldn't get anything done, and was simply staying afloat for the entire hour. On the last hand of the hour, I had 44 in EP (with 1200 in chips at 200/400 a25 level). I pushed. The player to my left pushed to isolate me. All folded. He has KQo. Flop KK2. He let's out a "BINGO!!", pumping his fists. Turn 4, DING!!!! River 3. I triple up, and have about 3500 chips with 300/600 a50 blinds. Yikes.

Tanya is at around 9000 in chips with 3 tables left. I advise her to play tight for a little bit. Players will be busting fast and furious in her event now.

I return to the table, with 3 tables left (I think 22 players). Again, I can simply not find a place to put my money in (as pots are being raised before me and I have trash). I ante down to 1675 (blinds nbow 400/800 a75). I look down in EP to 33. I push. All fold to the button who calls with K9. Flop K75. Turn 5. River 3. DING DING DING!!!!!!!!!!!! I triple up to 4500 or so.

Antes are killing me. One orbit passes, I am down to 2500, blinds now 600/1200 a100, and I look down in EP to QQ. I push. guy to my left calls. Button pushes all-in for a huge amount (he was the table Chipleader). BB and other player fold. I say "I think I liked that push", he says, "Yeah, probably", and he shows 33?!?!?! Flop KJ7, Turn 9, River T, and I quadruple up to over 10,000 in chips. BACK IN BUSINESS BABY!! I blind/ante down to 8000 or so, and go on break.

We take the third break with 10 players left. Tanya has just made her final table, with 12,000 in chips (average stack 9900). They start to talk deal, but cannot get everyone to agree, so they play on!

Returning to my tourney, we re-draw for the button at the final table. I end up in the SB (blinds 1000/2000 a200), I have about 8000 in chips, with 1000 in the SB. UTG moves in. All fold to me. I look down at AsQs. I move all-in. The chipleader in the BB agonizes and folds. UTG shows A5o. Flop Ks, 6x... 5s. Crap! I tell the dealer to give me a spade!!! Turn 9h. River... Ts!!!

We are down to 9. (Top 6 pay), and I am now above average stack.

Some guys bust 9th and 8th, we decide to take $75 from 1st place and $25 from 2nd to pay 7th place so we are now all In The Money, and my next hand happens. Blinds still 1000/2000 a200. Folded to my button (I have 13000 or so in chips). I have Th6h, and push. SB folds. BB instacalls. Uh oh. He has AQo. Flop JhJx5x. Turn 8h. River 6. Lucky, yes, but I was playing to take those blinds. Shit happens. He has me covered, so I am up to over 28000, and am now the chip leader.

A short stack busts 7th. The blinds go up to 2000/4000 a400 (yikes!!!). I have about 6xBB as the frigging chipleader! I am in the BB for 4000. Folded to the button who pushes for around 13000. The SB pushes for 15000. I look down at AT, and call 11,000 more. They show K9 and KJ. Flop Q64. Turn 5, River 3. Fell takes out 2 and moves up to over 50000 in chips!

We start talking deal, but they are not giving me as much as I would like, so we play on for a bit. One guy was catching up to me in chips. Folded to him in the SB and he minimum raises to 8000. I look down at Q7o and call. Flop T75 rainbow. He bets 4000. I raise to 14000. He folds. I now have the big chip lead again, they all have a similar stack, and we deal. They each take $735, I take $1100 (first prize was $1400), and I get the entry into next month's Tourney of Champions, so I'm going back to Vegas, baby!! :)

Back to Tanya. She is down to the final 6 players or so, and is on the respirator with 7000 chips (2000/4000 a400). She is in the SB for 2000, and had 55. Aggro chipleader raises all-in, all fold to her, she calls, BB folds. Chipleader shows A3o and misses the Ace. The next hand, UTG calls for 1000. all fold to Tanya who pushes all-in with A6o. The BB gives her a nasty look and comments about working together to take out a common foe, but of course Tanya was correct to push, as she wins a lot of dead blind money no matter what. UTG shows Kx and misses. One more player busts, and the final 4 make a deal to chop $1750 each. All-in-all, a very nice payday, and well played Tanya!

All in all, it was a fun tourney, and I was incredibly lucky to have survived for so long on such a short stack. That structure is WAY different from online (or from WSOP events, lol).

Looking forward to going back. Not looking forward to the structure. Lol.

Fell

RGP Open... Finally!

2005-11-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Long story short, I have finally started to do well in the RGP Open. Took forever, but I came 2nd in the $100 HORSE, and 1st in the $30R Supersat to the Main Event. I won't be playing the Main Event, and have instead staked H Incandenza to take it down.

For those who are interested, it's a $200 + $0 (no juice) NLHE tourney on GamesGrid Saturday at 14:00 EST. Players will start with an unprecedented 10,000(!) in chips, blinds will be 25/50 and mimic the WSOP Main Event, and levels will be 40 minutes long with a 5 minute break after each level.

Myself, I will be in Vegas.

Fell

Riding the wave!

2005-10-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Well, It's official, I am on a rush, and loving it!

I have now made 3 consecutive MTT final tables ($22R NL, ~200 players, $50+5NL , 91 players, and $11 PLO, 256 players). I finished 2nd, 6th and 4th respectively.

Below is my tourney report from the $22R, where I finished 2nd (chopping 1st and 2nd place money when HU for $7000 each).

I lost a stack early on with 55 hoping to flip a coin, but was against KK. Rebuy!

Lost another stack when my 55 went up against T6o (called all-in preflop). Board T48T4. Yuck. REBUY!

Lost yet another stack when I had JT vs AA vs 97 on the J97 flop (I was 3rd to call, and will always call in a situation like this in a rebuy, hoping to win lots of chips). REBUY!!!!

Lost another stack when I flopped and Ace with A8 against AT. I made a small bet and was called. Turn 8. THe guy moves in on me, I call, river T. REBUY!!!

Lost another stack on a donkey re-raise all in with 22, he had TT and called. REBUY!

I then lost most of the stack I had begun building when I re-raised all-in with AQ. HE called with K8. Flop AK5, turn 2, river K. Lost the rest on the next hand. REBUY! (In for $240 now, yikes)

I get AA and get no action. YAY :)

I then get KK. UTG limps. CO limps. I raise 5x BB. Blinds fold. UTG limp-raises 6xBB more. Uh-oh. I was seriously contemplating folding here, but being a rebuy tourney, threw caution into the wind. ALL IN! Instacall. Uh oh. AA. Uh oh.

REBUY!!!!

Finally, just before the break, I get a good hand. I raise preflop with daMissT (KQ). 2 calls (K7 and K8). Flop KQ6. DING!!!!

I bet, get raised, and cold called. Ok, I'm getting paid off or drawn out on here. I'm all in! Call. Call. Turn 5, River 8. Triple Up!

I then get 88 on the button. 3 limpers to me, I limp along. Flop 632 rainbow. Checked to the MP who bets the pot. I raise 3x his bet. All fold to him who calls. Turn 2. He checks, and I check behind, no longer worried about him pairing his kicker on me. River 7. He bets 1/2 pot, and I call. He shows 65. It took a while, but now I have 14k in chips (after the add-on), and can be a threat!

I am in for $302, and need final 2 tables (top 5 tables pay) just to break even! EW!

I am card dead for most of the first level after the break, when a big hand comes along. I am in the BB with 76o. One limper from MP, SB completes, I check. Flop 542 rainbow. I bet 2/3 pot. MP calls. SB folds. Turn K. I check. MP bets 550 (pot 1600 now). I call with my draw. River 3. Ding! I bet out 3300 (overbet). MP raises to 8600. I have the nuts, so I push. He calls, showing K6. I collect 28000 from the pot. Nice.

Next big hand, blinds 100/200:

I have QQ in EP, I raise to 600. I get 2 callers. The SB re-raises 1600 more. I feel he has a big hand, and should probably have laid down QQ here (I thought I had implied odds to call, but upon post-game analysis, I realize that I did not). Both callers call along. Pot 9000. Flop Js Ts 3s. I have the Qs. SB moves in for 5875. I decide to call (putting him on AA/KK but thinking he probably doesn't have the As). This was also an incorrect call, given that th As could have easily been behind me.

Both fold, SB shows Ah Ac. Turn 4c, river 2s. I knock him out and am up to 40k in chips.

I lose a few chips with KK when a shorty moves in in LP with A5 and hits the Ace.

I lose a few more chips at the 100/200 a25 level when my AK runs into AA and the Ace flops :) Fortunately, he was all-in preflop for a short stack.

The next hand, I make a donkey call. The shortstack, who had been pushing a lot of pots, raises all-in. I re-raise with 77. I get one cold caller. The guy who just had AA re-raises all-in, and I idiotically decided to call. The other caller also calls. I have 77, the cold caller has AK, the re-raiser has TT, and the shortstack has K5o. Flop QJ7, turn A, river 3. I win a 30k pot, busting 3 players at once. I am now at 54k in chips, and am the chipleader for the tourney!

Fastforward a bunch of hands to 200/400 a25:

I have AhJh in the BB. There is a raise which I am considering calling. Then there are two more raises to me. Um.. ok, instafold. The initial raiser folds, and the re-raiser calls with 88. The re-re-raiser has KK. Flop? Th 7h 4h. DOH! :) Sometimes it would be nice to be a donkey.

2 hands later, I am on the button with 9s8s. It is folded to me, so I raise it to 1200. The SB (also with a big stack) re-raises 2000 more. I figure him for a big hand, but with position and implied odds, I make the call. Flop As 9c 2h. He bets 2800. I think he is weak (big pocket pair, afraid of the Ace, so I call, planning to raise/bet the turn). Turn Ah. He bets 4400. I am sure he is weak, and decide that the best way to represent the trip Aces is to minimum raise to 8800. He has about 23000 behind, so a call here will put the rest of his chips at risk on the river. He thinks for a LONG time. I know that he has a big pocket pair. He says "double Ace almost makes me want to call, KK nh", and folds. I was advised to show the bluff by my favourite railbird (MissT74), so I obliged. This was the beginning of the games between the two of us (his name is belowabove).

Fast forward to the 300/600 a50 level. I had stolen a few blinds to stay as top 3 stack (with 65k in chips), when the following hand occurred:

>Dealt to FellKnight [Qc Qd]
>cliff819 said, "good call"
>twistin 1: folds
>BeL0WaB0Ve said, "thx"
>FellKnight: raises 1200 to 1800
>cliff819: folds
>BeL0WaB0Ve: raises 3600 to 5400
>gavinM: folds
>cliff819 said, "ace four"
>DanielFerg: folds
>Hickboy: folds
>murphymike: folds
>FellKnight: raises 6600 to 12000
>BeL0WaB0Ve: raises 28272 to 40272 and is all-in
>FellKnight: folds
>BeL0WaB0Ve said, "nice fold.............."
>BeL0WaB0Ve collected 25300 from pot
>BeL0WaB0Ve: doesn't show hand

Initially, belowabove claimed to have 88, but later in the tournament "admitted" to having AA. I was proud of a nice laydown that cost me only 12000 chips rather than a lot more. So I am down to 50k in chips, but still top 5 in the tourney.

Now at the 400/800 a50 level, and the two of us clash again. Belowabove raises my Big Blind, and I call 1600 more to see a flop of Ts 2c 5c. I check, and he checks behind. Turn 6. I bet 3200 on my draw, he calls. The river is a sexy 9. I bet 7200. He thinks for a long time, then calls, mucking AK. I am back over 60k.

400/800 a50: We clash yet again: I raise to 2400 with AQ. He calls in MP. Flop 986 rainbow. I bet 6000. He moves in for 18k, and I fold. He admitted that he had 77/TT/JJ (I suspect 77 myself).

Steals build me back to 60k when a huge hand occurs.

600/1200 a75: I limp UTG with 77 (I sometimes limp with these types of hands, sometimes raise, sometimes fold). MP limps. SB raises 5xBB. BB folds, I call, MP calls. Flop A77. DINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!!!!! SB checks, I check, MP pushes all-in for 27k. SB folds, and I call. MP shows AK, and is drawing to running Aces. He misses, and I am up to 100k, and back in the chip lead!

I lose some next hand when a shortstack pushes with KT, I call with 55, and he wins the race.

Belowabove then gets busted when his Td9d runs into KdQd on the Ad 7d 2d flop. Oops.

I flop top 2 pair with AQ, and am up to 110k.

I am moved to a new table, and everything begins to go wrong. Namely, I start playing like a *total* donk.

800/1600 a75:
First, I call a raise from the BB with 72d. The flop comes 664, and I decide to make a move, and raise his flop bet. He moves all-in, and I dump it.

I then call a raise in position with 87d. The SB moves all in and the raiser folds. Idiotically (wasnt thinking), I call 30k more (getting 2:1 odds or so), he has QQ and takes it down. What a donk I am. From 120k to 60k in 2 hands.

5 hands later, I have AK. MP raises 3x, I re-raise, he moves in, and I call. He has KK, and I miss. Down to 17k in chips. God I am such a donk. I sit out several hands to cool off (thanks Misst for the suggestion).

I return to my BB and wake up to AA.

1000/2000 a100: MP raises to 6000, button calls. No fucking around. I push. MP thinks for awhile and calls with 66. Button folds. Flop AQ9 and BANG! Back in business with 50k.

1500/3000 a150:: I have JJ in MP. The guy to my right raises to 9000. No bullshit. I push for 48k. He folds. I steal a couple blinds, and am up to 70k.

Then the key hand of the night:

1500/3000 a150: I have TT in MP. I raise to 9000. The button pushes for 40k. The BB pushes for 150k. I hate calling, but decide to try to triple up. It was a good call in this case, as my opponents had 55 and AK respectively. My TT held up unimproved, and I am up to 150k (in the top 5 again).

I had to cut down on all steals for a bit, as this one guy was moving all in on any 2 (he doubled up with 86 when AJ called him and he made the nut straight.

He finally busts 15 hands later with A9 vs 99.

2000/4000 a200: I take down a pot preflop with AK when I re-raise a minimum raise.

3000/6000 a300: I have QQ and raise to 18000. A short stack pushes for 50k total with AJ. I call and win. Up to 210k.

3000/6000 a300: I am in the BB with J3o. The button raises to 17822 total all-in. I feel I cannot lay down the hand with my stack, so I call. He has A7. Flop J43 and HGHN. 250k in chips.

3000/6000 a300: I take a pot off the 2nd big stack at the table by re-raising preflop with AK. He decides he doesnt want to tangle, so he lays down. 280k.

I steal a few pots, and am up to 300k, and I take the chip lead.

I get AA in the SB. The cutoff pushes for 68k. I call. CO has AT. Flop T, but he misses and HGHN. 365k.

We are down to 7 handed, so I raise with AT UTG. Shorty on the button pushes. I call. He has 66 and T on the flop, HGHN. 420k.

4000/8000 a400: I have 53o in the BB. UTG min-raises. I put him on a big hand, but I can call to see a flop. Flop 943. I check, he bets only 16k. I am now getting huge odds (plus implied odds) to call, so I call... plus I am sure he has a big hand and will pay me off if I hit. Turn 5. I push. He calls. Shows AA. River T and HGHN. 520k! Next closest guy has 240k or so!

We are down to the final 2 tables... and I have made my money back from all the rebuys! Lol.

I pillage blinds for awhile, as nobody wants to take me on.

6000/12000 a600: Folded to my button. I have AK. I make a huge overbet, raising to 132000. A big stack in the SB comes over the top for 100k more (probably tempted by my weakness). I call. SB shows A5. He misses and HGHN.

I now have nearly 800k in chips! I lose one pot, the re-steal another. We hit the final table with the following counts:

>Seat 1: scanjet25 (101939 in chips)
>Seat 2: ActionJeff (243152 in chips)
>Seat 3: booradly07 (499568 in chips)
>Seat 4: Halfrek (229944 in chips)
>Seat 5: LitleBastrd (126665 in chips)
>Seat 6: hookem148 (143952 in chips)
>Seat 7: FellKnight (702798 in chips)
>Seat 8: SuitedAces (675358 in chips)
>Seat 9: EARLBRY (95124 in chips)

I play really tight to start, trying to build an image for later. First really big hand comes 8 handed. It is folded to halfrek's cutoff, he pushes. Button calls with KJ. Halfrek has 32o lol. Flop A4T, turn 4, river 5.

8000/16000 a800: I have 77 and raise to 48000. ActionJeff pushes for 195k more. I decide that I have enough chips to try to coinflip, and I call. He has AK. Board 95397. GG. I have 1.01M chips!

8000/16000 a800: I have AT UTG. I raise to 48000. Halfrek raises 215k more all-in. I call. He has AT. We chop.

8000/16000 a800: I have Ac8c in the SB. Folded to halfrek who pushes (again). I call. BB folds. halfrek has A9. board AKJT5, and we chop. He slows down after this, realizing that I *will* call him down.

8000/16000 a800: I have A9o in the SB. UTG pushes his short stack (91k). I call. BB calls. We check it down and my turned 9 top pair takes it down. 1.2M, and we are 4 handed.

We play 4 handed for a while. I am aggressive, but not maniacal. The following kew hand comes up:

>PokerStars Game #2887564616: Tournament #14115920, Hold'em No Limit - Level XX (10000/20000) - 2005/10/25 - 01:13:06 (ET)
>Table '14115920 37' Seat #8 is the button
>Seat 3: booradly07 (530244 in chips)
>Seat 4: Halfrek (449210 in chips)
>Seat 7: FellKnight (1169166 in chips)
>Seat 8: SuitedAces (669880 in chips)
>booradly07: posts the ante 1000
>Halfrek: posts the ante 1000
>FellKnight: posts the ante 1000
>SuitedAces: posts the ante 1000
>booradly07: posts small blind 10000
>Halfrek: posts big blind 20000
>*** HOLE CARDS ***
>Dealt to FellKnight [Ah 5h]
>FellKnight: raises 40000 to 60000
>SuitedAces: raises 120000 to 180000
>booradly07: folds
>Halfrek: folds
>FellKnight: raises 988166 to 1168166 and is all-in
>SuitedAces: folds
>SuitedAces said, "nh"
>FellKnight collected 394000 from pot
>FellKnight: doesn't show hand
>*** SUMMARY ***
>Total pot 394000 | Rake 0
>Seat 3: booradly07 (small blind) folded before Flop
>Seat 4: Halfrek (big blind) folded before Flop
>Seat 7: FellKnight collected (394000)
>Seat 8: SuitedAces (button) folded before Flop

It was a marginal play, but I had seen SuitedAces lay down to a lot of re-raises, and I felt I could push him off a lot of hands. I was right, and that pot win made for the following chip counts:

>Seat 3: booradly07 (519244 in chips)
>Seat 4: Halfrek (428210 in chips)
>Seat 7: FellKnight (1382166 in chips)
>Seat 8: SuitedAces (488880 in chips)

Obviously it is a huge advantage to have the lower 3 players all around the same chip count. I ask if anyone wants to discuss a deal. booradly will talk, but the other 2 do not want to.

We trade jabs for a long time. SuitedAces is doing well. I get a few big hands, but do not get any action on them.

10000/20000: I raise UTG with A2o. Suited Aces calls on the button. Halfrek calls in his BB. Flop JJ5 2 diamonds. I check, wary of being trapped by Suited. Suited bets 100k. halfrek moves all-in. I fold. Aces calls, showing QQ. Halfrek shows Td 9d. Turn 7d. River 2. Suited Aces is crippled.

>Seat 3: booradly07 (391244 in chips)
>Seat 4: Halfrek (906420 in chips)
>Seat 7: FellKnight (1234166 in chips)
>Seat 8: SuitedAces (286670 in chips)

The next big hand comes at the 15000/30000 a1500 level:

I have 77 UTG. I raise to 90000. SuitedAces pushes. halfrek pushes. I think for a while, then fold, realizing that halfrek is not going to re-push without a big hand. halfrek shows AK, SuitedAces shows A5. Flop KQ8 and SuitedAces goes home in 4th.

A few hands later, I fold 72 on the button. booradly raises to 150000, halfrek comes over the top, and booradly makes a good call with KT. Halfrek shows Kh9h. 2 hearts on the flop, but halfrek misses, and is eliminated.

We agree to deal at this point, taking $7,000 each, leaving $438 on the table for whoever wins, and playing it out. Support arrives and takes care of it. In the ensuing HU match, booradly plays a maniacal HU game, and takes the chip lead. 8 hands in, I play back at his button raise with Ac7c. He pushes all-in. I figure to be in trouble, but I call anyway. He shows 99, I miss, and he takes it down. Fun stuff nonetheless!

Fell

The Car is Dead. Long Live the Car.

2005-10-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

So I was in Nanaimo this weekend with my girl, and everything started going wrong all at once with my car (a '96 Saturn). End up staying the night in a hotel ("no honey, I swear this wasn't a setup to get you into bed!"), and dragging the car to a dealership Sunday morning. Monday morning I get the call "Best case scenario, you're looking at a $2000 repair job". Um. Ok. Don't bother. So I spend the night car shopping. Thank god for poker.

After doing some research online, and checking out a couple dealerships (and not seeing anything great), I hit Toyota. The guy shows me some Corollas, which were ok, but I was looking for something with manual transmission. He asks if it needs to be 4 door. I say no. He brings me to a great used 2002 Celica, with only 15000 miles. Me likey (I've always liked Celicas, but always considered them a touch out of my price range for now)... but this one was gonna cost me the same as a new 2005 or 2006. We took her for a drive. Sweet. So a few hours later, I am the proud owner of a Celica.

Hopefully this car lasts a bit longer than the last one ;)

Fell

Upswings are nice

2005-10-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

Maybe it is just an upswing, but it's nice to be doing well after what felt like a prolonged downswing. I played this weekend in a live NLHE/PLO/Limit Stud mixed game (2/5 blinds, 5/10 limit for stud), and did quite well, cashing out up $900 after 6 hours. I also sold my seat that I won in the BCPC championships, so I'll get to go to my buddy's wedding in Winnipeg.

Also, I took down a $50 Stud8 tourney on Stars today, completely dominating the entire time. I grabbed the chip lead with about 32 players left (out of 64 runners), and never once let it go until I had won the whole thing. Rarely did 2nd place have even half my stack. I have saved the hand histories, as I could run an entire course on aggression and how to wield a stack with the lessons contained in those HHs.

Fell

okie dokie

2005-10-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry for my absence, those that stop by and read blogs every so often, but I was having some serious technical difficulties with my site (due to some large RGP Open files), but they are now resolved.

Insofar as my recent poker exploits... I won a seat in the BC Poker Championships Main event ($2625 buyin) by winning a $113 STT satellite into a $535 STT satellite. Only took 2 tries which was very cool.

I played in the Pokerroom GrandIV, having qualified on my first try from a STT Satty, and was doing very well, being among the chipleaders for the first 3 hours. However, I then lost a few races, dropping to a below average stack, and got my money in on a bad read (88 vs KK on a 965 rainbow flop) to be eliminated 150th/600.

I finished 5th at the $24+2 10k guaranteed on Full Tilt (475 players) for $770. I made an aggressive play against the chipleader, and he called with A8o against my KJs. Flop A98 and IGHN.

Finally, I have been plugging away at the nightly Stars $11R, conistantly getting deep, but always coming up short. Tonight I had $27k after the rebuy period, but couldnt get a damn thing going, and busted 350/1450. I'll keep trying though... I think that is a VERY profitable tourney, with sooo many donks not knowing how to play the deep stacks.

Thats all for now!!

Fell

2005-10-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 7566141

Fell

Just Stuff

2005-09-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, although I have been very busy with the RGP Open, things are really coming together. We ran our first of the daily satellites to the preliminary events, and sit&go sats are running around the clock.

There were a couple of issues with the blind structure (only set at 10 minute levels vice 15), and a couple more suggestions were made, but all should be ready in time for Saturday 17 Sept at 15:00 EST... Event #1 $30 NLHE!

In my personal poker life, I have recently become enamored with NLHE cash games. I used to get my ass handed to me at these games, but I think I have finally begun figuring out how to beat them (and turning a tidy profit in the process!)

Haven't played any tournies lately other than WCOOP satellites. Congrats to my friend Erin for winning 2 MTTs on Stars this week! Sweet run!

Fell

More on the RGP Open

2005-09-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm really getting into high gear with the Open.

Here are a few of the recent updates:

- Event #1 is posted in the GamesGrid Tourney Lobby. Satellites will be starting by Monday 12 Sept.

- Jeremy Enke of www.partyriches.com has donated a 4 Gb iPod Mini to the winner of the Player of the Tournament. Thanks a bunch!

- I have hired a professional to design advertising for the Open. I will be looking at designing an extension of FellKnight.com dedicated solely to the Open.

- I am in the process of trying to get various sites to cover our Final Tables, be it audio or just tourney reports.

- I will be running the Open again as a regular event. Next time around, I am thinking of going to CardPlayer and other major publications to advertise.

Fell

A profitable weekend!

2005-09-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the weekend playing WCOOP satellites, and had a great time... exccept for late monday night when I couldnt win a race/dominated hand matchup to save my life!!! Oh well! :) I won 6 entries into various WCOOP events, and played in Event #1 (busting out early trying to bluff into a full house!

All in all, I made $2600 this weekend, and am looking forward to further WCOOP playing.

PMJackson finished 13th in the event #1, good for $10k+ Great job Patrick!

I'll have some news to report on the RGP Open soon.

Fell

Nothing to Report

2005-09-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have been watching the news most nights and getting more and more depressed. I am sickened by what has been going on in New Orleans.

Fell

So Close...

2005-08-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

... yet so far.

I played in several tournies this weekend, but the one I refer to was the $11+R with 1430 players and a $55k prize pool. 1st prize was a whopping $13k!

I was in for only $41, and doing quite well. I steadily built my stack, then went on a huge rush during the late/middle rounds, building my stack to the top 10. With 50 left or so, I was in the top 3. With 30 left, I got lucky twice, and sucked out with TT vs JJ, and KQ vs AQ (they were fairly short), and became the chipleader. All was looking good. Then, with 19 left, I had AKs in the SB. There was a raise to 4xBB from MP. He had a stack behind him, so I pushed in, hoping to make him fold several middle pairs. Unfortunately, he had KK. Flop 83A! Sweet!!!! Turn... the case K. DOH! I was down to 17th/18, and went out shortly after in a race which I lost. I finished 18th, which was good for $450, but dang... SO close. Oh well, I am happy with my play overall, and I did get quite lucky to get that far, so no complaints.

Fell

A Tough Night At The Tables

2005-08-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Not much went right for me last night,

I got rivered by 2 and 3 outers 4 times in holdem. In Stud, a guy called down with Aces up against my *open* trip kings and hit an Aces Full house on the river. In the PS $150+12, UTG limp/called a big raise with A9. I had KK. Flop J99 (couldn't put him on JJ or 9x). All-in-all, I quit down $1500 or so.

What was nice, though, was sweating Tanya aka MissT74 for the last 2 hours of a tourney on Pokerstars which she won. Congrats!

Tonight... I'm hoping the poker gods are kinder.

Fell

Life is funny

2005-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you can be in the doldrums, then the next day everything is right in the world? That was me yesterday.

I have a few things that need doing around the house, but I am very motivated, and will take care of them today or tomorrow.

I had not played much poker for the last 2-3 weeks, for various reasons, but yesterday I totally felt the itch and had a great time playing. I played some NLHE cash games for the first time in I don't know how long. I then played some Omaha H/L, and did quite well. Pacific has recently introduced 30/60 Stud games, although the ante is a pathetic $3. I have yet to play them yet, because I have never seen more than 3 players in a game, and I prefer full ring games to shorthanded (the players on pacific make far more serious mistakes in full ring games).

All-in-all, I just feel ready to get back into poker seriously and keep winning some money :) It also helps, I suppose, that I have set a few goals for myself that do not put excess pressure on me (as the $20k pre-WSOP did).

In another note, for fun I was checking to see how many posts I had made to RGP (it has now been almost a year since I started posting). I am at 4,450+. In one short year, I am almost in the top 10 RGP posters of all time. I don't know if that should scare me.

On the RGP Open front, I am waiting to hear back from Asia Kurosawa about some issues, but I expect there to be few problems. More to follow on that as I learn it.

Fell

Maunday.

2005-08-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Although the daytrip to Vancouver didn't go well, Tofino was awesome. The drive through the mountains is always spectacular, and the ocean was tterly magnificant. I saw a beautiful oceanfront lot for sale, and had to check it out for fun, only to find that the lot (0.6 acres) is selling for $575,000 CAD ($475,000 USD). Oh well, one can always dream.

p.s. the pacific ocean is cold.

I got relatively little sleep this weekend, and found out that my coworker's wife, who is pregnant, has had to be rushed to hospital and flown to Vancouver due to complications. She is still over 6 weeks before due, and is expected to remain in the hospital until the weekend at least. Here's hoping all works out for them.

My friend, visiting from Ottawa, leaves tomorrow morning.

That's it for now.

Fell

Another busy week

2005-08-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have a friend from Ottawa visiting, and it has been pretty much go, go, go all week, yet it has been a lot of fun. Went to Nanaimo a couple of times, biking, watched a movie marathon, good stuff. I miss the poker a bit, but I'll be back soon!!!

On the slate for this weekend: daytrips to Vancouver and Tofino.

Fell

Time flies!

2005-08-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, Almost 2 weeks since my last post... crikey!

To recap, I played a few tournies last week, with no major cashes to speak of. I got killed in cash games on Wednesday, taking a $2000 hit or so. This weekend, poker was the furthest thing from my mind, so nothing to report there.

In current activites, work has been quite hectic of late. I have a couple friends visiting from out of town for most of the week, so I will not be playing much poker this week either. I am looking forward to getting my dog back today, he has been in Ottawa for the summer while I was away in Vegas/etc.

Overall, I am feeling great, and, though I have been busy (and will continue to be, as I try to finish up the reviews section of my website, plus working on the RGP Open), I am feeling better than I have for quite a long time. I will make a concerted effort to update the blog more though!

Fell

Grand Theft Auto

2005-08-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

I took this weekend off from poker after a successful friday night. Instead, I finally played GTA: San Andreas. What a great game. First, they fixed the crappy control scheme from Vice City, and added scads of new stuff. You can literally sit there for days, completely ignoring the story line, and just do whatever you want. It's an incredibly immersive world. I am finally in the third city - Las Venturas (modelled after Vegas), and I cannot help but smile at all the work they did modelling it after the real Vegas. It almost feels like I am back there in person.

I cannot remember laughing so much at the dialogue in a game before. The voice talent is top notch, and the writing is excellent. The best moments are the two British criminals/drug addicts who constantly insult each other. True comedy!

In other news, the RGP Open is coming together nicely, and we will be starting on the 15th of September.

I get my dog Ollie back this weekend, which I am very much looking forward to! I had sent him back home to Ottawa for the summer while I was in Vegas.

Fell

$300+20 Tourney Report (Short)

2005-07-27T02:25:00.000-07:00

So Pokerroom can't find my hand histories... sigh.

Anyway, here is a general tourney report:

We start with 2500 chips, the blinds are 10/20.

I managed to donk off about half my stack early, getting beat by a couple of chasers. I doubled up with QQ vs AJ, and was back in business. From there, I got aggressive, stealing several pots with semi-bluffs, or pure bluffs, and built my stack into the top 10.

Fast forward to the 2nd break, there are about 40 players left, and I have clawed my way up to the chipleader position, then lost two consecutive coinflips to drop me down to 18th with 36 left.

I ended up all in vs a flush draw with my TPTK, he picked up a gutshot draw on the turn, but the river blank doubled me up, and I was back in the top 10.

I did then have one interesting Hand History that I sent to KoD as we were talking, here it is:

FellKnight2003: Seat 1: GarbagePack ($12,440 in chips)
Seat 2: jippo79 ($10,078 in chips)
Seat 3: rickvive15 ($7,108 in chips)
Seat 4: bretbret ($26,457 in chips)
Seat 5: Krone2727 ($19,854 in chips)
Seat 7: yurabond ($20,770 in chips)
Seat 8: BakThaFukUp ($10,804 in chips)
Seat 9: kolortv ($27,540 in chips)
Seat 10: FellKnight9 [2D,6H] ($15,476 in chips)
FellKnight2003: ANTES/BLINDS
kolortv posts blind ($500), FellKnight9 posts blind ($1,000).

PRE-FLOP
GarbagePack folds, jippo79 folds, rickvive15 folds, bretbret folds, Krone2727 folds, yurabond folds, BakThaFukUp folds, kolortv bets $1,500, FellKnight9 calls $1,000.

FLOP [board cards 4H,JH,10H ]
kolortv bets $1,000, FellKnight9 bets $3,200, kolortv calls $2,200.

TURN [board cards 4H,JH,10H,6C ]
kolortv checks, FellKnight9 checks.

RIVER [board cards 4H,JH,10H,6C,5C ]
kolortv bets $2,000, FellKnight9 calls $2,000.

SHOWDOWN
kolortv shows [ 8H,AD ]
FellKnight9 shows [ 2D,6H ]
FellKnight9 wins $14,400.

That was a nice help to the stack, but then I ended up bluffing off a few chips on the river when my draw missed, and I was down to 16th with 23 left.

I then won a big pot from the Chipleader, doubling me up to 4th/22, and then my AK lost to a short stacks A9, all in preflop.

Then, the key hand:

I am in the SB with AA. A shorty in the CO moves in. The button moves in over the top for 40k in chips. I have 30k and call. Button turns up KK, shorty shows Q7o, and both miss. I win a monster pot of 75k, and move into the chip leadership, and begin stealing mercilessly. Nobody wanted to play with me.

We hit the final table, and I still have the chip lead. I lost a couple of small pots early, but retain the lead, when ,with 8 left, I take a HORRIBLE beat. blinds are 2000/4000 (no ante), I raise to 10k (standard) in MP with AA. Only the BB calls, he has 50k. Flop is a lovely AJT rainbow. The BB checks, I bet 14000, and he moves in on me. I call instantly, and he shows pocket TT for the lower set. If I win this pot, I have 150k in chips (which is over 50% in play) with 7 left. Unfortunately, the turn is the ugliest case T ever, and I drop to 7th/8.

I was really pissed, but then realized that he could not have played the hand any differently. That helped me get the rage under control, and I doubled up thru the new CL (after the TT guy donked off all his chips), with AJs when the flop came Jxx. (I had raised preflop, TT called, another guy called), we ended up all-in on the flop when TT raised me.

So I was up to 3rd/7. I played an aggressive game, stealing blinds to keep me alive, as the shorter stacks busted out. We got down to 3, and I was the CL for a short time after raising in the SB with AK, the CL re-raised with AT, and I moved in, he folded (probably because the other guy was short). I ended up doubling up both the short guy and the 2nd place, which left me short (with AK vs JJ). I picked up A7 in the SB, and raised. The BB put me all in, and I called after about a minute of thinking. I could not count on creeping up in the standings, and the CL had opened up and started being very aggro, having 2/3 of the chips in play. CL showed AJ, and I did not suck out. I was still happy with my $4,950 win, but wonder what might have been if that silly case T had not peeled off.

Fell

$300+20 Weekly tourney on Pokerroom

2005-07-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have started off my weekly tournies play with a BANG, finishing 3rd/150 for $4950. Tourney report to come later. Right now I am just STOKED!

Fell

The RGP Open

2005-07-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

The idea for a series of higher buy-in events as a series of tournaments was proposed by someone, and I decided to run with the idea. I'll be organizing the RGP Open, with some help hopefully, and the tournies will be open to members of all internet poker forums. I modeled it after the WSOP. Here is the tentative schedule:

Event 1: $30 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em
Event 2: $30 Limit Texas Hold 'Em
Event 3: $30 Limit Omaha High-Low, Eight or Better
Event 4: $20+Rebuys No-Limit Texas Holdem
Event 5: $20 Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low, Eight or Better
Event 6: $30 6 Handed No-Limit Texas Holdem
Event 7: $20 Razz
Event 8: $50 No-Limit Texas Holdem
Event 9: $20+Rebuys Pot Limit Omaha
Event 10 $50 Heads-Up No-Limit Texas Holdem Matches
Event 11: $20 Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball
Event 12: $50 Pot Limit Texas Hold 'Em
Event 13: $30 Limit Seven Card Stud
Event 14: $20+Rebuys Kansas City Lowball
Event 15: $100 Pot-Limit Omaha
Event 16: $100 No-Limit Texas Holdem
Event 17: $100 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low, Eight or Better
Event 18: $100 HORSE
Event 19: $30+R Supersatellite to the Main Event
Event 20: $500 No Limit Texas Holdem Main Event (I would try to arrange
longer levels for this baby)

The games would be run on different sites. I would run the main event
(and all satellites) on whichever site offers us the best deal with
respect to starting chips, level length, and overall structure. I would
expect at least 100 players in the Main Event, so that is a significant
boon to the site ($3000-$5000 in rake when satellites are included)

I plan to run 2-3 events per week. Would like to get the series done in a
reasonable amount of time (6 weeks sounds good). I plan on running
"second chance" events... satellites to the main event, between 1 and 2
hours after the Series event.

We will be running a points system for an overall winner, but that will
likely consist of little more than bragging rights, as I will not be
withholding any prize money from the prize pools or ask for side bets.

What do you think?

Fell

My MTTs experiment

2005-07-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Upon returning from Vegas, I decided to focus solely on MTTs and see if I can pursue a profitable career in tourney play (given that many people are clueless as to proper tourney strategy at many key junctures).

I am happy to report that so far, all has gone well, and if not for a bad beat, could be much better.

I have played in about 10 tournies since coming home, at an average buyin of $55. I have finished 5th in a $54 on Pokerroom with 227 players for $545 (bad beat, my AK lost to QJo when he called my huge all-in and rivered the J), else I would have been chipleader). I finished 4th in a Full Tilt $100+9 for $521. I won the only S&G I played ($200, 5 player for $500), and I am up $200 in Last Longer bets since monday. Total profit: $1350 (not counting the LL bets), Total buyins: ~$550, for a total profit of $1000 and an ROI of ~240%. I'll post more about this attempt as I continue. My short term goal is to play and do well in the WCOOP (though the start times for the tournies will make things highly difficult for me).

Fell

ITH Convention

2005-07-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend at the ITH (Internet Texas Holdem), www.internettexasholdem.com, convention. It was a blast. I met a bunch of great people (a couple of whom read RGP and know of me). Thursday night, we had the introduction and meet&greet. I talked to various ITHers for a couple hours, then we decided to hit the tables. I played a 3/6 game at the Plaza. Wow. What horrid play. The greatest example of this was when I raised it up in the SB with KTs (not a great play, but with 5 limpers, not horrible either). Flop comes down KK8. I bet, and get 3 callers. Turn K. I bet, 3 callers. River 8. I bet, the first 2 call me, and then the 3rd guy shows me pocket 55 and CALLS! LOL! Thanks for the $ :) This was a few hands after I had K8 in the BB, flop TT8. I bet, get 2 callers. Turn T. I bet (wanting to see if the T is out there), 2 callers. River T! I check, 2nd guy checks, 3rd guy bets w/o hesitation. I decide to fold my King. He shows AJo. Yikes.

So the rest of the ITHers come down and we set up 2 private tables, 2/4 Dealer's Choice. We played a couple rounds of games at Dealer's choice, but then everyone started picking Holdem, so we changed to that. Meanwhile, the other table was playing Indian Omaha Hi/Lo (cards on forehead). Tanya and I began taking shots with about half the table joining in. I noticed very quickly that everyone was playing a very tight game, so I decided to play like a maniac and see what happened. After a few rounds of pillaging blinds and showing down weak hands, people clued in. Tanya raised the pot in MP, and I 3 bet with 83c. Everyone folded and Tanya called. The flop was a beautiful 853. She checked, I bet, she called. Turn 3! She checked, I bet, she called. River A. She bet, I raised, she called, showing AQ. I show 83 and everyone has a good laugh as I rake in the pot.

After this, I was getting called down by Ace high on the river, which was quite funny. I had another hand where I won a big pot by rivering a gutshot or something. Of course, I got paid off on my actual good hands like KK, and AK. My loose calls and such left me with only a $15 loss after many hours of play.

The next day, I played in the first ITH tourney, a $35 Limit Holdem event. I was doing very well, up to 5500 in chips frim the 2000 starting stack by level 3. This was primarily due to the following hand: I had been quite aggressive, and the guy on my left had re-raised me a few times. It gets folded to me on the button, and I raise with 86o. As I do, I ask him "you gonna raise me again?" He laughs, says "I haven't looked yet." He looks down, says "Yep." and re-raises. The BB folds and I call. I flop the nuts with 754. I bet, he raises, I call. Turn J. I check, he bets, I raise, he 3-bets, I 4 bet, he calls. River Q. I bet, he raises, I re-raise, he throws in his last chips and turns up pocket JJ. I turn up the nuts and he is eliminated.

53o has a mystical power, according to ITHers, so when I was dealt the hand, I had to raise. Only the BB calls. The flop is T53! He checks, I bet, he raises, I flat call. Turn 4. He checks, I bet, he calls. River 9. He checks, I bet, he raises. I think he probably just made a better 2 pair, bt he has only 100 left, so I put him in, just in case. He calls, showing pocket 99 for a set. I loudly proclaim about the injustice I just suffered, tabling my 53o. That dropped me to 3800 or so. I then ran TT into KJ with him hitting the K on the flop. QQ went down to Ax. JJ ran into QQ and I was gone. Yikes.

Later on, we played the NLHE tourney ($65), and I was 2 seats to the left of Matthew Hilger. Nobody else wanted to tangle with him, so I put a $20 bounty on his head, and went after him myself :) One hand of note, I had TT in LP. It was raised to 150, 2 callers including me. The BB re-raises to 600. The raiser and caller fold, I think he has KK/QQ and that I can outplay him if scary cards come. Flop 983. He bets 600. I flat call, deciding that he might also have AKs, and the stacks were deep enough to see one more card. Turn A. He bets only 500. I raise to 1300, and he folds his KK face up. Heh. I love transparent play.

So I built my stack to 5000 or so, but the levels were now 300/600 with a 75 ante. I get AQ in LP. UTG moves in for 6000. I don't think he would do this with a big hand. There is a caller to me, and I decide to gamble and call, knowing that if I win the hand, I will likely win the tourney. UTG shows QT. Caller shows AQ. I show AQ. Ok, half the pot aint bad. Flop KJ9. YOUCH! No T comes, and I am out. Matthew ends up taking the tourney down and pocketing my bounty. Damn him!

Went out that night to Binions, watched some of the Final Table, and played some Pai Gow. Highlight was winning a $200 bet with 44 as my high hand and AQ as my low hand when the dealer thankfully had a paigow. I ended up +$225. Tanya was pretty wrecked by this point (having consumed several shots while I wasn't watching), and I took her for a walk and then back to her room where her Dad could take care of her (after a short visit to the ITHers in the poker room she insisted upon, lol). Once she was safe, I headed back to my room for sleep.

I left the next morning, said goodbye to the ITHers and thanked them for a great time. I look forward to more such conventions.

Fell

Tournament Report - WSOP $10,000 Main Event

2005-07-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

I was a bit nervous, arriving over an hour before the start time and pacing around, waiting to get to my seat and start playing. By the time I sat down, I was still quite nervous, counting down $10,000 in real money value, but was feeling much better. On to the hands of import:

25/50: In my first BB, I look down at TT. John Hennigan raises the pot to $150, I call. Flop A97, I check, and fold to his $250 bet.

25/50: I get AQ on the button. There is one limper in MP, and CO-1 raises to $150. I call, and the limper calls. Flop J62 rainbow. I think that flop has likely missed everyone. The raiser bets $300, and I smooth-call. The limper folds. Turn is a 6, the limper checks, I bet $500, and he folds.

25/50: John Hennigan opens for $150 in MP, I re-raise to $450 with AK on the button, he folds.

25/50: I have 44 UTG +1. I decide to raise to $150 (partially to disguise my hand if I hit my set). UTg +2 calls, and the button calls. Flop 8d 4s 2s. I bet $300, UTG +2 calls, button raises to $1200. I am putting him on a small overpair (99-JJ), A8, or possibly 22 or 88 or the flush draw with overs. I re-raise to $3000, UTG +2 folds. The button moves all-in for $5500 more. I now worry about the possibility of pocket 88, but I decide that I must call and go broke if he has 88. I call. He turns over As3s for the straight flush draw. I am happy to see it, and hoping the board pairs (which would leave him with 1 out). The turn is the Ad. The dealer pauses, burns, then turns over the 3c, and I eliminate my first opponent, and have about $19k in chips.

25/50: I get 99 in LP. There is a raise and 3 callers, I call. Flop 853. The raiser bets out $400. Two people fold, I call, the other limper folds. Turn 4. He checks, I decide to check behind (knowing I cannot possibly call a check-raise). The river is another 3. He checks. I figure he has overcards, and will not call a bet, so I check behind. I show 99, he shows... 99. Chop it up.

25/50: I have 33 in LP. The guy to my right raises to $200. I call, and a blind calls. Flop AT3. The raiser bets only $300, which is either a sign of great strength or of weakness. I decide to flat call, the blind folds. The turn is a 6. He bets $1200. Ah... strength. I raise to $3000, and he moves in, I call. He shows AT for top 2 pair. The river is a 5 and I send him packing, and am up to $28k in chips.

25/50: I get JJ in MP and raise. A blind calls. Flops A76. The blind bets out at me, and I fold.

50/100: I get a free look with K8s in the BB. Flop is K84. I bet out $300. One caller. Turn is an Ace, and I bet out $750, he folds.

50/100: I have 88 and call a raise in LP. Flop is Q74. Raiser bets $400, I call. Turn is a 7, Raiser checks, I bet $800, he folds.

100/200: I have 33 in CO-1, and raise first in to $500. The button flat calls, and the blinds fold. Flop AK6. I bet $900, hoping to make him fold a middle pocket pair. He calls, and I am done with the hand... until the turn 3! I bet out $2000, and he calls again! The river is a 6. I decide that he is strong enough to possibly call an all-in bet for his last $6000, so I move in. He thinks for 2 minutes and folds AQ face up.

100/200: I get A7h in the BB. There is a limper and John Hennigan raises to $600. I call and the limper calls. Flop 765. I check, the limper checks, John bets $1200, I call, and the limper folds. The turn is a 7. I check, and John checks. The river is a J. I bet $3000 (hoping to make it look like a busted draw steal). John deliberates for a couple minutes, then calls. I show A7 he shows AJ.

100/200: I get KK and re-raise preflop to take it down.

100/200: I get J9 in the BB and see a free flop of J75. I bet out and take it.

100/200 a25: I get TT in MP and raise to $700. The BB calls. FLop TT2!!! The BB checks, and I check behind. The turn is a Q. BB checks, and I bet $1000, he folds (doh!)

100/200 a25: I get K9c in the BB, and call a button raise. Flop Q95 with one club. I check, he bets $1000, and I raise to $2500. He folds quickly.

I was now around $40000 in chips at the dinner break.

150/300 a25: I have JJ in the SB. The CO (a very loose raiser and player) raises to $1000, and is flat called by the button. I think that there is a good chance that my JJ is best, but I want to find out now. I re-raise to $3500. The CO re-re-raises to $7000 (and I know my JJ is not the best), and the button moves in for $15000 more. I fold very quickly, and the CO deliberates for several minutes then folds his QQ (by the way... re-re-raising with QQ... not a good idea).

150/300 a25: I have 88 in LP. The guy to my right raises after a limper, and I call. A blind and the limper calls. The flop is 764 with 2 spades. The limper bets out $1500, and the raiser moves in for $5000. I think for a minute or so, but decide the with the other two to act behind, I cannot call. I fold. The blind folds and the limper calls instantly. The limper turns over 65d, and the raiser turns over JTs... WTF?! Turn is a 5 (which would have made my straight), and the river is a brick. 65 wins with 2 pair and knocks out another one (this is the same loose player, that I will now refer to as "Bodog").

150/300 a25: My first big pot loss. I have ATd in the SB and Bodog raises to $1000. I call and the BB calls. Flop is Ax 5s 4s. I check, BB checks, and Bodog looks very uncomfortable, taking about 30 seconds to bet $3500. He has only $12500 total, and with my read on him, I decide to check raise to $10,000. The BB folds and Bodog thinks for about 5 seconds then moves all in for $2500 more. I say "I didn't think he had it", and call. I show my ATd, he laughs and shows... AsTx. I could not believe that he was willing to put his tourney life at risk with such a weak hand! The turn was the Ks... and the river a cruel, cruel 3s. Bodog wins a $30,000 pot.

That hand actually made me tighten up a bit, as evidenced by the next hand:

150/300 a25: I get AK on the button. John Hennigan raises from MP, and the CO flat calls. I was thinking about re-raising here, but decided against it, and using position. Flop comes an ugly 542. Hennigan bets out $2000. The cutoff calls, and I fold. The turn is a J. Hennigan checks, and the cutoff checks. The river is a 4, Hennigan moves in for $9000 more, and is called by the CO. Hennigan shows 74o?! CO shows A4c, and John World is knocked out.

150/300 a25: I decide to play a bit more aggressively and make a move or two, thinking that my image is not getting enough action on my hands. There are 3 limpers to me in the SB, I look down at J2o, and raise to $1500. BB and the first two limpers fold, but the 3rd limpers calls. The flop is AK6 rainbow. I bet out $2500, the limper thinks and calls. I should probably have read the thinking for weakness, but I was unable to fire a second shell on the turn T. He checked behind. The river was a useless K, I checked, he checked, and I showed my attempted bluff. This got some very surprised reastions from the table.

Around this time, Juha Helppi on WPT fame is moved 2 seats to my left. He proves to be very annoying.

200/400 a50: I call a raise with position and AJ. Flop comes down 973. He bets, I call. Turn 5 (now 2 of 2 suits on the board), he checks, I bet $3000, and he folds.

200/400 a50: I call a raise 3 ways from the BB with 77. The flop comes J32. I check, and both check behind. The turn is a 3, so I bet out $3000, one fold, but the raiser calls my pot sized bet. The river is an Ace. Yuck. I check, he checks behind, showing down AQo. GRR!

200/400 a50: I call a raise on the button (from the cutoff) with AQo. The flop comes down AJ4. He checks to me, and I bet $2000. He check-raises to $7,000 total. I deliberate and fold, putting him on any of AJ/AK/JJ.

200/400 a50: I have won several of the last few pots by raising preflop. I get AQc on the button and raise again. Juha re-raises to $5000. I find out he has $10,000 more behind, and, knowing that his re-raising standards are lower given my raise frequency, decide to move him in. He thinks for a couple minutes, says "you got a hand this time, eh?" and folds AJo face up.

200/400 a50: The rush continues, I get JJ UTG and raise. The button and BB call me. Flop QJ4. The BB moves in for $3500. I re-raise all-in. The button mucks, and the BB shows Q9d. The turn 7 leaves him drawing dead and eliminated.

200/400 a50: I call a raise on the button with JJ. Flop comes Q86, the raiser checks, I bet $2500, and he folds.

200/400 a50: I call a raise in the CO with AKh. Flop comes 6h 5d 4h. He checks to me, and I overbet the pot, $6,000, which is about 1/3 of his stack. He comments on the large bet, but opts to fold.

200/400 a50: I call a raise with 66 on the button, as does the BB. Flop comes T99, and the BB bets out. I opt to fold as does the raiser.

300/600 a75: I raise in the CO with AQo. Juha moves in from the SB for $9700 more. I deliberate for a good 3-4 minutes, and decide that he is on a middle pair and that we are racing. Of course, AK is also a possibility, but I decided to call and use my stack to try to knock Helppi out. He turns up 88. Good! The flop is KT5. Not so good. The turn is a K. I call for a high card. The river is another T, counterfeiting Juha's 8s. I take him out, and he has a look of pain on his face from that river card.

300/600 a75: I raise to $1750 from MP with AJ, and the button moves in for $3500 total. I, of course, call. He shows KK. The flop is a killer AT2. The turn 7 brings him no help, and the river A just rubs it in.

300/600 a75: I get AK, and re-raise. The BB moves all-in over the top, the original raiser moves all-in over the top, and I quickly muck my AK. They turn over TT and KK respectively (BB and original raiser). The board brings no help for the Tens and he is out, thanks to his donkey move.

300/600 a75: A short stack of about $9000 raises to $2000 from MP. I look down at AA on the button and re-raise to $6000. He quickly mucks his AQ (he flashed them as he mucked).

300/600 a75: I get a free look in the BB with K3s. The flop is 8h 7s 6s. I check, the limper checks and the button (Bodog) bets $3500. I again read him for weak, or on a draw, and I check-raise to $11,000. The limper folds, and Bodog thinks for a minute and calls (obviously wanting to play against me, the other big stack at the table?) The turn was a Ts. I decide the pot is big enough, and bet out $20,000. He thinks for 4 minutes and opts to make a good laydown of his now made straight.

300/600 a75: I get AK and raise. A limper quickly calls (which worries me). The flop is Q33. He checks, I check behind. Turn 4. He checks, I check. River 7. He checks, I check, he shows 66, and I muck.

End of Day One, I count my chips, and have around $65,000. A good day.

Starting Day 2, I draw what seems to be a good table. I do not recognize anyone (though Jack McLelland was two seats to my left), andI have everyone significantly outchipped (closest opponent two seats to my right has about $40,000.) This will work well with my plans to bully and push my stack around (I think).

300/600 a75: UTG+1 raises to $2500. I look down at AQs, and I think I can make him lay down a fair number of his hands, so I decide to re-raise to $7500 (in retrospect, I think this was probably a mistake). The action gets back to him and he thinks for 3 minutes, is almost about to throw his hand away, then decides to move all-in (did he pick up a Tell?). It is another $7000 to me, but I have to call. I am happy when he shows TT. I am not happy when the flop coems T65. The turn brings the 4 or spades (putting two on the board), but the river is an offsuit 7, and he takes the big pot. Now he and I have a similar stack.

300/600 a75: UTG+1 raises to $2500. I look down at AA in MP, and re-raise to $7500. The BB stares me down, then moves in for $6000 more. UTG +1 mucks (saying later that he mucked QQ). I insta-call. BB turns up JJ. Flop is T74. Turn 3. River 7, and I eliminate a man and bring my stack back to around $60,000.

300/600 a75: The turning point hand: UTG raises to $2400. I look down at AA in LP and re-raise to $7000. UTG thinks for a long time, then calls. The flop comes down 965 and he moves in very quickly for another $15000. I am sure he would not play this way with a set, so I quickly call. He turns up TT and looks sick as I turn up AA (what hands did he expect me to call with that he beats???). The turn T was a crushing blow. The river 2 kept him alive, and took nearly $25000 from my stack. I never recovered. I wish I could always get my money in as a 10:1 favourite, but let me tell you, it is hard to see that and not react. I am proud that I did not throw a tantrum (though perhaps it was just the state of shock).

300/600 a75: I have JJ on the button. The CO-1 raises. I call and the blinds fold. The flop is 984. He bets $2000 (sign of strength or weakness?). I raise to $6000, he calls. The turn is a 5 (no flushes possible). He moves in for $20,000. I think for about 5 minutes, and get the clock put on me. The action was very odd to me, but this was an online qualifier. I decide that he *must* have flopped a set and the weak bet meant strength, and he thought that my raise meant that I was strong enough to call his all-in. I think he played it poorly, as I would likely have bet for him had he checked. I folded. He showed pocket 88 proudly. I was happy to have avoided disaster.

400/800 a100: I am in the BB with 99. UTG +1 raises to $3000. The button calls and I call. The flop is K52. I check, UTG checks, and the button checks. The turn is a 3. I check again (thinking I likely have the best hand, but deciding to see how the hand played out. This time, UTG +1 bets out $7000. The button folds. The bet looks highly suspicious to me. I consider raising, but he has me covered, and any raise will likely commit me to the pot (even if I am drawing thin/dead against a set or Kings). I decide to flat call. The river is a J. I check, and he checks, showing QJc... DAMN YOU RIVER CARD!!! I am curious has to how others would approach this hand.

400/800 a100: I call a raise on the button with KdQc. The flop is 9d 8d 3d. The CO does not look back at his hand and bets $5000. I think for 2 minutes (looking back to se the Kd), and think there is too much chance that he has the Ad to risk a raise. It was an excellent read, and he kindly showed me the AdKs, which had me in horrible shape.

400/800 a100: I call a raise on the button with AK. The flop is A83 with 2 clubs. The raiser checks to me, and I check. The turn is a 9. He checks again, and I overbet the pot (around $7,500). He folds.

400/800 a100: Gotta love donkeys... the guy to my left raises to $3000. The BB moves in for $12000 more, and the raiser calls very quickly, showing the KdQd. The all-in shows 88. The board comes 343 6 7, and 88 holds up.

400/800 a100: I get KK in MP. The guy to my right raises to $2500, I re-raise to $6000. He shows me AQo and mucks.

400/800 a100: I have 86o in the BB. UTG+1 who is very short with $4100) moves in. The action gets to me. There is $6200 in the pot, and it costs me another $3300 to call. I know that his raising standards are low, so there is a less than average chance that I am against an overpair. I have just over $40,000 in my stack, and decide to call. He shows JTh. The flop comes T55 (DOH!). The turn is an interesting 7, but the river 5 fills him up. The table was quite surprised to see my call, but I think it was marginally correct.

2nd break, and I am at $36,800.

500/1000 a200: A couple hands after the break, MP moves in for $9000. I call from the BB with JJ. He shows AJ. The flop is 862. The turn is a T. The river is an ugly A. I am very frustrated now, down to $27,000.

500/1000 a200: I get 88 in the SB. The BB has only $8000, it is folded to me and I raise all in, hoping it would look like a tilt-raise. The BB doesn't buy it and mucks.

500/1000 a200: I get AQ and take down the pot preflop by re-raising a late position raiser.

I am moved to a new table, I am sitting to the right of Chris "The Armenian Express" Grigorian. I am happy to see that he is short stacked.

500/1000 a200: I get TT and take down the pot with a preflop raise.

500/1000 a200: I get AA in LP and re-raise a $3500 bet to $8000. I take down the pot by betting the QT6 flop.

500/1000 a200: I get KK in MP and re-raise a UTG raiser. He calls. I take down the pot by betting the T76 flop.

It is now the dinner break, and thanks to those two hands, I have exactly $50,000 in chips (which is still below average)

600/1200 a200: Most amusing hand of the tourney (and the one most likely to get me on ESPN). UTG tries to raise, but only throws in a $5,000 chip, so it is ruled a call. The BB checks. The flop is Kh Kc Jh. The BB checks and UTG checks. The turn is the 2h. The BB checks, and UTG makes a huge overbet, $10,000 into a $4500 pot. BB calls. The river is the Th. The BB checks and UTG CHECKS BEHIND. UTG shows down AhQh for the Royal Flush. I do a double take, say "Hey, that's a Royal! You checked behind?!" Chris starts laughing his ass off, we call ESPN over to take a shot of the winning Royal Flush, while Chris and I needle him for checking behind on th river with the immortal nuts.

600/1200 a200: I am down to $35,000 in chips after having them anted away for several orbits. I gt AQ, but must lay it down to a re-raise preflop.

600/1200 a200: I have KQ on the button. Chris moves in for $7,000 from the CO. I think, but decide to muck. The SB moves in, BB folds. The SB shows AA, Chris shows AQ. Flop is A35, turn 3, river 5 and Chris is eliminated.

600/1200 a200: I get 77 in LP and am thinking of making a move. The pot is raised UTG and the new guy to my right moves in for $25000. I quickly fold. The SB moves in over the top, and UTG calls. UTG shows QQ, first all-in shows TT, second all-in shows AA. Board comes rags with an Ace on the river. Double KO!

600/1200 a200: Paul Wolfe gets knocked out when his KK runs into AA.

800/1600 a200: I have QJd on the button and it is folded to me. I lay it down (good choice?)

800/1600 a200: I have KK and move in. All fold.

800/1600 a200: I have AQo and move in from the CO. All fold.

Down to $25,000 in chips, with everyone on the table at >$80,000, I am feeling the need to double. I look down at 55 in the BB. The guy in MP who has been opening a lot of pots raises. I feel I have enough fold equity, so I move in. He quickly calls. He shows AJo. Flop is a nice 976. I pray for an 8. I prepare to yell "PRESTO!!!", but my dreams are torn asunder when the turn J falls. The river Q does not help me and I am eliminated ~625th. The top 560 got paid. I think my move was correct. The table gave me a round of applause, which was a nice touch, but going home from the WSOP hurts as much as they say it does on ESPN, especially after such a great starting day. I am very much looking forward to rejoining the hunt in 2006.

Fell

Event # 42 - $10,000 Main Event, Day Two

2005-07-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

The day did not go well for me at all. Although I started with $65,000 in chips, the players were much more willing to play back at me and I lost a couple of bif pots in the first level, dropping me back to the average stack. I ended up busting out ~625/5811, 60 people short of the money. Tourney report to follow, and thanks to everyone for their support :)

Fell

Event # 42 - $10,000 Main Event, Day One

2005-07-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Hey all, apologies for not updating the blog sooner, I was DEAD tired upon returning home last night, and my Dad took me to Hoover Dam all day.

For those who have not been following my progress on RGP or www.pokertrails.com, I am off to an EXCELLENT start. I have $65,375 in chips after the first Day. Blinds are $300/$600 with a $75 ante. I have played a great game (IMHO) and am sitting 39th out of the 1300 people after day 1A and 1B, so I should be around 60th/1900 upon returning to play on day 2. I have a detailed tourney report to follow, but I do not wish to post my hands or thinking "just in case". Please bear with me.

To follow updates, www.pokertrails.com or your friendly RGP reader.

Good night. Tomorrow, I am ready to strike mercilessly at my opponents.

Fell

And So It Begins...

2005-07-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

My WSOP experience begins tomorrow. Thanks to all who have expressed their interest and support. I have a game plan laid out in my head, and I feel ready to play. I will try to give semi-regular updates to Jon Eaton of www.pokertrails.com but I know he will be very busy. Still, he will likely be your best bet if you want to follow my progress. Thanks to all those who have bought a total of 40% of my action for the main event. I will do my very best to make us some profit.

Good night, and good luck.

Fell

Tourney Report - UB $25k guaranteed

2005-06-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

First thing's first, thanks go out to Tanya for talking me into playing
the event (and keeping me cool after a couple of rivers!) Thanks to
ecr72 and KoToD for sweating me, and thanks to PMJackson for watching me
for awhile after he busted out.

5/10: First hand of the tourney: I get TT, raise, get 3 callers. Flop
J87. I bet my gutshot draw with 2nd pair. 1 caller. Turn T. I bet pot,
hesitate and call. I know now he does not have the straight, maybe 2 pair
or TPTK. River 3. I move in, hesistate and fold. I am up to 4225 from
my starting stack of 2500

5/10: About 10 hands later, I get 88 on the button. The pot is raised
with a call to me. I call. A limper calls. Flop 854. The limper bets
out. I don't think he has 67. Fold, fold, I flat call. Turn K. Limper
bets, I raise, he moves in, I call, he shows pocket 44 (one of the hands I
expected to see). River J, and he is out, I am up to 6500.

I am moved tables.

15/30: I get JJ and take the pot down after betting a Q high flop.

15/30: I call a raise with 54s, flop KsJs2x. I check, ackbleh seems
uncomfortable with the flop, makes a pot sized bet. I check-raise all-in
with my draw, he calls with AK. I miss the flush and double him up.

I am moved to MissT's table, a round of groaning ensues

20/40: I am dealt KJc in the BB. There are 3 limpers to me, I decide to
make a play at the pot, and raise to 220. MissT limp-raises all-in for
825 more. She then talks me into calling "don't be scured... double me up
or send me home baby!" I figure her for weak, and call. She shows A7d.
Flop K63, turn Q, river 4 and I eliminate her. She goes off in a huff,
hurling such insults as "meany"

20/40: I donk off a few chips when I call a raise in position with Q9s.
Flop 955, turn T, river 6. He had JJ.

20/40: I call a raise with 99 and dump it on the AQT flop. Down to 4000
chips.

30/60: I raise UTG with AKh. Flop 6h4h4x. Naturally, I am terrified of
the Arlo, so I check. He bets 150, I call. Turn Qh. I check, he bets
400, I raise to 1000, he calls. River 2c, I bet 1200, he calls and mucks
his AQ. I am up to 7000.

30/60: Tough hand that I'm not sure I didn't misplay horribly. I am dealt
KQo in MP, and limp. I see a flop with the blinds. Flop QJ4. BB bets
pot. I only call. Turn 5. He bets pot, I still only call. River 9, he
bets pot. I am seriously thinking that he flopped a big hand or
something, but I eventually call. He shows Q8o and I take a nice pot.
Now at 11500.

50/100: I raise with KQ 1 caller. Flop KQ2. He checks, I bet, he calls.
Turn T, he bets small (I read him for a Jack. I raise him nearly all-in,
he folds. Up to 12750.

75/150: UTG raises to 450. There are 2 cold callers to me, so I call with
76d. SB also calls. Flop Kd Ts 2d. UTG goes all in for 1200. Limper
mini-raises to 2400. There is 7000 in the pot, so I call. Turn 6h. MORE
OUTS! Mini-raiser moves in for 2390. I call (pot is huge, I figure to
have up to 14 outs). River Td! Both all-ins had KQ. I take down the 14k
pot which puts me into the chip lead with 20000.

75/150: Next hand, I get 77. I raise to 600, BB calls. Flop T76. He
bets 1300 into me, I flat call. Turn 8. Yuck. He moves in for 2000
more. I call. He shows J4c for the gutshot draw and flush draw. River
Kd, and I take him out. Up to 24000.

100/200: I get QQ, and raise. I had been stealing a number of pots, so
the button and BB call me. Flop 988. I bet 1100, button raises to 3000.
I re-raise him all-in for 3000 more, he ponders for a minute and folds. I
am up to 28500.

100/200: I call a mini-raise cold with AQ. Flop AT7. He bets only 400
into me, I raise to 1100, he folds.

100/200: I lay down ATh to an all-in re-raise. Am at 27500.

100/200: I get QJo, and raise in MP, seat to my left mini-raises, which
sets off all kinds of alarms. Decision made simple when the BB moves in.
I fold, mini-raiser calls and shows AA (of course).

100/200: I take down a pot with a continuation bet with 99 on the KJ6 flop.

150/300: I get AK in LP. UTG moves in. I call, BB calls. Flop K32. I
bet, BB folds, UTG shows AJ and I take him out. Am now at 31000.

150/300: AA, I steal the blinds.

150/300: I make a steal attempt with J8 and fold on the A98 flop when I am
check-raised all-in.

200/400 a50: *KEY HAND*. I am in 3rd place in chips, a guy in the top 10
has been bullying many many pots and being very aggressive. He raises
(again) in EP to 1200. I re-raise to 4700, it is folded to him, he thinks
for a few seconds, then moves in for 22010 total. Normally I would dump
my TT here, but I have been thinking that that is not the correct move to
maximize equity. I don't think he has AA or KK. QQ is a possiblility,
but a longshot. I put him on AK or JJ-99, maybe AQs. I decide to gamble.
He shows AKo. Flop Q95, turn 4, river 4. I eliminate a huge stack and
am now at 52500 and the big chipleader. I think I played this hand
correctly, but am interested in hearing other opinions. The guy I
eliminated spent the next 45 minutes railbirding and berating me, saying
"a pro would have laid down that TT in a second", etc etc.

200/400 a50: I raise to 1000 with 88. I am re-raised to 2500, and he had
10k behind. I put him on a bigger pair, but I call. Flop 753. I check,
intending to fold, but he checks behind. Turn 8! I bet 2000, he moves
in, I call in a flash. He says "oops!", turns over AA, and is eliminated. I am well over
60000 now.

400/800 a100: I get KQs on the button, and limp after 2 limpers. Flop
5s3s2s! Limper bets 800, I raise to 2800. BB (with large stack) cold
calls. Hmm... does he have the As? Turn 4h. Oh gosh I hope he has the
As! He checks, I bet the pot (10k). We each have 50-60k behind, he
thinks thinks thinks then folds 52o face up.

400/800 a100: Tilt hand. I get T9s and raise it up (to 2400). BB
re-raises to 6800. I consider, then call, as we are both deep. Flop Js
2s 2h. He checks, I check behind (putting him on a big hand, and wanting
the free card). Turn 4s! He checks again! I bet the pot (15k). Looks
like a steal, he moves in for 15k more, I call. He shows AsAx. I am
praying for no 2 no Ace no spade!!! River Ks :( TILT!!!!!!! I am
now down to 25000 chips.

Tanya gives me a little pep talk, says that I will get back into it, just
calm down and focus. Thanks Tanya!

600/1200 a125: I get 66 in the SB. UTG moves in for 3000. Folded to me,
I call, knowing that UTG could be panicking that it is his BB next. BB
also calls. Flop Q42. A good flop for my hand, so I bet 4000. BB folds.
UTG shows K7. Good read! Turn is the 5s, giving UTG a flush draw, but
the river is a brick, and I take him out. Back on the road to riches, I
have 30000 chips.

600/1200 a125: I get QTo in the BB. 3 limpers to me, so I check. Flop
Q54, 2 hearts. We check it around. Turn 9. I check, LP bets 1200,
button raises to 5000, I cold call, LP folds. River 5, I check, he bets
5500, I call, he shows A7c and I am up to 45000.

600/1200 a125: I get JJ on the button. I raise to 3500, BB (with a big
stack) calls. Flop 852. He checks, I bet 5000, he calls. Turn A. He
checks, I check behind. River 2d. He checks, I check, he shows 76. I am
up to 55000.

800/1600 a150: I get JJ in MP. UTG raises to 3200. Sometimes I call
here, but he has been known to lay down, so I re-raise to 10k. It gets
back to him and he calls. Flop 998, he checks, I bet 13500 he folds. I
am now at 68000, and back in the top 3.

800/1600 a150: I get KTd in the SB. It is folded to me, I raise to 3600,
he moves in for 21k total. He was a very aggressive player, and was
capable of this with any Ace, any pair. I decided to gamble for 17k more.
He shows AQ (could be worse). Flop KT8. Turn 6, river Q. I am now over
80000 and in 1st place.

1000/2000 a200: I get KJh in the BB. UTG limps. I check. Flop QJ2. I
check, he checks. Turn 7, I bet 4000, he moves in for 25k, I fold. He
shows AQ.

1500/3000 a300: I get AKo UTG+1. UTG moves in for 25k, I decide to push
for 57k. All fold. He shows KT, and doesn't suck out. I take him out
and am up to 89000.

1500/3000 a300: I get JJ and raise to 8500. Shortstack in the SB moves in
for 13k total. I call. He shows A7. Flop 853. Turn Q. River... A!
CRAP DAMMIT!!!

Again, thanks to Tanya for cooling me down

2000/4000 a400: I steal a couple pots to build up over 100k.

2000/4000 a400; 5 handed, I raise with KJc to 12500, BB moves in for 21k
more, I call. He shows 88. Flop AKT, and the turn Q means he is drawing
to a Jack for a split. River is a brick and we head to the final table!

Golf

2005-06-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hehe... what a game. In Vegas, I had a great time with ecr72 (Ed), AudiTT (Rick), and Chris in Texas (Chris), playing a round of golf. I did horribly, but we had fun. So, upon returning home, I decided to buy a set of clubs, and I have played a round, and am planning an playing a round of par 3 today. Holy crap, what a difference a decent set of clubs makes!!! I had a junior set that I grew up with, and I was not bad, but then I outgrew them and started shooting ~150-180 regularily.

So yesterday, I took my new clubs out for the first time, and though I still have lots of practice to do, I was able to shoot a 113. Highlights were the final two holes. The 17th was a 160 yard par 3. My first shot landed just off the green, and I decided to try to 50+ foot putt rather than chip it (my chips had not been good all day). I gave it a good whack, and it was an uphill putt, but the weight and line was perfect as it drained into the hole for my first birdie on a real course (not executive)! :D It was the only birdie of the foursome, so I was quite happy.

The 18th was a 325 yard par 4 dogleg left. My first shot sliced right, and my second one missed the big water hazard, leaving me a 30ish yard chip to the pin. I managed to nail it, leaving myself a 3 foot tap in for par (also my only par of the day).

Anyway, I'm going back today (new course this time). Hopefully I won't forget how to play poker with all this golfing :)

Fell

Blog moved!

2005-06-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

For all those who may have www.fellatthewsop.blogspot.com bookmarked, please change the bookmark to www.fellknight.com/blog/

Thanks!

Fell

The Drunk Lady Strikes Back!

2005-06-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

I had plans to meet up with Tanya (aka MissT74) for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning pre- NLHE shootout event, but being a dork, and helped by the fact that I was up until 3:00 a.m, I slept through the alarm in the morning, waking up at 10:00 with an "OH SHIT!" I grabbed a shower, threw on some clothes, and called a taxi, rushing over to the Rio. I arrived at 10:40, and went to the cafe, where I was quite surprised to find Tanya still there, and admitting that she, too, had slept in (lol... poker players!). Though she was done, she was kind enough to sit with me while I ate, and we taked about life and poker, hitting it off wonderfully.

We departed to play at our respective tables, and did fairly poorly, busting out by (or shortly after) the 1st break. We decided to play some satellites and meet up again for supper at the Rio buffet. At around 5, she came hunting for me, saying it was dinner time. I was about to play a $275 Limit Sateliite (not really... there were only 2 of us there and these things take forever to fill), so I cashed out and we went out. Good food, great selection, but do not order alcohol there... they fucked up her Malibu & Pineapple, and my Rum & Coke. HOW DO YOU FUCK UP RUM & COKE?

And so... the drunkenness began! We went souvenir shopping at the booth, and I klutzily knocked over about 10 items before finally buying a blackjack strategy card and a lighter for Mya, my lady friend here in Comox. We hit the Let-it-ride tables next, ordering drinks and shots, and were the life of the table. We harassed every dealer to smile and enjoy dealing and soon the other players got into it. We played for about 3 hours, highlights being some guy being dealt rolled up 7s and hitting the fourth 7 for $4200, and Tanya being dealt rolled up 2s, but not improving. Presto was a good hand for both of us, making a set twice. After spending a combined ~$500 on about 8 drinks each, we moved on to the 3-5-7 table, and Tanya did not believe me when I told her that Sklansky invented the game. The karma was not good on the table, and we left after another drink and shot each. After a short break outside to get some air, we hit the 3-card poker table and got slaughtered by the dealer who went on a rush of good cards. At this point, we realized how -EV our drinks were! We decided to hit the penny slots instead!

We pulled up a chair and put $5 into the machine, I had no freakin clue what I was doing, but apparently I was supposed to bet all the lines at 1 credit each. I did that for a while, and we ordered more drinks. The drink lady said she couldn't bring us more than round round at a time, but a strategically tipped $5 each ensured that the rounds came about 1 minute apart. BENDER TIME!

In my stupor, I accidentally it "max bet" which was 5 or 10 cents per line, and hit a big win on that very roll, for $50. I went back to penny playing and drinking, which we kept up for about an hour before we needed to get some more air outside. It took an hour or so to recover, by which time the sun was coming up. We went back to the poker room in time to see Mark Seif winning the Limit holdem Shootout event, congrats Mark!

So the next day, Tanya calls me up and asks if I want to go shopping. What the hell... probably easier on the bankroll than poker has been lol! We head to Fry's, and pick up a bunch of toys, including Dance Dance revolution and dance pad for her duaghter Cherissa. We then head over to Macy's then Brookstone's where I feel that I could quite possibly spend thousands of dollars on all the cool stuff there! We each bought a pair of TempurPedic slippers. God, those things are the bomb! I wanted to buy many more toys, but would have no room to bring them home, and didn't feel like spending $200 on shipping!

Upon returning to the car, I was hit with a blast of scorching hot air, which initiated a freindly argument and side bet as to the actual air temperature that could be reached inside a parked car in the summer in Arizona/Nevada. I humbly admit that I have been proven wrong on this matter.

We headed to the Rio for some satellite action, and I got killed, though Tanya picked up Stud 8/b, and with a couple of pre-tourney tips, chopped the $2000 entry fee. It was a sight to behold how well she played! :)

We played a bunch of satellites overall, she winning or chopping just under half of them, me continuing my losing streak to 13. :(

We stayed up all night again and I collapsed on my bed, exhausted, at around 5 a.m. Thanks for the good times Tanya :)

Fell

Protecting the bankroll

2005-06-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

I have not done as well in Vegas as I had hoped, and the damage to my bankroll is around $10000 after backing and expenses are all calculated. I have decided to sit out 2 more of the events I had planned to play, the $2500 Limit and $3000 Limit events. As such, the total entry fees for my backers is $10000, and I earned $2545, for a ROI of $25.45 per $100 share (sorry I didn't do better). However, as a thank you for those backers, I am giving them all a freeroll of 0.5% of my main event action(per share). I felt that $5500 was far too big a risk to be taking with my depleted bankroll, and as such I cannot justify risking it. Thanks for your understanding in this matter.

Fell

Event #16 - $1500 No-Limit Shootout

2005-06-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

I was feeling ready to take on the world when I woke up, and though I missed my breakfast date with Tanya (SORRY AGAIN BABE!) we hooked up around 10:45 and she sat with me while I ate and we talked. More on that in a later blog entry.

I sat down at the table a few minutes late, and was happy to see that Mel Judah was the only pro there. In seat #1 was the fishiest player I have seen in a long time. HE was calling nearly every hand preflop, and just playing horribly. I set my sights on him.

25/25: I bluff a few chips into an Ace-high flop, and get called by AJ. I shut down and he takes the pot, I am down to $1200.

25/25: I get 5d3d (god I love that hand in NL), and raise to 75 from CO-1. The button (seat #1) cold-called the raise and the blinds folded. Flop was JT7 with two diamonds. I bet $150, he hesitated and called. Turn was an offsuit 6, giving me a gutshot draw. I bet $300, he raised to $375 all-in, and I, of course, called. He flips over Qd8d. Wow. I hit a 3 on the river to take him out, he storms away from the table. I think I should have played more NLHE events, as the skill deficit was MUCH more pronounced in these events vice the non NLHE events.

People start busting out left and right, and by 45 minutes into the event, still at the 25/25 level, we are down to 6 handed! Mel Judah has about $5000 in his stack.

I steal a few blinds, and am around $2500 when the killer hand comes up. 25/50: I get QQ on the button, with the shortstack in the BB (he has $700). I mini-raise to $125, knowing that he will either fold or all-in, not call. The SB beats him to it, though, and moves all-in for $2200. The BB folds, and I call. SB says "Dammit!" He flips up K2o. The flop brings him a King, and I curse my bad luck. The Turn is the beautiful Queen of Spades, and for a moment, I think he is drawing dead. The River is a fourth spade, and he wins with his deuce high flush. !%!$#^!^!^$%@@!^$#. I go out a few hands later (in 5th), when my A9 runs into AT.

Fell

Event #15 - $1500 Limit Holdem Shootout

2005-06-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Rick Wampler drove me to the Rio in the morning, and as we were walking in, I turned to him and said "I just got the strangest feeling that I have drawn a really really bad table for this event." He laughed, said he hoped not, and wished me luck.

I found my table, and saw that Humberto Brenes would be sitting to my left. Great. 3 minutes later, Chris Bigler and Barry Shulman walk up to the table, laughing about something. Oh crap. Finally, for good measure, Amir Vahedi pulls up the chair to my right. Dammit. I pretend not to know who he is, hoping that he would play me like a total fish.

25/50 Limit: Wow, every hand is being raised and 3-betted preflop, with Amir doing most of the 3-betting! Looks like any hand I want to play is going to be expensive!

25/50: I get AA in LP, Chris Bigler raises, Amir folds, I 3-bet, and we see a flop of JTx. Chris bets out, I raise, he calls. Turn was a Ten. I bet, he calls, river Q, he checks, I check behind and take it down.

25/50: I have KK on the Button, Chris raises, Amir 3-bets, I make it 4 bets and both call. Flop comes Q high. Chris bets out, Amir and I both call. Turn is a rag, Chris bets, Amir raises (I read him as just trying to push me out), I make it 3 bets, and Chris folds. Amir calls. River was a rag, and I bet, Amir calls, showing a Queen and mucking when I show my KK. I am up to $2400 in chips, and feeling good.

25/50: I get bluffed out of a pot by Amir when I 3-bet preflop with 99 and the flop comes AA6 and he check-raises me. He showed J8o.

50/100: I lose a pot to Humberto, I forget the details.

50/100: Chirs Bigler is shortstacked, and raises. I call with J8 and we see a flop of T73. I think that it is an unlikely flop to have hit him, so I decide to make a move on him. I smooth-call his flop bet and raise him on the turn. He is genuinely unhappy about that, as he has respected my tight play thus far. He has only $250 left after my raise, but to my surprise, he eventually re-raises. I call with my gutshot draw, and he bets $50 on the river. I call and he shows AT. I muck, saying "good kicker" That dropped me down to $500 or so.

50/100: I dump AQ after a KJx flop, when it is bet and raised to me.

Down to $100 now.

50/100: I call all-in with JJ, and make top set, quadrupling up.

100/200: I 3-bet Amir with AQ in LP. He calls, flop AJ4. He checks, I bet, he raises, I 3-bet, he puts me all-in. He shows A8 and spikes an 8 on the river to take me out.

Fell

Event #14 - $1000 Stud Eight-or-better

2005-06-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

I grabbed a ride with GambleAB in the morning to the Rio, intending to play satellites all day. I arrived just in time to hear an announcement by Johnny Grooms that they would be adding a 15/30 level whereby the button would ante $15 for everyone, with a $5 bring-in and $15 completion bet. Since I had said the structure was the reason why I would not play, I decided to go ahead and register. Unforutnately, my time was short-lived.

15/30: I took 3/4 of a heads-up pot when I had a 6532A with a pair of Aces for high (he only had another 6532A).

15/30: I took another half or a 3 way pot with a 75 low (vs a 76). After the first hour, I was at exactly $1000 in chips (due to playing a couple speculative hands and dumping on 4th street when I bricked.

30/60: The Big hand: I was down to $800 from antes/bringins, having been dealt no playable hands. I get (JJ)4 and limp (to disguise the fact that I am going high). A 9 completes the bet (a horrible play by the way if his hand is actually nines), and gets 3 callers. I catch a 6, one of the lows bricks, and the other low catches a 3 (showing 53). The nines bet, I call, the 53 raises, we both call. I now think that the 53 is drawing to at least a 6 low. On 5th street, I catch a beautiful Jack. The nines pair open nines on the board, for a likely hand of 3 nines. Perfect! The nines bet out, I raise, trying to knock the low out (who bricked). He calls, the nines re-raise, I 4 bet, and the low draw, realizing we are both going high, caps the betting. On 6th street, the low ctahces an 8, which I think likely makes him an 8 low. The nines are showing (xx)9T94. He checks, I bet, the low raises, the nines call, I re-raise, the low 4 bets, the nines call, and I cap it. Pot is now >$2000. I fail to fill up on the river, and the nines bet out. I call all in, and the low calls. The nines turn up 9Q...Q, for a rivered boat. DOH! I am out.

All-in-all, it was a good tourney to play, with lots of bad play to exploit, but failing to win that pot hurt. I finished ~500th/575.

Fell

Running bad

2005-06-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

I picked a real great time to do it.

I lost $700 this morning in a $20/$40 cash game, primarily due to a hand where I had QQ vs his KJ. We put 3 bets preflop, 3 bets on the flop of TT4, 2 bets on the turn J, and 1 bet on the River J!!!!!

I played the supersat($200+25+R), and was in for $1425. I had built up a stack and we hit the final table with 6 places paying. I lose a bunch of chips with JJ vs T4 when I raise, he calls. Flop KT7, He checks, I check. Turn x. He overbets the pot, I read him correctly for weak, and push i, he calls and riveres a Ten. @%#!%@#!%@#.

Down to 1000, with blinds 100/200, a25. 8 left. A bully in EP raises to 500, and I push in with AK. All fold. He sighs, says "I was just trying to steal, you got lucky". He calls 500 more with 54h. Flop 7h6x3h!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am drawing dead and eliminated.

7 p.m. supersat. I build my $200 to $600, then it goes down to $300 just before the break. I have J9, flop AQJ. I check, check, check. Turn Q. I check, guy bets $125, fold, and I read him for a total bluff, and check-raise all-in. He folds, and I have $650 going into the break. I build it up to $1500 after winning a race with JJ vs AQ. I then get TT, and call a $700 all in bet. He shows AQo. First card off is a Ten, along with J and 8. Turn K!!$#$!@%#%@#!#%@$!@#~~!~@!#%!@%#!%@#!@#%!@#%!#%@!#@%#!@%# river blank and I double him up. I end up going out when presto provides no help vs AK on a board of AKJTT.

All-in-all, today cost me $2750. Ouch. So I am a bit in pain right now. Hoping that the cards treat me better tommorow.

Fell

Living it up in Las Vegas

2005-06-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

Rob and Aaron are fun guys... and Rick Wampler is okay too ;)

After my Stud debacle, we decide to hit the Strip. First, we go to Treasure Island, and Rob scams some buffet comps off the floorman while inviting every good looking lady to our house party the next day :)

After donking off some money at the table games there, we get the brilliant idea to go play some bowling at Gold Coast. Now... I know of the existance of 10 pin bowling, but we play 5 pin almost exclusively in Canada... so it took some getting used to. Of course, that didn't stop us from playing for $1 a pin. After I finished with 60-odd points in the first match, owing over $200 on the game, I demanded some handicap... so I got 25 pins and I went to buy a few rounds, intending to get Rob and Aaron seriosuly wasted. We were having a great time, making side bets on spare attempts and stuff, calling Wampler about 25 times to get his ass over to join us. We decided to play all night!

Around the 5th game, I finally got the hang of it, only down $400 or so! Aaron only got worse the more he drank, and Rob only got better. I had clawed my way back to around $100 down, with Aaron down $500 and Rob up $600, when Rick showed up and dominated us all. We played 3 more games, with the last one being the best, all of us scoring 175-200, and Rob scoring only 110 or so, yet he was giving us a handicap! That game cost him about $250, lol.

We harrased Jim, the lane monkey all night, and went to Bourbon Street for breakfast, where the waitress regaled us with stories of guys getting blowjobs behind curtains. Aaron went to the washroom. He came back with a shocked look on his face. Turns out there was a naked homeless guy washing his clothes in the sink, LOL!

We will surely have to do this again!

Fell

Event # 8 - $1500 7 Card Stud

2005-06-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

Things started really well in this tourney (sarcasm).

In the fist level of 30/60, a5, b10, I got (T4)T and completed the bet. I was called by a 5. He made open 5s on 4th street and I was forced to fold.

I have (As5s)3s and end up with 888, but he made a flush on me. I am down to 700.

A few hands later, I am dealt (AA)A. I limp. 3 calls. I fail to improve, and end up losing to (74_7 who makes sevens full runner runner to beat me. Down to $150.

I end up doubling up a couple times.

50/100: (88)A ends up making 8s full and winning a nice pot.

50/100: (66)A makes 6s full.

75/150: (AK)7 makes Aces up, putting me back up to 2500 or so.

75/150: (AA)4 makes Aces full.

100/200: (QQ)3 manages to hold up vs split Tens.

100/200: (A7)A makes Aces up on 4th, only to get cracked on 7th by split nines making trips.

150/300: I make a tough call in a big pot with (JJ)9xxx against AsQs5s4s. Turns out he has only fives and misses 7th, and is eliminated.

150/300: I win a nice pot with (A5)J when I hit an Ace on 4th. My Aces take it in a showdown.

200/400: I start with (78)7 and call a raise by the table maniac. who is showing a nine. I catch a 5 on 4th and he catches a 2. I cget a 4 on 5th with a 3 flush, and raise him, he raises me back, so I put him in for him last 300. He shows pocket deuces for trips! ARG! On 7th, I hit my gutshot straight, and he misses his boat. Thank god he is gone.

200/400: I lose a few chips with (8A)8 vs 4(QQ) when I fail to improve.

Dinner break. I am feeling great! 128 left, paying the top 40, and I am playing well (I think). I have an above avergae stack, but think that I will be able to steal some antes and should be able to go deep.

300/600: A shortstack raises with a 5 showing. I reraise with (JJ)4, and he puts it in, showing A3. He catches an Ace and I lose 1000 chips or so.

300/600: I have (KT)Q, with no dead Kings, Queens, Jacks, OR Tens. A 7 raises, and a shortstacked 9 reraises. I 3-bet to isolate, and get 2 3 flushes to fold behind me (including the 7). The 9 puts in his last 200, showing (9T)9. Unbeliveably, I fail to get ANY help whatsoever for my live cards, and lose another 1300.

300/600: I have (KK)6. I raise. A seven re-raises, I 3 bet. He calls. I catch a rag, he catches a 3. I bet, he raises, I 3 bet, he 4 bets. By now, I have only 1000 left, so I cap it and bet blind on 5th. We roll our cards and he shows (73)73! He then catches another7 on 5th!!!! @#^^@#$@$^#@@#%!!#@%!@#%%@#

I am eliminated and go on serious tilt. Fortunately, Rob and Aaron bring me out bowling all night. Next blog entry to detail that fun :)

Fell

Event #5 - $1500 Omaha H/L

2005-06-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

I failed to take detailed notes on this event, but here goes:

I had planned to play a tight game early, but there was a LOT of limping with poor hands, so I changed my plan and got involved with hands with marginal scoop potential like 7643 (which I did scoop with by the way).

I built my stack to over 3000 by the 1st break, when the play improved.

I was moved to Sam Grizzle's table, which was highly entertaining, to say the least. I had around 5000 in chips at the 300/600 level just before dinner, when my AA23 lost to AKJT when the board came T327K. That crippled me, and I ended up going out with KJ93 in my BB when I was down to 900 with 300 in the BB. I did not hit a flop for a good hour in there and was thusly eliminated 225th/700.

Fell

Event #2 - $1500 NLHE

2005-06-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

What a FUBAR. I arrive at the Rio with an hour to spare before the tourney, missing my breakfast date with Tanya (sorry babe!!!). I pick up my preregisters, and see event #3 PLHe and Event #4, Limit Holdem. WTF?

Seems that Absolute messed up my registration for Limit HE and O8. So I got that fixed thanks to the kind staff at the Rio, and find that Pokerstars registered me under a different name. Finally, I get my seat assignment for the event, and go take my seat. I find out that Kathy Liebert is sitting 2 seats to my left. Great.

Onto the action! On the first hand of the tourney (blinds 25/25), the action in folded to the SB who folds (instead of checking). Wow, I think... this is gonna be tight.

About 15 minutes into the event, I am in the BB. Kathy raises to 75, and gets 2 cold callers. I look down at 5h3h and decide to pay the extra 50 to see a flop. The flop comes down 764. BINGO!!! I bet out 100 into Kathy (don't ask why such a weak bet... I wasn't thinking), who raises to 400. The other two fold, and I study her for a minute or so. I get a super-strong vibe from her, but I know she didnt raise with 85, so I re-raise to 800. She pushes in, and I call. She shows 77 for top set. Turn 8, river A, and she is left with $25, and I double up.

2 hands later, she is all-in for the BB, and I am on the button with TT. The cutoff raises to 75, and I re-pop it to 300. The cutoff folds, and I take on Kathy heads up. She has 96 off. Flop comes with a 6, but I take her out. Nice. 15 minutes and I have taken out my first pro :)

I am playing quite tight, not really getting any cards, the blinds are now 25/50. I get KQd on the button. The cutoff raises to 225. I decide to call. The BB re-raises to 800. The cutoff deliberates for a while and calls. I cannot fold my KQd fast enough. Flop comes T62. BB pushes in, and in instantly called by the cutoff who has TT for top set. What a horrible pre-flop call I think to myself. BB shows KK and is promptly eliminated.

50/100: I get AQ in LP. UTG+2 moves in for 600. I call 600 of my stack of 2500. He shows KTs. Flop T44, turn J, river Q. I get up to shake his hand, but he storms off. DUDE! *YOU* moved in with KT, not me :)

100/200: Last hand before the second break. I have been running poorly, and am down to 1800 chips. I get A4d in the SB. There are two limpers in Late position, so I decide to try to steal. I raise to 800. I get one caller. Flop T85, none of my suit. I move all-in for about $1000. I am sweating as my opponent scrutinizes me for a good 3 minutes. He eventually folds face up, showing AJo. WHEW.

100/200, a25: I have KJ in the BB. MP min raises, and I call. FLop comes down KKJ. I check, he checks. Turn T. I check, he bets $200. I give him a strange look, and decide to raise him $1000 more, hoping he will interpret it as a re-steal. He looks sick and folds.

100/200, a25: I have AA UTG +2 (but am down to 1200 now). UTG limps. I raise to 500, and UTG+3 moves in. It is folded to me and I call. He shows 77, and misses.

100/200, a25: Very next hand, I have AA UTG+1. I decide to limp. UTG+2 (same guy), moves in for 900. It is folded around, and I call, he shows 44 and is disgusted when I turn over AA. He has about a billion outs on the turn when the board is 3356 with 3 diamonds, but misses the river, and he is eliminated.

150/300, a25: Again, I get AA... this time in LP. MP raises to 800, I re-raise to 2000. He calls. Flop 876. He checks, I move in (2000 more), he calls instantly with AK. Another AA, another doubleup!

200/400, a50: I have KJ in LP, and raise. Flop AQ8. I bet my draw, and the blind moves all in on me. I have to fold.

300/600, a75: I have about 5000 in chips. EP raises to 1800. I look down and find AKs in my BB. I decide to move in. He eventually folds.

400/800, a100: We are down to 270 or so, with 200 getting paid. I am quite short by now, down to around 1600, and am fairly committed for my BB. Fortunately, I find ATs. LP raises, and I call. He shows 99, and I win the race.

I steal the blinds with KK, we are down to 215 or so.

600/1200, a200: I get AKd in LP. I move in for 5000. The BB calls with his massive stack. He shows AJ. I pray for no J. Flop Q9x, turn T. I have a flush draw. The river comes and offsuit Jack and I collapse, thinking I am beat. I then realize I have made a straight and let out a whoop of joy!

We are in the money!

800/1600, a300: I am in my BB for 1600, and have 6400 behind. We are down to 140 players or so. I look down to find KQ. It is folded to the button who raises to 8000! SB folds, and I study the button. Such an overbet was strange, and indicative of not wanting a call. I conclude he does not have AK, AQ, AA, KK, or QQ, and so I call. He shows A9o. I fail to improve, and am knocked out 141st, which was good for $2545. I stand behind the read and decision. I could have folded a few spots up in the money, but I needed to get some chips if I wanted any shot at making it deep. The gamble was a good one, though I would have preferred to be the raiser rather than the caller :) All in all, I was quite happy with my showing for my first WSOP event. I learned a new meaning for the word "tight". Hour long levels allow for a lot of play, and I was folding such hands as AJ and 88 in EP, whereas I feel more pressure to play those hands online.

Fell

Event #4 - $1500 Limit Holdem

2005-06-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Live poker is rigged!!!

Heh, ended up ~225th/1050, got knocked out by David Oppenheim. Here is a synopsis of some key hands.

50/100: Have only played 1 or 2 pots outside the blinds in the first hour. I get 77 in the CO, and the guy to my right raises. I 3-bet to isolate, everyone folds, he 4 bets I call. Flop QQ7. He bets I call. Turn x, he bets before seeing the card! I raise, he re-raises *INSTANLY*. I have put him on AK, AA, KK, QQ, JJ preflop with his 4 bet, and there were no other high cards out. I could not imagine him re-raising a paired board and acting as he did with anything less than Quad Queens, but I called because I have seen donkey bets before. He bet before seeing the river, and I folded my full house face up. He showed pocket QQ.

50/100: So I was down to 900 in chips or so. After blinding off a bit (needing to tighten up), I got KK in the BB. It was folded to the SB who limped. I checked. Flop K43. He bet out, I raised, he called. Turn 4, he checked, I checked behind. River 4. He checked, I bet, wanting it to look like a steal, and he called and mucked.

50/100: I have A9 in the CO. Folded to me, I raise, button 3 bets, I call. FLop AQx, I check, he bets, I call. Turn 9, I bet his last 100 chips and he calls showing AK. River bricks and I take him out. Go suckout!

That got me back around 1000 at the first break.

100/200: First hand after the break, I get QQ in LP. EP raises, I 3 bet he calls. flop 997. He bets, I raise, he calls. Turn 3. He bets, I raise, he asks how much I got, (150 more), he puts it in, and shows 88. River x and I double up.

100/200: The very next hand, I have AKs, I raise. FLop K52 I bet and take it down. I go from 1000 to 2500 in 2 hands heh.

100/200: I have 99 in the BB, EP raises, one cold call, I call. Flop Q94. I check, raiser bets, cold caller raises, I realize any cold call will get me no further action, so I 3-bet, hoping to make it look like I wanted to take the shortstacked coldcaller alone. No dice, and the raiser folds. The shortstack puts in last 150 I call he shows AQ and bricks.

200/400: I have KK in LP and 3 bet, MP calls. Flop A82, MP bets out. I think on how he has played, and don't read him as betting an underpair, more likely a hand like AJ to see where he is at. I fold.

200/400: I have A9 in the MP and raise. Button cold calls, blinds fold. Flop T95 with 1 diamond. I bet out, he calls. Turn Ad. I bet, he thinks briefly and calls. River 8d. I can't put him on diamonds, so I value bet. He raises. I call he shows KdQd.

300/600: I get TT in the SB and call a raise 3 ways. Flop J64, I bet out raiser calls, caller calls. Turn 2, I bet out, call, fold. River A, I check, he checks. I take it down.

I have around 2700 chips.

300/600: AA. I raise, 2 cold calls. Phil Hellmuth (recently moved to my table), mucks in the blind. Flop K63. I bet, am raised, folded to me, I pause and call. Turn 5. I check, he bets, I raise, he calls. River x. I bet out (down to 300 left), he thinks and folds. Nice. Phil calims he would have cracked my Aces if he had played... and I admire his nice read.

300/600: I get AKs in the BB, and call a raise. Flop J22, I check, he bets, I call (I played this hand poorly.) Turn 8, I check again (sigh), he bets, and I muck. I had no real info about his hand, should have probably check-raised the flop to see what he would do.

MISSION: TILT HELLMUTH HAND ONE:

300/600: Phil limps UTG, UTG +1 limps, I raise with JJ. Folded to the blinds, one called, Phil calls, limper calls. Flop AJT, Phil bets out, limper folds, I call, fold, (putting him now on AT, don't think he would lead out with the flopped straight) Turn x, Phil bets, I raise, he calls. River Q. I don't like it, but I get the sense Phil hates that card, he checks, I bet for value (still putting him on 2 pair), he says "GOD! They always want to give their money away to me and then they hit! I cannot believe how unlucky I can be!" He says "NICE RAISE WITH AK THERE ON THE TURN! I HAD YOU, YOU KNOW!" and mucks. I chuckle and muck my hand quietly.

300/600: I have KQs and raise UTG+1 (now loosening up and bullying). Folded to Phil who calls. Flop T95. He checks, I bet my gutshot w/ overs, he calls. He checks dark, turn x. I decide to take the free card. River J! He checks, I bet, he says "my God! I just don't believe it! Anything but a paint and I take it down!!" (again, nice read). He folds.

Phil steams for a few hands, then our table breaks.

I am at around 7000 chips.

Now I donk off some chips and the downfall happens quickly.

I am moved to a table with David Oppenheim to my left and David Benyamine to his left (Crap!)

I get A9s and raise, BB calls. flop T85. He checks, I check. Turn 6, he bets out, I raise him (thinking that this should be construed as my having flopped top set or something that I am not afraid to give free cards on). He calls me. River 6. He checks, I bet, he calls me with AJ high. Nice read.

Down to ~4000.

I get AK in the BB, folded to the SB who raises. I 3 bet, he calls. Flop 922. He bets, I call. Turn 8, he bets I call. River 5, he bets I call. He shows down K2o. #@%!#%@!#%

Down to 800 or so.

I go totally card dead and ended up defending my BB all-in with T3s. No help and I am out.

On the plus side, I went and played 4 satties, won 1 and 3-way chopped a second for a decent $1450 profit. Those satties are JUICY!

Fell

The rumours of my demise...

2005-06-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

...Were greatly exaggerated. After a false RGP post by Jon Eaton reporting that I had busted out of the $1500 NLHE tourney yesterday, I am happy to report (for those of you who did not already know), that I finished 141st/2350 which was good for $2565. My backers for the preliminary events are now guaranteed a return of at least $15 for each $100 invested (though I'll be working hard to turn an actual profit for them!)

My last hand was at the 800/1600 w/ 200 ante level. I was in the BB with KQo, and 6000 remaining in my stack. It was folded to the button who raised to 8000 straight (enough to set me all in). The SB folded, and I considered the odds. There was 2000 (antes) + 1600 + 800 + 7600 = 12000 in the pot. I was getting 2:1 odds on my all-in call, and by the size of the raise, I *knew* he didn't have AK or AQ (as he would have wanted some action). I thought I was against either a small pocket pair, or Ax (x = T or less). Against the pair I am a 45:55 dog, and against Ax I am a 40:60 dog. I also assumed there was some chance he had nothing and I was either dominating him or had 2 overs. Since folding would have left me with 5000 after anteing and posting my SB, I chose to gamble, as I was playing to go deep into the money if I got lucky. I called. He turned over A9, and I was relativey happy. Unfortunately, the board came J6384, and I was eliminated.

A full tourney report will follow, but the RGP bash will begin soon, and that takes precedence!!

On the slate for tomorrow.. $1500 Limit Holdem. Will Fell make it 2/2?? Tune in and find out!

Fell

Clarification for my backers

2005-06-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

I received an email asking me to clarify what the situation is with regards to my preliminary events shares.

Although I have won satellite entries into 2 events, all backers are still entitled to a percentage of the winnings from those events.

I have decided to not play the $1000 Stud H/L event (I found the structure to be horrible), so here is the recap:

$1500 NLHE June 3rd
$1500 Limit HE June 5th
$1500 Omaha H/L June 6th
$1500 Seven Card Stud June 9th
$2000 Limit HE June 11th
$1500 Limit HE Shootout June 16th
$1500 NLHE Shootout June 17th
$2500 Limit HE June 18th
$3000 Limit HE July 3rd

Total Entry fees: $16,500

Each $100 share buys 1/165 of my total profits, with the ratio going up proportionally ($100*# of shares/Total entry fees) if I have to miss an event because I played Day 2 of a previous event.

I will be updating my blog frequently from Vegas (I am aiming for nightly), so check in to see how I am doing!

Fell

Almost 3/4...

2005-05-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

Heh, Bombed out in the Limit Holdem Shootout satty at Absolute yesterday, but did very well in the No-Limit shootout today. Going into the Final table, I was the chipleader, but unfortunately, had horrible position. All the big stacks were on my left, and all the shorties were on my right. It quickly became an all-in fest from the shortstacks, so my aggressive game of stealing blinds and pressure was stymied. I did get to call one big all in with KK and made quads, but other than that, I had to play the waiting game. We got down to 4 left, and I was still in 2nd. On the first hand, I had A3 in the BB. UTG had raised, so I called. Flop came KQ7. I bet out about 1/2 pot. He called. Turn came an Ace. I figured I would go for the check-raise (as I didnt think he had an Ace), but he checked behind. The River was an ugly Jack. I bet out about 40% pot (as I didn't want to have to call a huge bet which my be a bluff, and he called showing J9. sigh.

Few hands later, I have KT in the SB. UTG limped, button folded, I call, BB checks. Flop AA9, yuck. We check it around. I am wary of an Ace. Turn T. Ok, I have the best hand now if there is no ace. I checked, with the intention of checkraising to find out where I was at. The BB bet about 1/2 pot, and UTG called quickly. Crap. I decided the Checkraise was too risky with 2 guys behind, so I called. Turn was a 6. I checked, BB checked, UTG bets 1/3 pot, I call, BB folds. UTG shows 87 for the straight, and I am now in serious chip pain.

A bit later, the other shorty moved in on the SB, and I called with KT (figured he has a wide range of pushing hands, as he had done that before, but he showed AK and I didn't suck out. Now is critical condition. UTG miniraises one orbit later, I call in the BB with Q8c. Flop QT7, I check, he bets over half my stack, I push the rest in, he calls, showing KQ and knocks me out 4th. Ouch.

Anyway... All is good, andVegas beckons! Final tally for Prelim shares sold is 20. Good luck to my backers and I in Vegas!

Fell

Last minute details

2005-05-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

Haven't played a lot of poker this week.

Everything is coming together nicely for my upcoming trip to Vegas, I leave in 6 days! The house is paid for for the summer, the flights are long since booked, the registration has been done for the first 3 events and the main event, Golf is planned for June 4th (unless I make it to Day 2 of the $1500 NLHE, of course). All that is left to do is to pack and make sure that my dog gets safely to Ottawa, where he will be speding the summer with my ex, and to get some $USD (still waiting on a couple of cashouts).

I'll try to update my blog nightly in Vegas, whether I am playing in a WSOP event or not. I plan to play in several satellites, I figure that I will be in a good spot to win another entry or 3.

Tonight, I am playing a home game, and another WSOP satellite or 2 this weekend. Will update once more before I take off.

Fell

Omaha H/L Tourney Report!

2005-05-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

As you know from my last post, I have now won back-to-back entries into $1500 WSOP events. Last night it was the Limit Holdem event, and tonight the Omaha H/L event:

Key hands:

Didn't hardly play anything until Level 4 (60/120), but then King of the Off Deuce showed up to railbird me and things picked up immediately!

60/120: I get A2TJ in the BB, and see a flop heads up. Flop QJ5. I decide to bet out, he calls. Turn A. I bet again, he calls. River 6, no flush possible, it goes check-check and I take down a T500 pot.

75/150: I get A258 in MP, and raise. Button cold-calls and the BB calls. Flop T43 rainbow. BB checks, I bet, button raises, BB folds, I call. Turn 9. I check, he bets, I call. River A, I bet out, he calls, and I scoop a 1400 pot (he showed 9432).

100/200: Lost a 3 way pot with A25Q vs A239 when the board came 6A459.

100/200: I get A5KK in the SB, button raises, I call, BB calls. Flop J86, I check, BB checks, Button bets, we both call. Turn 8. I check, BB checks, Button bets, I raise, BB folds, Button calls. River 7. I check, he checks, and I scoop the pot of 1700.

I am now at 3200 chips.

150/300: I take out a shortstack in a blind vs blind battle, I have AQJ7 he has TT54, flop AA4.

300/600: I make a nice bluff to increase my stack. I get A357 in the BB, and see a flop Heads up. Flop K43, I check, he bets, I call. Turn 4, I check, he checks. River T, no flush, I bet out, he folds. Pot 1350, now at 4250 chips.

300/600: I get As2d3s5s in the SB. One limper, I raise, BB folds, limper calls. Flop Js7d6h. I bet he calls. Turn Ks. I bet, he calls. River Qs giving me the nut flush, I hesistate only a split second, then bet, he calls, and I scoop the 4500 pot, now at 7250 chips.

400/800: A shortstack raises all-in for $450 with 6532, I re-raise with AA2T, and the flop KKK gives me the nuts.

Now at the Final Table:

500/1000: I lose a 3 way all-in pot, and drop to 5000 chips.

500/1000: I get A4QQ (suited ace) in the SB, and see a 3 way flop. Flop Q54 rainbow. I bet out, BB calls, limper calls. Turn T. I bet, BB raises, limper folds, I still have the nuts, so I re-raise, BB re-raises all-in and shows KQJT. River 7 and I scoop a 9000 pot, now at 10000.

600/1200: I get Ah2s3cJs on the button. 1 limper, so I raise. SB calls all-in, BB calls, limper calls. Flop Ts 6h 4c. They check, I bet, they call. Turn 8s, shortstack limper moves all in for 200, I complete to 1200, BB calls. River Ks, I figure my nut low and flush is good, so I bet, he calls, and shows A28T for 1/4. The 2 all-ins both muck, and I toak down a pot worth another 10000. I am now at 14750 with 6 players left, next closest is at 6000.

Very next hand, I get AA2K double suited and raise. SB calls. Flop K84 all diamonds. Yuck. He checks, and I bet, hoping to take it down, he calls. Turn K. He checks again, so I bet. He calls. River 5. He checks, and I value bet my trip kings and nut low. He calls all-in, and mucks. I am now at 20000 chips.

600/1200: I lose 2 pots in a row after flopping 2 pair, then being counterfeited on the river and turn. (KQT4 vs AKT5, board QK99A) and (AT34 vs A25Q flop AKT, turn K river 3). B ack down to 15000.

600/1200: I try to bully with 8643, abnd get 3 bet preflop, I call. flop Q63, I check, he bets, I call. turn T, I think my 2 pair might be good for high, so I bet, he raises 300 more all-in, I call. He shows JJT5!!! River 7 and I scoop. 17000 chips, 4 left, next guy has 10000, other 2 have 4000 and 3000.

600/1200: I get Ad4d6dKh in the SB and call, the BB raises (1ok stack), and I call. Flop KdJc7d, I check, he bets, I call. Turn 5d, I check, he bets, I raise, he calls. river As, I bet, he calls and mucks. I now have 24000 to 5500, 3000, and 2000 and am feeling REALLY good.

800/1600: I have KJ24 and raise, 2nd stack on the button calls, blinds fold. Flop Kc9d6c, I bet he calls. Turn 9c, I bet, he raises, I muck. I now have 21000 he has 11500.

800/1600: I get AdAsTs4h and raise in the SB, 2nd stack calls in the BB. Flop 8s7s5s!!! I bet, he calls. Turn 9h, I check (hoping to Check-raise), he checks behind. River 2s, I bet out, he calls, and I scoop.

800/1600: I get AAQQ unsuited in the BB. 2nd stack raises, I call. Flop K74, he bets, I call. Turn 7, he bets, I call. river K, he bets, I call. He shows KKQT and scoops. Chip count now 19500, 13000, 1400, 870.

Couple hands later, and the 2nd stack (Gary) has eliminated the other 2 guys. Going into out Heads-up battle, I have 18350 he has 16150. I offer to make a deal with him and buy him out for $800. He ponders it, but declines, saying he really wants the seat. I wish him luck and we play it out.

800/1600: I win the first HU pot with KJ75 when I make top pair, no low possible.

800/1600: I get Ah3h9sJs and raise, he calls. Flop 2d8s2s, I bet, he raises, I call. Turn Ks giving me the flush, I check, he bets, I call. River 5, I check (hoping to check-raise), but he checks behind. I scoop the pot, and now have a lead of 24000-11000.

800/1600: I get 9872 in the BB and call a raise. Flop 229! He checks, I bet, he calls. Turn 9, he bets out, I raise him, he calls. River T, he checks, I bet, he calls and mucks. Now 30000-4000.

He wins a pot by rivering a flush when all-in on the turn, and is back to 8000.

1000/2000: I get QT99 and limp, he calls. Flop KKJ. I check, he checks. Turn 9, I check (hoping to check-raise), he checks. River A, I bet, he calls and mucks.

1000/2000, Final Hand (he has 3700 chips to start). I limp with T973, he checks. Flop TT9! I check, he checks. Turn K, I check, he bets, I raise he calls 700 all-in with AK86 and in drawing dead! River Q and I take down my second consecutive entry to a WSOP event!

Thanks to my ever-faithful railbirds King of the Off Deuce and ecr72!! :)

Fell

2 FOR 2!!!

2005-05-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Played in the $100+8 Limit Omaha H/L Satellite tonight on Absolute Poker. BANG! I'm now 2 for 2 in these WSOP Satellites! My entry has now been paid for the $1500 Limit Holdem on June 5th and the $1500 Omaha H/L on June 6th. I AM SO PUMPED!

Tourney report to follow.

Fell

Tournament Domination!

2005-05-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here we go, the tourney started with 21 players, $100+8, Limit Holdem. Winner (basically)takes all ($2000), remainder split between 2nd-6th. 1500 chips to start, limits 30/60.

Key hands:

Didn't play hardly anything until Level 3 (75/150). I get QTc in the SB and see a flop 3 ways. AJ6. Checked around. Turn J, checked around. River K! I bet, one caller, I take it down... I LOVE free cards!

100/200: I take a few more chips by 3-betting with AKd, and winning uncontested on a flop of 943, am up to 4500 chips.

150/300: I get A8 in the BB, and decide to check Heads-up. Flop 865. check check. Turn A. Check, he bets, I call. River 3, I check, he bets, I raise, he folds. Another 1000 chips or so.

150/300: AJh UTG, I raise, blinds both call. Flop JT3. SB checks out, BB bets out, I raise, SB folds, BB calls. Turn 5, he checks, I bet, he calls. River 5, he checks, I bet, he folds.

Now up to 6000 chips, and am the table leader by far.

200/400: J4o on the button, folded to me, there are two shortstacks in the blinds, so I raise. BB calls. Flop 742. BB bets out, I raise, he calls. Turn J. BB checks, I bet, he calls. River K, BB bets out, I raise him all-in, he calls and mucks to my 2 pair. Now up to 8000 chips.

300/600: J7h in the BB. MP raises, I call, flop JJ3. I check, he bets, I call. Turn 2, I bet out, he calls, river 5, I bet, he calls and mucks, now at 11000 chips!

At the Final Table now, 400/800. I get 88 on the button. MP raises, I 3 bet, MP 4 bets. Flop AK2. MP checks, I bet, MP is torn, says "JJ", and folds :) Now at 15000 chips.

400/800: KJo UTG+1, I raise, BB 3 bets with 100 left, so I put it in, BB shows 33. Flop T88, turn K, river 5.

500/1000, everyone is folding to my aggression, so I steal steal steal!!!

Down to the Final 5, 500/1000: I get 33 UTG, and raise. UTG+1 3 bets, BB calls, I call. Flop 777 JACKPOT! I check, UTG+1 bets, BB folds, I check-raise, UTG+1 calls all in with AQ. Turn K river J, and we are 4 handed! I have 20k chips, vs 6k, 2k, 2k.

Next hand, I get 88 in the BB, 6k stack on the button limps, I raise, she calls. flop T84. I bet, she calls. Turn 4, I check, she bets, I raise, she calls. River 5, I bet, she calls and mucks. I am now at 26000 chips with all others at 2000!

Everyone is folding to my aggression again, so I raise, raise, raise.

3 handed, I have 27.5k chips, 500/1000. Shortstack with 870 moves in on the button, I call in the BB with A2o, he shows AKo. Flop T76, turn 2! river Q, gg.

HU for the seat, I have 29000 chips, she has 2000.

2 hands later we are all-in, I have KQ, she has A6s, flop T52, turn K! River J and it is all over!

Hope you enjoyed reading, I know KotOD and ecr72 enjoying railbirding :)

Fell

A Good Weekend!

2005-05-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

So wow. I am still stunned after having completely DOMINATED the $100+8 satellite to the June 5th Limit HE WSOP event. Truly, you had to be there to witness it... the deck was hitting my over the head when people decided to play with me, and I was stealing pots left and right otherwise. When we were down to 4 people, I had a stack of 26k, and the 3 others each had 2k or less! It ended shortly after that!

Yesterday, I came 2nd in the Pokerstars $11+R PLO tourney, for a nice $775 payday, and I have been tearing up the cash games, arning an additonal $2500 thus far. Vegas, here I come!

Tourney report in detail to follow.

Fell

Xbox and PS3

2005-05-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Both companies have released info about their next gen platforms this week, and DAMN they are lookin good! Also, E3 is in full swing, which is always a great time for gamers.

I am not sure which will be better, but here are some of the cool features of each system:

XBox 360:
- 3! processors EACH running at 3.2GHz
- 512 MB of Video memory (ultra high end video card)
- 20 Gig removable hard drive (so you can take save games to your buddies' place, etc)

PS3:
- Excellent processor/graphics (specs not disclosed)
- Sweet games to be released
- Backwards compatible
- The ability for programmers to tap into the satellite system, take images of anywhere on Earth and match them up with topographical maps to make terrain in their games on unequalled realism. Imagine playing Golf at any course in the world, exactly as the course is, how about flight simulators... or war games in the battlefields of Europe. The possibilities are incredible.

I think I'll end up getting both when they come out, lol.

Fell

Takin Care of Business

2005-05-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should rename my recent post to "Limit Holdem and The Team"? See "And all this time..." thread on RGP for more info.

Well, I've taken care of most of the details pre-WSOP, and got back to playing this week. After a horrible week last week, I have been absolutely tearing it up at Pacific and Absolute. Since Tuesday, I am up $6000. I am hoping that I can squeeze out another $5000 or so before I head to the WSOP in June, but I'm set as long as I don't lose any money.

I have registered for the $1500 NL event on June 3rd thru Pokerstars using W$. Great idea by Stars, kudos to them! I hope they continue this tradition in years to come. It is a long weekend in Canada, but not for me, as I am on parade on the holiday monday. That'll be fun!

Fell

Update

2005-05-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not writing a new post for the last week, I have been fairly busy away from poker. My ex-fiance visited me from Ottawa this week, and we spent some time catching up, just doing various things, going out and having a good time. It was fun! At one of our stops, a pub in town, I saw that NTN (the compnay does does that pub trivia stuff), has released a new Texas Hold'em game where players in the bar can play each other. It's basically just a play money game, but I found it amusing nonetheless.

I have been working on getting a new website off the ground. It will be www.fellknight.com, and I will be posting regular strategy articles, with links to my blog, and other cool poker sites. I hired a friend to design the site for me, and I must say that it looks sleek. It will be going online early this week. Feel free to send me any feedback either as a comment in this thread or email me at fellknight @ gmail . com

I played a bit of poker, and had a horrible session of 15/30 Stud. I was dealt several playable hands, and we were playing 4 handed, but I just got destroyed by unimproved pairs losing to 2 small pair, 2 pair losing to rivered straights, etc. All-in-all, I lost $1300 in about an hour and a half. Ouch. I am going to finish cleaning up my place this evening, then I plan on winning some green later on in the week. In 2 and a half weeks, I'll be in Vegas, and I am STOKED :)

Fell

Limit Hold'em and Bill Chen

2005-05-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

RGP'ers may know Bill Chen of [0,1] fame. I had the honour of playing with him yesterday in the Stars $200+15 Limit weekly tourney. I really liked and respected his play, but unfortunately, I was able to exploit his ideas on game theory. For example, I knew that, as a math guy, he would be doing a lot of river calling, due to pot odds, and the prevalence of bluffing at that level. Thus, I changed up my game against him, and him only. Two hands come to mind. On the 1st, I had KT, and raised in Late position (limits were 50/100). He called in the BB with Q4. flip was AQT. He checked, I bet, he called. I knew my Tens were no good, but the Jack came on the turn, giving me the nut straight. He checked again, and this time I checked behind (a common move to avoid the turn check/raise). The river was a Queen, and he checked his trips. I bet, hoping it would look like a bluff, or a pot buy. He thought (about raising I guess), then merely called.

On another hand(100/200 Limit now), I made a similar move, with A3. flop came Ace high, and I bet. He called. I bet the turn to charge a draw, he called, and I value bet the river when the draws missed, which he also called.

All-in-all, it was a great tourney, with me finishing 6th for $1100, behind GambleAB who finished 5th. At the same time, I was playing a $100+9 Limit Hold'em tourney on Pacific. I finished 7th for $250 only. I feel good though, and am looking very much forward to the Limit HE events at the WSOP.

On the slate for today: Tourneys!

Lady Luck

2005-05-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

God Bless Lady Luck when she is kind!

I had a great night of poker last night, finishing +$3500 from 3 short sessions, which will *greatly* help me on my goal to win money pre-WSOP.

First, I played some 30/60 Hold'em, and played a solid, aggressive game. Hit a few bad beats early, was down $1000, but I came back to finish +$600 after 1.5 hours of play. No real big hands, just some good pot steals and smart laydowns.

I decided to play in a Party mini step 5 for fun, ($400+30 buy-in). In the first orbit, I was dealt TT in LP. Only one limper to me, so I raised to 100, expecting to take it down preflop. The Limper cold-called, and we saw a flop of KQJ rainbow. Not good, but not so bad I guess. He checked, and I wanted to bet an underpair out, so I bet another 100. He check-raised the minimum to 200. I didn't like that, but the pot was now 525, and it was costing me 100 to see the turn, so I called. The Turn was the beautiful Ace giving me the nuts. He mmediately moved all-in, and I called. He showed AT for the flopped straight. He, of course, berated my play and luckiness. I deigned not to ask him what he was doing calling big raises with AT.

We were now at level 3, and down to 8. I had raised with marginal hands, only to be forced to lay them down to an all-in bet, so I realized that my image was fast becoming that of a pushover. I raised to 150 with 99, was re-raised all-in for 400 more (I had him covered). I called, he showed KQo. Note: overvalues face cards. Unfortunately, the flop was QQx, and I was down to 400 chips, still with 8 left.

I made one steal to recharge to 525 or so, then when fishy KQ guy raised UTG, I came over the top with AQ. He called with KJ, and lost. Back in business!

Blinds now 50/100. I raise on the button with AJ against a shorty in the BB. He goes all-in, I call 100 more, he shows AT, and I win. Now in 2nd chip position. We are down to 6 players. I stay generally out of the way, letting 6th, 5th, and 4th bust out. Nice, $70 profit guaranteed, but now I am in 3rd place. Blinds are 150/300, and we are pretty much playing all-in or fold. I folded A9 in the SB against the button who was bullying (AT guy from the first hand). Came over the top twice, stole a couple blinds, and ended up eliminating the 3rd guy. We were tied at 5000 chips each going heads up. He jumped out to an early lead, then went hyper aggro. If I limped or mini-raised, he would move all-in. If he was button, he would fold or move in. Unfortunately, I went completely card dead. Very hard to call an all-in bet with a hand like 62. I ended up with 2200 chips, with 600 in the BB, and was raised all in. I had J6, and had to call, because I was not going to go like Broomcorn's uncle. He showed 52s00ted! Unfortunately though, he hit his flush, and I came away with $1000, for a profit of $570.

After doing some chores, I played some 15/30 Hold'em. I played a solid game, and the cards were kind! I would hit draws, and hit flops more often than usual. It was VERY nice. The highlight hand was when I was dealt 44 in EP. Since this was a standard Pacific loose table, I limped. 5 other limpers to the button who raised. The blinds and everyone else called to see a flop of Q24, 2 hearts. I lead out, hoping to get a high pocket pair or AQ/KQ to raise. Instead, I get 5 callers. Turn a beautiful 4! I lead out again, and this time, the button raises. One of the blinds cold calls, and I re-raise. This time, it is just called around, but the pot is already over $500. The river is the 7h. Sweet, maybe a flush will pay me off. I lead out, the button raises, the blind cold calls, I re-raise, and the button caps. The blind calls. Button shows 77 for a rivered boat, blind mucks and I drag the $912 pot with the nuts.

One guy had a huge propensity for bluffing on the river by leading out whenever a midly scary card came out, so I let him bluff to his heart's content.

I picked up a few other pots with TP/TK over TP/MK, and made people fold with hands like 54 on a flop of 743 when someone bet, and I raised. The bettor folded quickly... I love image :)

One other big pot came with KK vs his JJ on a board with all undercards. Heh. I was starting to think my KK was no good with all the raising he was doing.

So, after 2.5 hours of 15/30, I finished +$2500 (85BB!), for an overall daily profit of $3500. I had a celebratory beer and retired to bed.

Fell