Hello readers! Long time no post I know. Sorry. Not much had been going on that's poker related. Holidays came and went. I've been a little financially challenged lately as I try to transition from seasonal employment to year-round employment. Been tough to get a home game together lately. It's cold and weather's been crappy. Yadda yadda yadda. Typical winter blues.
I did find time and motivation however to play in Berkshire Poker's latest tournament this past Sunday benefiting the Cheshire Lions Club. Buy-in was $85, starting stack was 14,000 and 42 people entered. Top 5 paid.
The first hour I started off slow. This is common for me in most tournaments. Fold, fold, fold. It didn't go unnoticed either as two people, including the dealer, commented on my "lack" of hands played which up until the first break was zero. To say I had a conservative image would be an understatement.
The second hour with my stack at around 12,800 I picked up 10-10 in the big blind. There were two limpers so I decided to pull a dick move and go all-in. I didn't want action. Was just trying to take it right there really. Short stack who had just been moved to our table (it was his first hand) called with Ace-rag and my 10s held up. I ended hour 2 with about 37,000.
Hour 3 was even better than hour 2. I picked up 10s two more times and knocked someone out on both hands. All in all I saw 10s 3 times and every time had the same result. I made the final table running about 5th or 6th in chips.
Eventually I busted 4 handed with K-Q suited. I got called by K-7 who rivered a straight 5-6-7-8-9 when the 8 came. The cash was worth $225 and my second in a row. My friend Matt finished 3rd. This was the second straight tournament that we both made the final table and cashed. Interestingly this was also the second straight tournament I was not dealt Q-Q, K-K, or A-A!!! WTF??? Imagine what could happen if I actually got some quality starting hands...
Friday, February 22, 2013
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
A Night To Remember
I was looking back at some of my old posts recently and I noticed all the ones about my results in poker tournaments have been about losses. You all must think I'm pretty bad at poker because my tournament finishes have been fairly disappointing. True, I only play a handful per year, but its been over 4 years since I've cashed. This past Sunday would change all that.
Berkshire Poker's latest stop was at the Polish Community Center in Pittsfield. Buy-in was $85 (I forgot to pre-register) and had about 30 players. We started with 12,000 in chips. The first hour started slow. The dealer at my table had never played cards in his life and he couldn't shuffle. His girlfriend stood behind him and shuffled a 2nd deck while he dealt. He was a good guy though and he caught on quickly. The only hand I had in the first hour of play worth talking about was when I had A-K. Blinds were 100/200 and I made a raise to 1000. The guy to my left called and we saw a flop of 2-4-5. I bet 2000 and after thinking for a minute or two, he folded K-K face up. I literally almost shat myself. He had somehow convinced himself that I had Aces and declared it was too early to start messing around with K-K. I said nothing.
At the first break I had 14,400 in chips and a new table with an extremely competent dealer who knew how to move the game along. Hour 2 wasn't much different from Hour 1. I held my own and continued to be patient. I sat at 16,900 going into the 2nd break.
Hour 3 was insane. Sitting on about 16,000 I picked up A-Q offsuit in the big blind. There were 2 limpers in for 1000 each. I moved all-in and was promptly called by both players! Crap! I thought. Here we go again right? Imagine my surprise when they both turned over the same hand: A-J. Boom! After that hand I was sitting on 45,000 and into the driver's seat I went.
A few hands later the guy who laid down K-K to me busted out and begged me to tell him what I had. "You had Aces right?", he asked. "No.", I replied/lied. "I had 4-4 for a set. You made a good laydown." There was no way in hell I was telling this kid the truth about what I had. Courtesy or no courtesy, I may have to play with him again someday. (More on this coming up in future posts). Hopefully he's not reading my blog. Ha! If so, sorry kid. Now ya know though. ;)
I made the final table somewhat comfortably. I think I was running 3rd or 4th in chips with 10 to go and 4 people paid. Then, it happened. The ultimate suckout. Once again I had A-Q and moved all-in for about 45,000. I was called by a gentlemen two seats to my left who only had about 14 or 15000 so I had him covered in chips, but not in cards as he held the deadly A-A. Ouch! Flop was K-4-J. The 10 hit the turn giving me broadway. A meaningless 7 hit the river and he was busto. Terrible I know. I've had that type of thing happen to me many times (see previous posts) and I felt his pain. Still, I couldn't help but grin. Break 3 arrived shortly after and my stack sat at 53,500.
We decided when we got to 6 handed that 5th place would get $50 back. A nice gesture and I gladly contributed. 6 players left and 5th would be considered a cash. My stack was modest and there was no need to rush things. I eventually grinded down to 3 handed play. Sweet eh? Only problem was I only had 30,000 chips left and blinds were 5000/10000. I was already thinking about what I was gonna have for dinner to celebrate my 3rd place finish when I went all-in with A-2 and was called by the kid on my left with A-9. Board ran out 6-10-4-2-4. 60,000 now. A couple hands later I moved with K-9 and was called by the same kid with J-10. K-9 held and now I was over 100,000 and very much back in it. I eventually got heads-up and was behind in chips. Before the first hand was even dealt, the guy offered to split the remaining money evenly and I gladly accepted. He got credit for 1st place, but I didn't care. Not like we get a trophy, or better yet, a gold bracelet. $490 was a nice payout. I threw Barry The Dealer a 10 spot and out the door I went. The monkey (or APE as I like to refer to him) was finally off my back. Not only was it a cash, but first place money! See? I DO know how to play.
One interesting footnote: I was not dealt A-A, K-K, or Q-Q the entire tournament. Who needs good cards to win?
Berkshire Poker's latest stop was at the Polish Community Center in Pittsfield. Buy-in was $85 (I forgot to pre-register) and had about 30 players. We started with 12,000 in chips. The first hour started slow. The dealer at my table had never played cards in his life and he couldn't shuffle. His girlfriend stood behind him and shuffled a 2nd deck while he dealt. He was a good guy though and he caught on quickly. The only hand I had in the first hour of play worth talking about was when I had A-K. Blinds were 100/200 and I made a raise to 1000. The guy to my left called and we saw a flop of 2-4-5. I bet 2000 and after thinking for a minute or two, he folded K-K face up. I literally almost shat myself. He had somehow convinced himself that I had Aces and declared it was too early to start messing around with K-K. I said nothing.
At the first break I had 14,400 in chips and a new table with an extremely competent dealer who knew how to move the game along. Hour 2 wasn't much different from Hour 1. I held my own and continued to be patient. I sat at 16,900 going into the 2nd break.
Hour 3 was insane. Sitting on about 16,000 I picked up A-Q offsuit in the big blind. There were 2 limpers in for 1000 each. I moved all-in and was promptly called by both players! Crap! I thought. Here we go again right? Imagine my surprise when they both turned over the same hand: A-J. Boom! After that hand I was sitting on 45,000 and into the driver's seat I went.
A few hands later the guy who laid down K-K to me busted out and begged me to tell him what I had. "You had Aces right?", he asked. "No.", I replied/lied. "I had 4-4 for a set. You made a good laydown." There was no way in hell I was telling this kid the truth about what I had. Courtesy or no courtesy, I may have to play with him again someday. (More on this coming up in future posts). Hopefully he's not reading my blog. Ha! If so, sorry kid. Now ya know though. ;)
I made the final table somewhat comfortably. I think I was running 3rd or 4th in chips with 10 to go and 4 people paid. Then, it happened. The ultimate suckout. Once again I had A-Q and moved all-in for about 45,000. I was called by a gentlemen two seats to my left who only had about 14 or 15000 so I had him covered in chips, but not in cards as he held the deadly A-A. Ouch! Flop was K-4-J. The 10 hit the turn giving me broadway. A meaningless 7 hit the river and he was busto. Terrible I know. I've had that type of thing happen to me many times (see previous posts) and I felt his pain. Still, I couldn't help but grin. Break 3 arrived shortly after and my stack sat at 53,500.
We decided when we got to 6 handed that 5th place would get $50 back. A nice gesture and I gladly contributed. 6 players left and 5th would be considered a cash. My stack was modest and there was no need to rush things. I eventually grinded down to 3 handed play. Sweet eh? Only problem was I only had 30,000 chips left and blinds were 5000/10000. I was already thinking about what I was gonna have for dinner to celebrate my 3rd place finish when I went all-in with A-2 and was called by the kid on my left with A-9. Board ran out 6-10-4-2-4. 60,000 now. A couple hands later I moved with K-9 and was called by the same kid with J-10. K-9 held and now I was over 100,000 and very much back in it. I eventually got heads-up and was behind in chips. Before the first hand was even dealt, the guy offered to split the remaining money evenly and I gladly accepted. He got credit for 1st place, but I didn't care. Not like we get a trophy, or better yet, a gold bracelet. $490 was a nice payout. I threw Barry The Dealer a 10 spot and out the door I went. The monkey (or APE as I like to refer to him) was finally off my back. Not only was it a cash, but first place money! See? I DO know how to play.
One interesting footnote: I was not dealt A-A, K-K, or Q-Q the entire tournament. Who needs good cards to win?
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
My Saturday at Skyline
Skyline Country Club was the venue for Berkshire Poker's most recent charity tourney benefiting the Lanesborough Tree & Forest Committee. The buy-in was $75 and 25 people showed up to play. To say that I was card dead at this one would be a gross understatement. To be dead one must have been alive at some point. Didn't happen on this day. In 2 hours of play, I played a total of 2 hands. In the 3rd hour, hanging on for dear life, I doubled up with A-J vs K-Q. Even with that double up, I was still short-stacked. I just never got going. Eventually, with just 2 big blinds left (2000/4000) I picked up A-2 and ran into A-A! Ouch! Really not much to write about here. Sometimes you just don't get any cards, and there is simply nothing you can do. Despite the dismal run, I still managed to finish 11th. Imagine how well I could have done if I actually got a hand or two! I was happy with how I played, but I made one crucial mistake (not that it would have mattered) on the hand right before the 2nd break. I picked up 6-6 on the button and was contemplating whether or not to go all-in, when the moron to my left went all-in out of turn. He acted out of turn 3 times in fact! I folded my 6's and would have flopped quads. Nothing pisses me off more in poker than when people act out of turn. If it happens once it's fine, but when it happens more than that, it's inexcusable. I'm not blaming this cesspool of idiocy for my misfortune, but c'mon man! Pay attention!!!
Anywho, my next planned tourney is the $10,000 guarantee at Mohegan Sun the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Buy-in is $120. Stay tuned for the results! Till then...
Anywho, my next planned tourney is the $10,000 guarantee at Mohegan Sun the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Buy-in is $120. Stay tuned for the results! Till then...
Monday, November 5, 2012
Bloody Mohegan Sunday
My hopes were high as my friend Matt and I descended upon Mohegan Sun yesterday for their 5pm $120 super-stack No-Limit Hold 'Em tourney. Starting stack was 20K with 20 minute blinds. A much better structure than what I'm used to playing which favors the patient more conservative players. My mindset going in was to play small-ball in the early levels, then open up my game as the blinds increased. Deep into level 3 (75/150), I picked up Q-Q two seats to the right of the button. There were two limpers in front of me so I decided to raise it to 600. The button called as did one of the two limpers. The 3 of us saw a flop of 2-3-4 rainbow. The limper checked and I bet 1200 only to be raised by the button to 6025. The limper folded and it was decision time for me. Calling his bet was out of the question. I was out of position and I didn't want to get bet off the hand on the turn. I took a few moments to try and figure out what he had. K-K and A-A seemed unlikely. He probably would have re-raised pre-flop with those two hands. A set of 2's 3's or 4's? Maybe, but why raise on the flop? He probably would have smooth called my 1200 bet to entice me to bet more on the turn or river (at least that's what I would do). A-5 or 6-5? Again, why raise with the straight on the flop? You smooth call there to try to get more moola in the middle. There were no flush possibilities, so my final conclusion was a pair of 5's or 6's or A-K or A-Q. His raise seemed fishy to me like he wanted me off the hand cause he didn't know where he stood. I decided to raise all-in. My opponent snap-called with (if you guessed it you get a gold star!) 6-6! Ha! I had him right where I wanted him! Until the 5 hit the turn and I was out in 49th place out of 50. Felted again! Ugh! For the record, Matt finished 12th making another one of his patented deep runs. 8 were paid. His bust-out hand came when he moved all-in with K-J from the SB only to be called by the BB holding K-Q. (His sting wore off quickly however when, on our way out, he bet a $100 chip on black in roulette and it came up 15 black).
This sparked a debate between the two of us at lunch this afternoon. If you're gonna bust out of a tournament, would you rather be ahead and get sucked out on? Or would you rather be behind the whole way? Basically, which one of us should be more frustrated? Now, for those of you who don't know me, I'm a very positive person, and for those of you that do know me, stop laughing. :) In all seriousness, the first 12-24 hours of a bust-out, I'm a terribly woeful and negative person, but after the natural frustration wears off and I've had time to honestly assess my play, reality sets back in. This is my thinking on it. I would MUCH rather be ahead and take a bad beat than be behind from the beginning. Bad beats hurt a lot more in the short-term. No doubt. But being behind from the start means I made a play that I shouldn't have, or wouldn't have had I known my opponent's hand. If someone had told me before I went all-in that my opponent had 6-6 to my Q-Q, I STILL would have gone all-in! Right play wrong result is better than wrong play. I think the reason my frustration level is so high when I go broke, is that I'm (almost) always AHEAD when it happens! At least at the end of the day I can feel comfortable blaming the "Poker Gods" for my loss, rather than myself. And that will always keep me coming back for more.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
NBA Fantasy Results and more
Well readers the NBA is back and so is my 2012-13 fantasy team Benny's Ballers. No money on this one. Just a standard Yahoo! public league. I picked 7th out of 12.
Round 1- Josh Smith (Atl- SF,PF)
Round 2- Brandon Jennings (Mil- PG)
Round 3- Paul Pierce (Bos- SF)
Round 4- Joe Johnson (Bkn- SG,SF)
Round 5- Roy Hibbert (Ind- C)
Round 6- Carlos Boozer (Chi- PF,C)
Round 7- David West (Ind- PF)
Round 8- Jose Calderon (Tor- PG)
Round 9- Lou Williams (Atl- PG,SG)
Round 10- Brandon Bass (Bos- PF,C)
Round 11- Andre Miller ( Den- PG,SG)
Round 12- Dorell Wright (Phi- SG,SF)
Round 13- Jamal Crawford (LAC- PG,SG)
You won't see too many of these guys highlighting Sportscenter (other than Smith and Pierce), but it seems like it should be a decent playoff team. It's tough picking from the middle. Last year it got me 4th place.
In other fantasy news, the NFL team sits at 4-4 in a two-way tie for 1st in the division. I've earned $70 back on it so far. Long way to go though.
And still in other news, I'm playing in the $120 buy-in tourney at Mohegan Sun this coming Sunday. Sandy kept me from going Monday night and the itch to play is unbearable. Also, next Saturday (11/10/12) I'll be playing in a Berkshire Poker charity tourney benefiting the Lanesborough Tree & Forest Committee. Stay tuned to my blog for results! Till then...
Round 1- Josh Smith (Atl- SF,PF)
Round 2- Brandon Jennings (Mil- PG)
Round 3- Paul Pierce (Bos- SF)
Round 4- Joe Johnson (Bkn- SG,SF)
Round 5- Roy Hibbert (Ind- C)
Round 6- Carlos Boozer (Chi- PF,C)
Round 7- David West (Ind- PF)
Round 8- Jose Calderon (Tor- PG)
Round 9- Lou Williams (Atl- PG,SG)
Round 10- Brandon Bass (Bos- PF,C)
Round 11- Andre Miller ( Den- PG,SG)
Round 12- Dorell Wright (Phi- SG,SF)
Round 13- Jamal Crawford (LAC- PG,SG)
You won't see too many of these guys highlighting Sportscenter (other than Smith and Pierce), but it seems like it should be a decent playoff team. It's tough picking from the middle. Last year it got me 4th place.
In other fantasy news, the NFL team sits at 4-4 in a two-way tie for 1st in the division. I've earned $70 back on it so far. Long way to go though.
And still in other news, I'm playing in the $120 buy-in tourney at Mohegan Sun this coming Sunday. Sandy kept me from going Monday night and the itch to play is unbearable. Also, next Saturday (11/10/12) I'll be playing in a Berkshire Poker charity tourney benefiting the Lanesborough Tree & Forest Committee. Stay tuned to my blog for results! Till then...
Saturday, October 6, 2012
MLB Playoff Picks Round 1
Detroit over Oakland in 3.
Reds over San Francisco in 4.
New York over Baltimore in 4.
Washington over St. Louis in 5.
Detroit was my pre-season pick to win the World Series so I'm sticking with them till the end. Stay tuned for the next round's picks! Till then...
Reds over San Francisco in 4.
New York over Baltimore in 4.
Washington over St. Louis in 5.
Detroit was my pre-season pick to win the World Series so I'm sticking with them till the end. Stay tuned for the next round's picks! Till then...
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Fantasy Football and Baseball Update
Well 3 weeks into the NFL season and my money team (Gridiron Goose) is 1-2. The only good news is my 1 win made me $20 for being 2nd overall in points this week. Stafford has started slow and may not play Sunday. Fred Jackson was hurt in the 1st quarter of week 1. Marques Colston has been disappointing as has Justin Blackmon, Shonn Greene and the San Francisco defense. It's still early though and I'm 1 game back in my division. The team I'm playing next was the leader in points this week. Ugh.
While my 3 NFL teams are all 1-2, and I'm out in my Survivor league (friggin Patriots!), my fantasy baseball team finished in 1st place for the second year in a row. Everyone stayed relatively healthy and that helped a lot. I actually tied the team I played in my first playoff matchup, but won the tiebreaker for having a better head-to-head record against him in the regular season. Then rolled through the finals. Going for the trifecta next year baby!
Stay tuned for my MLB playoff predictions coming next week!
While my 3 NFL teams are all 1-2, and I'm out in my Survivor league (friggin Patriots!), my fantasy baseball team finished in 1st place for the second year in a row. Everyone stayed relatively healthy and that helped a lot. I actually tied the team I played in my first playoff matchup, but won the tiebreaker for having a better head-to-head record against him in the regular season. Then rolled through the finals. Going for the trifecta next year baby!
Stay tuned for my MLB playoff predictions coming next week!
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