Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

From misery to mastery

After I made my last post last night, I decided to play one more tournament. Things were looking very promising. I was making all the right decisions the entire tournament. I won several bounties and the money bubble had just burst (12 players remaining) with me having a middle stack, and I was dealt K-K. Someone limped, and an aggressive player opened, I went all-in, the limper folded, and the original bettor (who had me barely covered) called with A-Q. The winner of this hand will be third in chips.

I allow myself to be optimistic as a 2-to-1 favorite. Alas, you know how this has been going for me. Villain spikes an Ace and I’m out of the tournament.

I think to myself, “Damn, I really thought this might be my time to win my first tournament since I started playing online 10 weeks ago.”

Wasn’t meant to be. The run bad continues.

But fret not. Things are about to get interesting.

The next day I finally experience what it is like to make every right decision and run pure as the driven snow.

I have steadily chipped up when a memorable hand occurs. I am in the small blind with Qh-Jh. It folds to the player in the cutoff who just limps (remember this). I call and the big blind checks The flop is 10h-9h-rag. The have flopped an open-ended straight flush draw. I’m not that deep. I decide to go all-in. My rationale is if I get two folds I will have won chips with an unmade hand. Good outcome. If I get called by, let’s say, A-A I may be behind but with 15 likely outs I will nonetheless be favored to win the hand. Good outcome. The big blind folds and the opening bettor pre-flop calls my all-in with A-A. I miss on the turn, but make my flush on the river. I don’t consider myself as having administered a bad beat since villain butchered the hand by limping preflop. When the bulk of the chips went in the middle, I was favored to win the hand.

This is why I never limp A-A. A couple of nights ago I was playing in a tournament in which I started out very card dead. I hadn’t played a single hand when I was dealt A-A UTG. Ugh, given I hadn’t played a hand, me opening UTG looked like quads pre-flop. Everyone ran for the hills and folded. I’m still not sorry I opened. Limping A-A is a recipe for disaster. Plus, it fails to maximize the value of the game’s best starting hand.

Back to today’s tournament. Soon thereafter I once against flopped an open-ended straight flush draw. Once again, my flush got there and I won a big pot. Easy game when you “get there.”

The next stage of the tournament can best be described as rppoker makes huge laydowns pre-flop and was right. The first hand sees me with J-J on the button. A slightly below medium stack goes all-in. I easily have him covered and intend to call if it folds to me. But then the table chip leader goes all-in. He has not once gotten out of line as best I can tell. He has a ton of chips because he has been hit by the deck. He has not played a hand in a while, and my sense is he is in preservation mode of his big stack. His all-in screams strength. I don’t think he’d do this with A-K since I don’t think he wants to potentially put a big chunk of his stack at risk on a coin flip if someone still to act calls. My gut tells me he has me crushed. It’s a nitty fold, but fold is what I do. The original bettor has 8-8 (I would have been right to call him). The table chip leader has K-K (I was right to fold).

A little later in the tournament, I am dealt A-J suited in the big blind. A tight medium stack goes all-in. A solid table big stack also goes all-in. A-J suited is pretty, but no way do I believe I am good. I fold. Original bettor has A-K suited. Table big stack has A-A.

I have a tight image at my table. I put this to good use by starting to steal pots. I bet and everyone folds. Over and over and over and over. Not all at once. I pick my spots. When I bet, the table think I have premium hands. I’m not looking to force the issue and gamble for everything at this stage. I am just stealing small pots and am maintaining a solid chip stack. Slightly above average. I tighten up near the money bubble when I’m not getting dealt much.

We make the money. I go back to stealing small pots utilizing my tight image since I still have not had to showdown in quite some time. I have not been caught bluffing.

We are down to 10 players when I notice something odd. There are two tables of five players each. I am fifth in chips, and yet I am the shortest stack at my table. All of the chips are at my table. I don’t know if this is good or bad.

At no time am I close to chip leader, but I keep picking my spots well.

Five players left. Four players left. I knock out two players, and I am now head’s up for the tourney. I start with a little less than 40% of the chips.

I now completely change gears, and by change gears I mean I hit the accelerator hard. I start raising relentlessly, my opponent folds repeatedly, and I am now the chip leader.

My opponent finally notices what I am doing (not sure why it took so long) and starts playing back at me by going all-in a bunch of times (the all-ins are way too big) and takes back the chip lead. I see what he is doing and switch to a limping strategy for two reasons: 1) it’s time to play smaller pots, and 2) if he continues with the massive all-in strategy he is going to eventually run into “it.” Villain slows down when I slow down, and I quickly come to a realization. He seems uncomfortable playing post flop (hence his massive all-ins). When I limp and he checks, if I bet on the flop he backs down a lot. I am able to steal shamelessly employing this strategy, and I take back the chip lead.

When I sense my opponent is starting to catch on to what I am doing, I change strategies again. This time my new strategy takes place pre flop. When I don’t have it, I bet and he folds. When I do have it, I just check, he bets and I raise. In other words, I am winning pots when I don’t have it, and I am winning pots when I do have it.

I grind villain way down, I get it in good and I hold.

I have won my first tournament online since I started playing 10 weeks ago. I previously had second-, third-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes, but this is my first time atop the podium. I know it’s a low-stakes tournament, but it’s the stakes I’m playing at so it feels good. I suspect most everyone wins their first tournament somewhere small. And when you win for the first time it is special. I won a ton of writing awards back in the day as a sports writer, and always enjoyed the feeling. As a businessman/investor there is no such thing as first place. But there is profitable or not profitable. Profitable is more fun. As an athlete growing up, I won tennis tournaments or track meet races maybe 10 times. As an ultimate frisbee player I started on my college team, and then was good enough to practice with but not participate in games for the defending World Champions at the time. The point is, achievements both big and small are to be savored. So, I’ll soak in the grandeur of my tiny little win in the lowest of stakes in the online poker tournament world.

You may be wondering why I am playing such low stakes given that I play bigger at the WSOP and other live tournaments. My rationale is that at the WSOP, MSPT, WSOP-Circuit I am playing at stakes that exceed my skill level because I can. Because I can afford it. Because I am doing this for fun. I’m doing it for the competition, not for the profitability (although being profitable would be awesome). I’m not playing massive stakes in live tournaments, but I am definitely getting over my skis in my live tournament play. I know that going in. I’m good with that.

But my online play is what I would consider to be a part of my training regimen. Online, I am choosing to do it the way I perceive you are supposed to do it. The right way. Which means you start at the bottom at small stakes and work your way up only when you have proven you are a winning player at the prior level. Then you move up in stakes and see how you do there. I’ve avoided the fake money tournaments because the play seems really horrendously bad. I’ve also stayed away from really tiny real money sit’n’gos because the play seems bad. The low stakes real money entry fee tournaments with 100 or so entries have a lot of regulars whose play seems pretty good and a reasonable approximation of rec heavy Day 1 WSOP, early stage MSPT play. I’m not encountering Ben Yu, John Hennigan, Arthur Morris, Asher Conniff, Maurice Hawkins, etc. like I have faced at the WSOP, but those players didn’t show up at my tables until late Day 1 or early Day 2 at the WSOP. Starting tables at the WSOP are a crap shoot of good and less than good, and the Global Poker tournaments I’m playing in are a close enough approximation.

So, let’s assess how I am doing at low stakes tournament play on Global Poker. When I signed up 10 weeks ago, I was given five Sweeps Coins (which have $5 value) as a signup enticement. I am going to write in dollars rather than Sweeps Coins since that reads easier. I have not had to reload with my own money. Today’s tournament win netted me $22. I have turned the original $5 into $73.05. And I’ve done so in spite of a fairly lengthy period of run bad, so I think I am doing pretty well.

Now, $73.05 is not exactly life changing money. It’s maybe a dinner at Mon Ami Gabi. The money may not matter, but the numbers do matter to me. I have increased $5 by a multiple of 14+, and that represents something. It represents progress. It represents growth as a new player.

Should I move up to higher stakes? I don’t know. I consistently run deep at my Global Poker tournaments. Even when I don’t cash, I mostly come close. Plus, the needle keeps pointing higher, which isn’t easy to do consistently in tournament poker. Do I think I am running over the level I am playing at? No, absolutely not. I’m doing well, but I think there is plenty to gain by staying at this level. Maybe I’ll take the occasional shot at a higher level more to try to continue my evolution as a player and to test myself as a player.

Meanwhile, a first-place finish today. For the first time. I like the feeling. Like it a lot. I hope this wasn’t the last time I get to feel it.

Congrats on the win.

Congrats! The wins always feel good, and you're in the right mindset that this is about experience and reps, not $$$.

The level of play in an $11 online really does approximate those big-field WSOP bracelet events -- and I suspect your micro stakes MTTs aren't too far off either.

rppoker goes Splat!

Apparently, today is national rppoker runs into a brick wall day. Nobody informed me ahead of time. Is there a Hallmark card to celebrate this day? There should be, because I keep running into unforgiving brick walls all day during the poker grind over and over and over like Wile E. Coyote versus The Road Runner.

Today showed great promise. I am finally experiencing the joy of having sold the four office buildings that used to take up a huge portion of my work days. I will continue to work, but it is much more as an investor than as a real estate person. I am in the process of making my real estate license inactive.

The phone does not ring much. I no longer have to take care of everyone’s problems. The roof is leaking? Not my problem. A toilet is not working? Not my problem. A tenant is behind on rent? Not my problem.

That is my new mantra … Not my problem. Well actually my mantra is: Not my F#*cking Problem. But I don’t want to get banned by the moderators.

And my desk … you should see it. For 20 plus years my desk has had stacks of files and items that need attention. My desk today? The neatest it’s ever been. Around lunch time I am completely caught up. The last time I was completely caught up was … well … NEVER!

So, I knock off early and decide to grind poker.

I start with the usual tourney structure I always play online with the usual 80-100 players. Fairly early in the tournament I am dealt Q-Q. There are a couple of limpers and then a very aggressive, active player opens with a good-sized bet to charge the limpers a toll. I raise. The limpers fold. Villain puts me all-in. I don’t love it, but I’m not folding queens. Especially against a player this active. He has A-A. I still have 19% equity. People hit that equity against me all the time. Surely, it’s my turn.

It’s not my turn. Splat!

No problem. I fire another tourney when the time rolls around. Maybe midway through the tourney I am dealt 8-8. I open and a couple of people call. The flop is 2-4-7 rainbow. I can’t ask for more than that. I make an oversized all-in bet. I want to take this hand down right now before a turn or river overcard can stress my pocket eights. One player calls. He has J-7. I am in great shape for a double up. I have 80% equity in the hand. Just then my phone rings. I turn my head and see that it is a spam call. I don’t answer. When I turn my head back to my laptop I see that I am out of the tournament. What?! Obviously, villain hit something on the turn or river. Splat! Lesson learned: Don’t turn your head before the hand is over.

There is nothing to play immediately tournament wise, and I don’t want to wait. So, I fire up a 9-player sit’n’go. I have been avoiding sit’n’gos on Global Poker because the quality has not been very good when I’ve played them, but those were 6-player sit’n’gos. Maybe having nine people will increase the chances of worthy opponents to test me.

In the early stages I don’t get dealt much so I simply stay out of the way. I find some good spots and am able to increase my chip stack. Even though I don’t get dealt much in the way of premiums, with four players remaining I am chip leader. Three get paid. My stack takes a bit of a hit, but then I win back those chips and then some.

We are now head’s up. The player I am up against is the one player I recognized at the table from past tournaments we have both played in. He is a good, solid regular as best I recall. I have about 40% of the chips. I now ramp up the aggression and take the chip lead. When villain finally starts to play back at me, I slow down for a little bit. I am still able to maintain a slight chip lead. Then I either find a good spot that has the misfortune of running into “it,” or I punt off most of my chips. I’m not sure.

In the hand in question, it just goes check-check pre flop. I don’t have much of a hand, and the flop completely misses me, and it goes check-check again. I have decided I am pretty much done with this hand. The turn card gives me a flush draw. All of a sudden I am very interested in this hand. Villain has played the hand completely passively. So, I go all-in, knowing that in the unlikely event I get called, I still have nine outs.

I get called. Villain has a completely under repped K-K. Very trappy. I didn’t see that coming. Good for him. That said, I still have 20% equity in the hand with one card to come.

I swing and I miss. Splat!

I’m low on chips, and while I stay alive for a decent amount of time, he eventually finishes me off.

This sit’n’go was very worthwhile. For starters, the quality of play from the other participants was quite good. Worthy adversaries. Secondly, top three places get paid. Most importantly, I got to play head’s up for the second time in 24 hours. This is great practice. While me getting head’s up at the WSOP or MSPT or WSOP-Circuit is unlikely, it is good to be able to practice head’s up play just in case. It’s why I refused the request to make a deal in an Arizona casino tournament a couple years ago when we were down to three players. As I see it, these are rare opportunities to gain the experience that rarely comes around when all of the big money is there at the top.

I decide to jump into another 80-100 person tournament that is about to begin. My table is drawn and I see that two to my left is a very strong player I have faced before. Not great for that strong a player to have position on me. Very quickly, however, he gets moved to another table. Like 10 minutes later this same player is returned to my table, this time to my immediate left. Once again, he has position on me. Kind of random/strange.

The table loves to limp. It’s not uncommon for there to be five players seeing a flop. I play tight and when I have a good hand I bet large to charge the limpers a heavy price for their crime of limping with bad cards. I chip up a bit, but as the blinds increase I’m not in the danger zone but my chip stack scares no one.

Then I get dealt a premium – As-Kc. From UTG I open. The player on the button calls. The flop is Ah-10h-7d. I bet, and to my surprise he goes all-in (I barely have him covered). Top pair top kicker looks pretty good to me. If he has a single Ace, I am very likely good. Could he have 10-10? It’s possible, but I think he might have raised me pre flop from what I have seen of him play. I suppose 7-7 is in his wheelhouse. But there are way more inferior Aces that can be in his hand. Plus, there are flush and straight draws. I call.

Villain turns over Kh-7h for bottom pair and a flush draw. I have 56% equity. I fade the flush draw, but another 7 comes on the river like the hammer of doom.

I am down to crumbs. I again get dealt A-K the very next hand. It’s me and the same villain again. He has K-8 off suit. The flop is K-rag-rag. Good for me, not so much for him. The turn is a blank. I have 93% equity with one card to come. He spikes the three-outer 8 on the river, and I am out.

Splat. I keep running into brick walls today.

Of course, that is the pessimistic view of the day. The glass is half full view of the day is I got to knock off work early and play poker. That’s a big winning hand in my book.

Time to slow my roll posting, but I'm not going away

OK, I'm going to slow down on the posting for a bit. I have been posting daily for awhile to convey the new path I am taking in terms of increased poker volume online. I'm playing a lot. I think the point is made. I don't want the thread to get tedious making the same point and describing the same action over and over and over and over again.

If anything super interesting happens online, I'll post it. Otherwise, just assume I'm putting in a bunch of volume. Still a lot to learn, A LOT, but I am developing a style of play that I think works well for me. It's evolving. I'm trying new stuff out and attempting to find out what works for me and what doesn't.

I continue to study poker, but not as much as I have done previously since I am spending so much more time playing. Both are important, but given the studying I have completed through a training site in the recent past, I think now is the time for less theory and more actual play.

I will be posting my experiences when I play in live tournaments. I've got a number of MSPT and WSOP-Circuit events on my calendar between now and WSOP 2026. There may be some other trips to various casinos for local tourneys.

We are also in the midst of college football season, my favorite time of the year. So, I'm watching a ton of college football on TV and live at Michigan Stadium (can't wait to attend the Michigan-Ohio State game in Ann Arbor in November with my friend NextDoorLou as well as my younger daughter), playing a ton of poker, and enjoying the fact that my work responsibilities have intentionally slowed to a more manageable level. Retirement is not an option (investments have to be monitored), but semi-retirement is a viable goal.

I'm not sure where Mrs. rppoker and I will go during the winter to get away from the Chicagoland cold, but hopefully it is somewhere with a nearby casino that offers NLHE tournament opportunities.

During the spring, the men's NCAA Final Four in basketball will be held in Indianapolis, which is an easy drive so I suspect I will go to the finals with my friend IlliniArt.

And then of course there is WSOP 2026, which can't get here soon enough for me, but seems to be so far away.

This is what semi-retirement is looking like. The view is really great.

I think this is it for sure. Live, we have 9 other people looking at us, waiting for us to react, wanting us to react so they can take advantage. Our social animal selves stay in line, keeping cool so as not to be singled out for ridicule. Online, we are alone with no one to watch us, check us, or single us out. The collective conscience as a check is missing.

While I think that you may need to work on this, simply being in a group will have an influence on your behavior live, so the tilt habit may not even transfer. If you do want to work on it, I suggest placing a toy audience around your desk (or wherever you are physically when you play online). These "guys" can act as your social group to keep you in check. They can also advise you on whether to call or fold against that overbet jam for 2/3 of your remaining stack. I used to keep an "advisor" on my monitor to bounce programming questions off of when I worked at home for many years.

Kind of like how Santa Claus or god keeps people in line--we seem to need that external observer to regulate our own emotions.

Congrats on getting all those deals done and downshifting. As a retired person, it takes me about 15 minutes a month to execute the retirement portion of my retirement plan. I know you said you advise and/or manage some family funds, but as you must know, historically index funds do better than managed funds. Less is more, with the more being more time for poker.

As for poker in warm places, we just got back from Sarasota, FL, which is close to Tampa and the Seminole Hard Rock. They have at least 4 tournament series in the pipeline over the next 9 or so months, so that area would be a good fit. We enjoyed our trip, and will probably do a longer stay in the future.

Behold the incredible fire power of 10-3 off suit

I just recently wrote in this thread that I was going to stop providing daily updates of my online play. But I also wrote that when something interesting happens I will post it.

Well, today I had a hand that I will classify as interesting. Not +EV. Not solver approved. But interesting? Yeah, it was interesting from a story telling perspective.

Late this afternoon I was on the couch barely paying attention to the NFL game being televised while I also played in a poker tournament online. I have doubled my beginning chip stack, but I am far from table chip leader. Mrs. rppoker texts me, saying she is hanging out upstairs with my mom and asking me to feed dinner to our dog Astro.

I grumble to myself, but it’s a reasonable request. I take my laptop into the kitchen, get out a dog bowl, scoop some hard dog food, and put it in the bowl with a dash of hot water. I continue to hold my laptop, folding rags. I go to the refrigerator and get out the plastic container of shredded chicken and a bowl of green beans that are the items Astro gets every meal. I am holding way too many things. One too many things. Something has to give. It becomes clear that something is going to fall on the ground. I hang on to my laptop with one hand, and I commit to saving the green beans because they are in a glass bowl that will shatter if it hits the ground. That means I let the shredded chicken (in a plastic container) hit the ground.

Curse words ensue.

I put the laptop on the countertop, folding rags again. I put the green beans on the countertop as well. I quickly scoop up the chicken, or at least most of the chicken. I let Astro do cleanup on aisle 1, and quickly the floor is perfectly clean.

I get back to putting Astro’s dinner together, still eye-balling my poker tournament on the laptop. I see I have been dealt 10-3 off suit. I hit the “fold” button, but I quickly realize I am in the big blind, so I undo the “fold” button just in case people either flat or fold to me.

By now, Astro is getting very impatient. This is dinner time, one of the highlights of his day, and it’s taking entirely too much time.

It folds to the extremely aggressive and active cutoff who has a huge stack and has shown he will open with medium holdings or better, but he just flats. I view this as weak since he has shown that with garbage he will flat and then try to take down a hand post flop if he sees weakness. The button has me covered as well and is also an aggressive player, and he also flats. The small blind folds. I check, figuring I get to see three free cards from the big blind but in my mind I am pretty much done with the hand.

Astro is jumping up and down with increasing levels of impatience. He doesn’t understand why I am not moving faster with his dinner. His human is failing him.

The flop is A-A-10 rainbow. My 10-3 has suddenly become interesting. Based upon the previously-displayed aggressiveness of my two opponents throughout the tournament, I consider it unlikely they would have just flatted an unopened hand pre flop with any Ace. From the cutoff or button their playing style would have been to raise. They have shown no willingness to slow play big hands. They tend to be all gas, no breaks when they have a quality hand. Any Ace from late position is a premium hand in their mind, and they would have bet accordingly pre flop.

This internal analysis on my part is hardly well thought out. It takes place in maybe one-tenth of a second because Astro is jumping up and down and barking. He wants his food NOW.

I guess I won’t be taking my time on this decision. I bet half pot and give Astro his dinner.

Both villains call. I still don’t think they have an Ace, because if they did their approach would have been to swat away my open post flop and raise.

I make the decision that if there is no paint on the turn, I will go all-in. The turn is an 8.

I go all-in. Villain 1 folds. Villain 2 folds. Phew. I have a bunch of chips now.

Therein lies the enormous firepower of 10-3 off suit.

I don’t know if my thought process was sound or not, but I certainly did not take my time thinking it through. It is amazing how much I was able to process in a split second. The brain is a remarkable super computer. Whether this split second thought process was correct or not is not certain to me. It did work, however.

Of further interest to this story is a few hours later. The tournament was long over (my pre flop Q-Q lost to A-10s to knock me out), family dinner was over, I was watching the Chiefs play the Lions on TV, and I stumbled across a just posted article on Poker.org that was remarkably timely titled “Diagnosing your distractions: the 3 leaks in your poker focus.” The headline said everything but “rppoker, we’re talking to you!”

An excerpt:

“We’ve all seen it happen. A player, who is technically sound and knows the theoretically correct play, suddenly makes a critical error. They didn’t forget their strategy or lack a technical skill; their attention lapsed for just a moment. They weren’t leaking chips because of poor knowledge, but because of poor focus.”

I don’t know if I made a critical error in the hand described above, but I certainly displayed a monstrously sized example of poor focus.

I got away with it, but it was an example of a distraction online that it entirely different than the type of distractions that can occur in a live tournament.

Thankfully, I was saved by the magnificent resilience of 10-3 off suit.

Would you rather get a bullet to the head, or five to the chest and bleed to death?

I’m playing in an online tournament tonight and we are just inside the money. Top 15 get paid, and there are 13 players remaining. I am 10th in chips when the following hand happens.

UTG completely loses his mind with 7d-5d and goes all-in with just a few chips less than I have.

I look down at Qs-Qc, and I go all-in.

The big blind has Ad-Kc and she calls.

Equity is as follows:

rppoker with Qs-Qc: 43.22%

Big blind with Ad-Kc: 35.67%

UTG lunatic with 7d-5d: 20.79%

I am a slight favorite, but I still am expected to lose the hand more than 50% of the time. I am OK with whatever my fate may be. Tenth through 15th place all make the same min cash, so as one of the shorter stacks it’s time to go big or go home. I need to generate chips. If I win the hand, I will be fourth in chips.

The flop is Qh-9h-2h. I have flopped a set, and the other two players have missed badly. Better yet, with three hearts on the flop, nobody has a heart, meaning I don’t need to fade a flush draw.

At this point, equity is virtually all mine:

rppoker: 91.69%

Player with A-K: 1.66%

Lunatic with 7-5: 1.66%

The turn is Jc. Always a sweat.

The board is Qh-9h-2h-Jc.

Lunatic with 7-5 is drawing dead. I have 90.48% equity with a set of queens. The big blind with A-K has only 9.52% equity and needs a 10, and only a 10, to win.

The river is the 10 of spades. Villain has hit her long shot straight.

Sigh.

Somewhere way off, off, off in the distance I swear I hear Martin Kabrhel saying, “Not like that!”

Look, I am fine if I lose what is pretty much a coinflip pre flop between my Queens and villain’s A-K off suit. Just turn over an Ace in the window and put me out of my misery quickly.

It reminds me of the scene from the baseball movie Moneyball where the Brad Pitt character is teaching the Jonah Hill character how to cut a baseball player from the roster. Pitt tells Hill to role play what he’d say. Hill fails miserably.

Hill: “You’ve been a huge part of this team. Sometimes you have to make decisions that are best for the team. I’m sure you can understand.”

Pitt: “You’re cutting me?”

Hill: “I’m really sorry.”

Pitt: “I just bought a house here. In Oakland.”

Hill: “Well, uhh.”

Pitt: “Well, uhh, that’s all you’ve got to say? My kids just started a new school. They made friends.”

Hill: “Well, you shouldn’t pull them out in the middle of the school year.”

The role playing is now over.

Pitt: “What the hell are you talking about?”

Hill: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m not going to do this. This is stupid. I’m not going to fire anybody, and this is dumb.”

Pitt: “They’re professional ball players. Just be straight with them. No fluff. Just facts. Pete, I’ve got to let you go. Jack’s office will handle the details.”

Hill: “That’s it?”

Pitt: “Would you rather get a bullet to the head, or five to the chest and bleed to death?”

Hill: “Are those my only two options?”

That last line is just spectacular. And as for the choice of a bullet to the head, or five to the chest and bleed to death, the choice is clear. A bullet to the head. Get it over with. End it quickly and painlessly. That’s my choice in a poker context.

If A-K flops an Ace against my queens, so be it. That’s poker.

But watching 90% equity slowwwwwwwwly lose to runner-runner madness is the five to the chest option. And that is cruel, mean and vindicative. The pain is drawn out and excruciating.

I think I am kind of mad at poker. Not really. Well, maybe just a little bit.

I don’t like it. Don’t like it one damn bit.

But I do have to deal with it. I do have to accept it. I do have to get over it. This is just part of the poker learning curve. It’s a part of the poker learning curve that doesn’t really get taught on training sites. It’s a part of the poker learning curve that is not found on poker charts or poker solvers. But it is something that has to be learned if one hopes to be successful at this game.

It is a lesson learned only through unpleasant repetition. It is bad medicine that you have to take.

Hey bro-I finally caught up to the point in your TR when we met up at Beer Park this summer. It was great meeting you and your encyclopedic sports knowledge is awesome! I also wanted to say thanks again for your sincere interest in my buddy that passed away-I very much appreciated it. Hopefully we can meet up again during next year’s WSOP.

Definitely. As we've communicated, I'll let you know what my WSOP schedule looks like it might be once the schedule comes out to see if there is any potential overlap with your plans.

Let’s ramp up the aggression to DEFCON 3

OK, it appears that I lied.

I wrote recently that I was going to slow my roll in terms of posting about my online tournaments, but if something interesting happens I’ll post. What I meant at the time was I wasn’t going to post every hand played of a tournament I wrote about, and I was going to save in-depth tournament writing for live events.

The key phrase being, if something interesting happens I’ll post. The thing is, I find lots of stuff interesting. So, I guess that means I will be posting with some regularity the things I find interesting.

Yeah, that’s it. rppoker did not lie, rppoker simply underestimated how much he finds interesting.

That’s enough of me talking about myself in the third person. How pretentious. Bad rppoker, bad. Oops, I did it again.

Today I played in a tournament where I decided to go completely out of character. Completely outside my comfort zone. I decided to widen my range and play the role of table aggressor. Over and over, I see this type of player play tons of hands and build a gigantic stack (or bust out in a spectacularly fiery implosion). For once I’m going to be that guy. Let’s see what happens. What could possibly go wrong?

First hand of the tournament, UTG (who I have in my notes listed as an extremely aggressive player from a past tourney in which we shared a table) opens to 40 chips (2x). UTG +1 goes all-in for 3,000 chips. Whether he has A-A or 2-7, this seems like a bad approach. Amazingly, after everyone else folds, UTG calls.

UTG has A-2 off suit.

UTG+1 has 7-7.

Wow, I said I wanted to be the table aggressor, but this is sheer insanity. UTG+1 sees his 7-7 hold up, and now he has a mountain of chips. Let’s call him “Sevens Are The Nuts.”

Three hands later, Sevens Are The Nuts goes all-in pre flop as the first player to bet. A couple of hands later he does it again. Apparently, he intends to play for stacks any time he gets in a hand. It doesn’t take long for him to donk off a bunch of chips, and then I believe he gets moved to another table.

OK, now I can try out my be-the-table-aggressor strategy.

I get dealt 9-9. There are a bunch of limpers, I raise and three people call. Not optimal.

The flop is 4-7-Q rainbow. Again, not optimal for my hand.

The good news is it checks all around.

The turn is a Jack. I decide I am done with the hand until I see that the other three players have once again checked to me. Given the passive approach all of these players have displayed throughout the hand, I decide that this is “a spot.” I bet 3/4 pot. It’s on the big side, but with three other players in the hand, I decide to size up. One player calls. My sense is he is chasing and hasn’t made a hand yet.

The river is a King. Three over cards to my 9-9. Once again, not optimal. This is where I probably make a mistake. Villain checks to me and I again bet 3/4 pot. I probably should have just checked it back, since I have some equity, but more likely is I am beat. But I’m playing the role of table aggressor, so I continue to play the part.

Villain turns over K-10. Darn, I was good until the river. I am down to 800 chips from a 3,000 starting stack (blinds start real low, like 10/20 the first level).

Well, they’ve seen me show a bluff. If I get dealt a premium I figure to get paid.

The very next hand I am dealt K-Q suited. It folds to me and I go all-in. I get two callers who do so motivated by the sheer greed of wanting my bounty, and certainly not anything that I would think is solver approved.

One player turns over Q-8 suited. The other player has 2-3 suited. My hand holds up, and just like that I have returned to the land of playable stacks with 2,403 chips.

When the blinds are at 30/60 I open from middle position with A-4 suited to the tune of 180 chips. The player two to my left jams for 3,000. I guess my open did not scare him one little bit. I fold. I’m trying to play aggressive, but not torch your chips crazy.

There is a hand I’m not in that leads to a chat spat. One player with J-4 decides to run a bluff with pure air that fails. After the cards get shown at showdown, the winner of the hand says, “Yeah, J-4 is usually the nuts. No clue how you lost there.”

Unsuccessful bluffer: “Nothing wrong with J-4.”

Winner of the hand: “It was absolute trash.”

OK, boys, let’s play nice.

Soon after, there are two limpers ahead of me. I have Ah-10h, and I go all-in. I get called by As-4c and Kd-3d. Man, these guys must think I am playing even more wide open than I am. They really want my bounty.

I have the most equity with 42.89%, but because we are three-handed I figure to lose more often than I win. Still, I am favored to win the hand.

The flop is Ad-4s-4h.

I am no longer favored to win the hand. The player with A-4 now has a full house. I have 0.66% equity. I don’t “get there,” obviously, and I’m out in an undistinguished 46th place out of 59. My tournament just went up in flames. A towering inferno of flames.

OK, that didn’t work out so well. I tried something new (yay me). I’m not sure I learned anything (boo me). I know, I know, really small sample size. I’m not sure I have the desire to put a ton of my online poker bankroll and a ton of my time into learning how to play this style.

The 99 hand,

If you’re going to run a multi-street bluff, you should start from the flop, with a cbet.

I get that there’s an overcard, and 3 opponents. But a flop cbet can conceivably get value, when draws or speculative floats call with worse.

I’m fine with stabbing turn once it’s checked to you again,

But if you do, and that river comes, a river bet is highly inadvisable. You never get called with worse… and if he had folded, you probably had the best hand anyway. You have marginal showdown value. Just check, and see if you’ve won… instead of valuetowning yourself with worse, when your opponent already knows you got to showdown with a wider range, with zero flopped monsters in it, because of the flop check.

I completely agree with you. As soon as I made the river bet I knew it was a mistake. It was like there was a total disconnect between my hands clicking buttons and my brain.

A night for big, correct laydowns … Am I ever going to get hit hard by the deck?

In a tournament I played tonight online, 25 remain and 15 will cash.

I am UTG and look down at A-Q off suit. I open. UTG+1 puts me all-in, which means I have a tough decision. UTG+2 also goes all-in. Now I have an easy decision. The likelihood that one of them has A-A, K-K or A-K seems very high to me. I would be in bad shape against all of those hands. I fold.

The question is, if everyone else had folded to the large raise by UTG+1, would I have called? I think I would have made a nitty fold. The best I can hope for there is a coin flip. More likely, I am dominated. I can’t assume villain has A-A, but I think there is a high likelihood that his bet represents at least A-K. I won’t like it, but I think I’d have to fold. It would be painful, but if I fold I still have plenty of playability.

As I said, I folded and I did go on to make the money.

But here is the interesting thing. UTG+1 did in fact have A-A. But UTG+2 had 9-8 suited and went all-in and lost. I have no idea what he was thinking.

Ultimately, folding was the right decision being results oriented, but a big part of my rationale turned out to be flawed. While I was correct in reading UTG+1 as extremely strong, I completely misread UTG+2 as being way stronger than he was.

The interesting thing from this evening was that in the next tournament I played right after the one I just described, the exact same scenario played out,

In this tournament, there were 22 players remaining and 15 would cash. I was below average in chips but nowhere near the danger zone.

I get dealt 9-9. UTG is the table chip leader and he opens 3x. This set off alarm bells in my head. While villain was pretty aggressive, he did not open from UTG a lot. The other reason my spidey senses were activated big time was the sizing of his open. His standard open was 2x. Him going 3x made me think he had a big hand and wanted to inflate the pot.

The player to my immediate right called, which didn’t concern me all that much since he was a strong player who liked to call a bit light and try to outplay people post flop.

As I saw it, my two options were to squeeze or fold. Calling seemed bad because I just don’t think 9-9 plays especially well three-handed. Plus, my read on UTG was that he had “it.” His bet sizing had me convinced that he had me dominated. The fact that a second player called his pre flop bet, made it easier for me to fold, but like the earlier tournament the second player entered the hand much lighter than I thought.

I folded. The two remaining players ended up going to war, and at showdown I learned that UTG did in fact have A-A.

I survived this hand and went on to make the money.

In two separate tournaments tonight somewhat near the bubble I folded A-Q and 9-9 sensing major danger, both times the villains had A-A, and as a result of the correct folds I went on to make the money both times.

It was a night for big laydowns.

The other thing I am pleased with is the fact that in both tournaments I was dealt very few premium hands. Well, I’m actually not at all pleased that I’m not getting many premiums, but I am pleased that I can make the money despite being pretty card dead all night. I was dealt A-A once early in the first tournament. Other than that, the highest pair I was dealt in either tournament was 7-7. And I never was dealt A-K.

Despite the lack of cards, I seem to be picking good spots to manufacture chips. My favorite hand of the night was before the bubble burst, and I was getting dangerously low on chips. I was in the small blind, and I’m, thinking that if I see paint, I may need to go with it. I get dealt K-2 off suit. Incredibly, it folds to me. I go all-in for like 3 or 4 times the big blind who has a really big stack, and to my pleasant surprise he folds. I guess all the folding I did before that hand gave me a lot of credibility when I finally put my chips in the middle.

I am navigating my way to the money without a lot of firepower, which is kind of reassuring. But I see player after player go on a rush of great cards, and it leaves me wondering, when is it my turn?

There was one player tonight I have faced quite a bit, and he has a very patient style that reminds me of myself. In one tournament tonight he was non-stop folding. He was nearing the danger zone in terms of chips, and he was then dealt A-A twice in three hands and got max value from his opponents both times to go from short stack to extremely healthy. I know that is really unusual, but I just haven’t experienced getting hit hard by the deck in a long time. Really the only time I can remember getting absolutely smashed by the deck was my first WSOP event ever, The Big 50, in 2019. Very, very, very early in Day 1, I had A-A versus villain’s K-K, all the chips went in the middle pre flop, and my hand held. I think I flopped a set three or four times. It seemed like I almost never lost a hand I played. After a while no one wanted any part of getting in hands with me because I had a lot of chips, and every time I got to showdown I had “it.” That then gave me a license to steal. All day long I was dealt strong cards. As a result, I bagged a healthy amount of chips and went on to Day 2, where I got coolered early on when my Q-Q ran into A-A just short of the money.

But since that Day 1 of the Big 50, I can’t recall a major rush of cards. I thought that playing a bunch online would give me the volume where at some point I’d get a rush of premium hands, but it just hasn’t happened.

I’m not saying I never get premium hands, but it’s just here and there. Never a situation where the deck hits me hard for an extended period of time. Maybe I’m saving up the epic rush of cards for WSOP 2026. If that is the plan, then I’m OK with the lack of cards right now, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how these things work. Who do I ask to speak to about this? Maybe I need to go up the chain of command and ask to speak to a supervisor. Do the Poker Gods even have a superior?

Just what does it take to start getting a fair share of premium hands? Asking for a friend. OK, fine, I’m asking for me.

I know I need to get over not getting dealt better cards, but it is frustrating. I should be happy that my online poker bankroll is close to its all-time high, but it feels like I am pushing a giant boulder up a steep mountain to get there.

It pays to complain as I get smashed by the deck … I am an overwhelming (make that OVERWHELMING) chip leader ... I get dealt my nemesis hand two hands in a row

You know all my complaining yesterday about being card dead in tournaments for quite some time? Well, apparently someone was listening because tonight I played in a tournament where I got absolutely smashed by the deck in the early going. I got Q-Q, J-J, A-K, A-Q suited three times, A-J. All in very short order. The quality hands just kept on coming. And the beautiful thing was the flops were extremely cooperative. If I had A-K or A-Q there was almost always an Ace on the flop. And when I did miss the flop, as the pre-flop aggressor I would continuation bet and people would fold. I was the chip leader from hand 1 through the midpoint of the tournament, and even then I dipped no lower than second or third in chips for a decent amount of time. I was winning bounties left and right.

After the early flurry of premium hands, then I go card dead for several levels, which is fine. No need to overdo it. Plus, for some strange reason, three of the top four tournament chip stacks (behind me) are at my table. No need to get in trouble with iffy holdings against opponents who also have a lot of firepower. Furthermore, the blinds are so inconsequential compared to my chip stack, that all of the folding I do makes barely a dent. I figure that when the time comes to be aggressive, my opponents will give me credit for having “it.”

Then my nemesis hand showed up two hands in a row. My nemesis hand is 10-10. I hate playing it. It mostly feels like whichever way I play it is wrong. I should probably just fold it, but I know that is obviously wrong.

This tournament had 107 players to start, and we are down to 25 players remaining. I am second in chips. I am dealt 10-10. A good regular limps from UTG+1. It folds to me, and I put out about one-third of my chips to put him all-in. He calls with a surprisingly strong A-Qo. I’m OK with this. It’s a coin flip, and if I win there is a juicy bounty on his head. The flop gives GoodRegular top two pair, and the turn improves him to a full house. OK, OK, I get the message. No need to pile on like that.

No problem. I still have a healthy stack.

The very next hand I am dealt 10-10. Again. Two hands in a row. Are you kidding me? Is this someone’s idea of a joke?

GoodRegular limps from UTG. A couple other players limp. I make a chunky raise to try to weed out some of the riff-raff. Only GoodRegular calls. The flop is 2-5-7 rainbow. I can’t ask for anything better than this. GoodRegular checks, I go all-in (he has me slightly covered). GoodRegular calls and turns over 6-8 for an open-ended straight draw. I am ahead, but I’m not enjoying the stress. The turn has me still ahead. The river is a 9. He made his straight. And I’m out. That’s all it takes. Two hands. Part of the reason is that these tournaments do not let you play very deep. They are turbo bounty tourneys. Emphasis on turbo. When I was second in chips two hands ago, I think I only had something like a little over 20 big blinds.

I’m not sure what I think of my play on the final two hands with 10-10.

The first hand, maybe a case can be made for me just flatting pre flop. Had I done that, I would have seen the flop was horrible for me, and I could have gotten away from the hand relatively injury free. On the other hand, I was reacting to an early position limp that seemed to show weakness and I ran into A-Qo. Even at that, it was merely a coin flip. And these tourneys reward players who play for bounties. I’m not really sure about how I played it.

The second hand I am perfectly fine with. I merely raised pre flop and got called by one player. I was way ahead before the flop. The flop had three undercards to my 10-10 and the flop did not seem all that connected. In fact, post flop villain called with an open-ended straight draw in which I was a 2-1 favorite. If my hand holds up, I am right back to second in chips for the tourney. But it didn’t hold up.

After that hand, GoodRegular was tournament chip leader, and to show the swinginess of a turbo, he didn’t make the money either.

I don’t know what got him into trouble. It was probably 10-10.

……..

K-K gets cracked on the river … poker has a sick sense of humor … Behold the insanity of Table Lunatic

I fire up another tournament online. In the second hand I look down at K-K. The run of great cards continues! I bet and get called by one player in the big blind. The flop has three undercards (Queen high) that are not especially connected. Villain checks, I bet and get called. The turn is a complete rag. Villain checks, I bet and get called. The river is a Jack. At this point I suspect my Kings are good, but the potential that they have been cracked exists. Villain checks, and I just check back. I don’t want to go broke with this hand.

Sure enough, my K-K got cracked by Q-J on the river Jack that gave villain two pair. But I don’t go broke, which is progress. I slowed down on river. I bet when ahead (pre flop, post flop, and after the turn). After the river the board was somewhat problematic and I told myself not to get greedy and try to go for the full double up, which turned out to be spot on. I didn’t bet when behind. I have taken a hit, but I still have plenty of chips.

Two hands later someone else has K-K all-in three way and it holds. Poker has a sick sense of humor.

My kings

The other guy’s kings

We get a new player to our table who has already doubled up. He arrives and starts talking smack in the chat. He goes massively all-in pre flop over and over and over, gets it in bad twice and wins anyway, and he doubles up yet again. Just an enormous chip stack this early. Of course, he proceeds to donk off a bunch of it very quickly. He is an absolute lunatic.

I get J-J versus Table Lunatic who has continued to open the betting every other hand. In the hand against my J-J, he surprisingly only bets 3x, which is puzzling. It possibly means some strength, although it could also mean the recent hits to his chip stack have him slowing down the bet sizing slightly while still opening every other pot pre flop. But against a player like this I have to go for it, and I go all-in. I am way ahead of his perceived range. If I win, I will be above starting stack despite my Kings getting cracked earlier. He is incapable of folding, and he calls me with K-8s. I’m a 2-1 favorite. Table Lunatic flops a King and I’m out.

I decide not to fire up another tourney. Tonight has been kind of soul crushing, and I don’t trust myself to play well.

……………

What does it mean? … Where am I at as I try to progress as a poker player?

Although I still play a TAG style, I am definitely playing more aggressively at times online than I do when playing live. And let’s be honest, my game needed more aggression. But I am definitely overdoing it sometimes online. I think given the turbo bounty online tournaments I am playing in, it is necessary. But I also think I need to reign it in a little. It’s fine to bluff, but not every bluff needs to be three barrels. Sometimes you need to read the room and give up on a hand. Sometimes I need to slow down.

I especially need to tone down my online aggression when I play in a live tournament. My level of online aggression will get me in a ton of trouble I suspect when playing live. Online you go for it, and if it doesn’t work you just fire up the next tournament. In a live tournament setting (with bigger buy-ins than I am playing online), busting out carries more significant consequences. Not saying I need to wait for Aces. Not saying I need to stop bluffing. But live tournaments have much deeper structures than the online tourneys I am playing. There is time to be patient. The saying, “it’s a marathon not a sprint” definitely is true of live tournaments (marathon) versus online play (sprint).

I have a fair amount of live play coming up over the next few weeks, so it will be interesting to see if I can reign in the new (online) aggression a bit, while nonetheless loosening up enough compared to my past live tournament play. I need to find the sweet spot. I think that will be more difficult than it sounds. My game is evolving, but it’s not where it ultimately needs to be. I feel a little bit in limbo between my old (live) world of probably playing too tight, and my new (online) world of getting too aggressive in spots. I suspect I am going to get myself in trouble at times, but, if I want to get better, I have to allow myself to make uncomfortable plays to see what works and what doesn’t.

It kind of reminds me of when I took golf lessons many, many, many years ago. Initially, taking golf lessons completely wrecks your game. You are thinking about way too many things during your swing, and the results are really bad at first. But over time you develop muscle memory, and all of those things that you were thinking too much about become natural through repetition. You have to get bad before you can get better. I have a feeling that may be the stage I am about to embark upon when I find myself live at the poker tables during the next few weeks.

I was a toddler in the 80’s, and I remember being disturbed, on a VISCERAL level, by The Land of Confusion music video.

Puppets were things I saw on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. They were fun, light-hearted, and happy!

…Not whatever THAT was.

Shudders.

The Theater of the Mundane … No Limit Texas Fold ‘Em

It’s Friday morning. I’m going to tomorrow’s Michigan-Washington football game with NextDoorLou and ToothBrushSteve.

Today’s agenda is make the drive to Michigan, stop part way in Battle Creek, Michigan where Firekeeper’s Casino has a 12:15 p.m. $50 NLHE tournament. After that I’ll drive the rest of the way and meet up with NextDoorLou and ToothBrushSteve for dinner.

I pull out of the driveway at 7:00 a.m. half asleep. I need some sugar to wake me up. I stop at a nearby gas station and take care of this need.

As I pull onto the highway, my thoughts are about how I should play in today’s live poker tourney.

Will I be LAGgy McBlufferson or Tight Titus? I have a three-hour drive to think about it. Ultimately, I settle on the answer of neither. I will play my default TAG style, but I will look for spots to bluff when I don’t have it. But the bluffs need to make sense and be thought out. I won’t look for every “spot,” but I will look for good spots.

The drive is uneventful until I get to just short of the exit ramp for the casino. I am listening to the college football station on Sirius radio, I notice the jumbo Firekeeper’s sign and think to myself, “I should take a picture for the 2+2 LVL thread.” I don’t act fast enough. I fail to take the picture, and I miss my exit. I’m a dumba$$. I hope I have better focus during the poker tournament. Mrs. rppoker says I can be the absent-minded professor at times. She’s not wrong. My mind tends to be on multiple things at once, which can result in me missing what is right in front of me.

This costs me 15 minutes, which is unfortunate because I was going to take a quick nap in my car when I parked, but that is now off the agenda. I do, however, get a picture of the big Firekeeper’s sign for the thread.

I park my car, and before I get out, I check my e-mails. I see an e-mail from the property manager of one of our shopping centers. She says that a national steak house wants to go into an outlot building (which we do not own) in front of our center. For some reason they need our approval. They’ll bring added traffic to the area, so I see no reason to cause them trouble, and I give my approval.

I walk toward the casino entrance, and there is a security guard standing watch. He nicely tells me that I can’t bring a backpack into the casino. He says I can check it with the hotel or bring it back to my car. Back to my car I go. I’ve never heard of poker players not being able to carry a backpack, but their rules are their rules. I pull out my hoodie and leave everything else in the trunk of my car.

I return to where the casino security guard is standing, and I ask with a smile, “Am I now casino approved?”

He laughs and says, “Yes.”

I head straight to the poker room, and I buy in to the tournament. Fifty dollars gets me 10,000 chips, and if a player gives the dealer $5 then they get an extra 2,000 chips. Of course, everyone pays the $5.

I immediately notice that I am warm with my hoodie on, and I take it off. Minus the hoodie the room temperature is perfect. Imagine that, a poker room that is not an icebox.

I am in seat 9, which I don’t love since that means I will be seated directly next to the dealer, and I will have a difficult time seeing the player in seat 1. This turns out not to be a problem. The tables is set up for 10-handed. I’m not a fan of 10-handed, but the positive is I am seated two to the right of the dealer giving me better site lines to everyone at the table.

Level 1
100/200
12,000 starting chips

My table is full of old timers. I think I am the fourth youngest player at the table, which is pretty good considering I am 63 years old.

I immediately catch on to two dynamics of the table. Everyone loves to limp. Very often there are five and six limpers that see a flop. The other dynamic is that once players limp, if someone raises 3x (which strikes me as too small when there are people who have already limped) then the limpers always call the 3x bet.

I decide I am not going to play the limping game. I will save my chips and wait for a good hand and then punish those who have limped with an appropriately-sized raise.

A player with a G.O.A.T. hat (Greatest Of All Time) flops quad fives and gets three streets of value, leaving his opponent with crumbs.

TheGreatestOfAllTime says, “Hard to stay calm when you have that much.” From across the table I say, “So, you weren’t considering folding?” TheGreatestOfAllTime laughs. I suspect everything is funny when you double up in level 1 with quads.

I haven’t had anything playable, so I don’t get out of line. I observe my opponents and build up reads on them. One player is raising big with light cards. I make a mental note that I would love to get in a hand with him. What I mostly notice about the table is that in addition to their limping addiction, they do not like to fold post flop. I tell myself not to try to bluff these people. They don’t fold.

I then get what will be my best hand of the entire tournament, 10-10. UTG+1 opens, UTG+2 raises big, Another player goes all-in. Suddenly, my pocket 10s have shrunk so much I can barely see them. I fold. The two players that are all-in have A-A and A-K. I escaped without losing a single chip.

It’s only level 1 but already two players at my table have busted.

Then TheGreatestOfAllTime gets all of the chips of a female player wearing a Michigan State hat and shirt. On the flop, SpartyGal hit a pair of Jacks, which were no match for TheGreatestOfAllTime’s pocket Aces.

That makes three players already eliminated in level 1. It’s like they have a bus to catch. Nope, they aren’t going anywhere, and I notice that they all rebuy.

The level ends. I have not played a single hand.

End of level 1: 11,600 chips

Level 2
200/400

TheGreatestOfAllTime flops a straight and busts yet another player.

An old-timer has K-K, which he plays fine preflop, but he overplays it and busts after there is an Ace on the flop.

I am then dealt my second best hand of the entire tournament, when I look down at A-J. Unfortunately, there is a bet, an oversized raise all-in, and a call before I ever get a chance to act. I fold. It’s A-A versus A-10. These people have now gone from overlimping to playing for stacks. How does A-10 get it all-in versus that much preflop fireworks?

That’s twice that I’ve had the bottom end of premium hands and avoided losing a single chip to a player that would have had me crushed.

The player to my immediate left is an ancient guy who tends to fumble his chips when he is going to put them in play. He has also started flashing his cards to me inadvertently. I quietly mention this to him, and he says, “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

One of the players who busted early in level 1 bought back in and was returned to our table. He busts again in level 2. Hi and goodbye. The last time I saw someone bust two bullets that fast was the 2019 WSOP Big 50 at my table. I’m going from memory here (and I’m too lazy to go back in this thread to look it up), but I think a brash player sat down at my table in level 2 (or thereabouts) and he proudly announced that he had already busted once and was on his second bullet. I’m pretty sure I wrote in this thread something along the lines of, “Who brags about something like that?” In any event the guy was dealt K-K, while I had A-A. All the money went into the middle preflop. My aces held, and he had burned his way through two bullets in near World Record time.

In the compare and contrast department, one player at my table has busted twice, while I still have not been able to play a single hand.

End of level 2: 11,000 chips

Level 3
300/600

TheGreatestOfAllTime knocks out another player, and a guy at our table wearing a neon green hoodie asks, “Do you ever get bad cards?”

Neon finds out a couple of hands later that the answer to his question is a definitive no when TheGreatestOfAllTime has J-J and busts Neon who has 10-10

TheGreatestOfAllTime is a Rambo-esque killing machine. I on the other hand still have not been able to play a single hand. And other than the 10-10 and A-J hands where I got out of the way and villains had A-A both times, it hasn’t been close. I have not been dealt a hand that is even remotely playable.

End of level 3: 10,100 chips

Level 4
400/800/800

The big blind ante is introduced to the tournament. Naturally it happens for the first time when I am in the big blind. Sigh.

The blinds are starting to eat away at me. I really do need to get dealt something. Anything. I need to get my chips in the middle.

When I am in the small blind, amazingly it folds to me. I Have A-6. It’s not a premium, but finally a spot I can attack. I go all-in. The big blind calls with A-7.

Poker hates me!

I watch the cards get turned over by the dealer, and I am trying to will a 6 to save me. There is no 6 on the flop, turn or river. I am about to get up, when I hear the dealer announce it’s a chop. I take a closer look at the board:

A-9-9-8-2

The turn 8 meant neither of our non-Ace cards played.

Poker likes me!

I got lucky and now have 8,900 chips. Or maybe that was unlucky since if I had busted I would have rebought for 12,000 chips. If I busted, I would now have 3,100 more chips than I actually have after the chop.

In an interesting hand I’m not involved in, it is three ways to the flop, which is A-A-A. I’ve never seen that before as best I can recall.

I get to see a flop when I am in the big blind and there are two limpers. I have K-10o. I consider a raise since I’ve only played one hand so far, and I figure any activity from me will be seen as the nuts. My hand is good but not fantastic, so I decide to take the three free cards.

K-5-2 rainbow.

As played, I strongly suspect I am good. Given that there are 3,600 chips in the middle, and I only have something like twice that amount behind I decide not to fool around. I want to take it down now, and, assuming I am ahead, not give them a chance to get there on the turn or river. I go all-in. Both opponents fold. I have 10,500 chips

End of level 4: 10,100 chips

Level 5
500/1,000/1,000

I remain card dead. Nothing comes close to playable. The whole point of being patient is eventually you catch some cards. Right?

End of level 5: 7,500 chips

There is a 10,000 chip add-on if you put a $10 bill by your chip stack. I’m pretty sure these add-ons go to the dealers. Everyone puts out a $10 bill. These additional 10,000 chips should buy me a little bit of time. It’s why I didn’t go in toward the end of level 4 with something stupid.

I have played a grand total of two hands the first five levels of this tournament. I’m playing Texas Fold ‘em.

Level 6
500/1,500/1,500

Early in the level my table breaks. Good. Maybe a new table will result in me getting dealt more playable cards. I know intellectually that this makes no difference, but that was my reaction at the time.

At my new table the dealer and a couple of players are in an animated conversation about something do with 10 points. I think it is a hunting term for trophy bucks, but I’m not sure. I’m not a hunting guy or a gun guy, but I am certain it is about hunting based upon the iPhone pictures they are showing to one another. I am more used to people showing pictures like this to each other of their kids or grandkids. Whatever this conversation is, all three of the guys are really, really proud of the pictures they are showing.

It is announced that 53 players entered the tournament, 32 remain, and 6 will get paid.

End of level 6: 14,000 chips

Level 7
1,000/2,000/2,000

I don’t get a playable hand. I am a mere spectator in this tournament. Still, I remain patient. I can’t imagine this is going to end well, but blasting off my chips with unplayable cards seems like a bad idea. That said, I have never experienced anything like this where I’m not even close to be able to play a hand.

Meanwhile, TheGreatestOfAllTime continues to mow people down. He has A-Q, and the flop is A-Q-8 giving him two pair. The turn is another Ace giving him a full house. The river … does … not … matter. The guy who just busted out laments, “I don’t understand. When I play ace-queen, I end up in the parking lot.”

End of level 7: 9,000 chips

Level 8
1,500/3,000/3,000

I am UTG with a mere 9,000 chips. That means next hand I will have to post 6,000 of my chips. And the hand after that I will have to post 1,500 chips. What this means is I have to play either this hand or next hand. No matter what. I have folded bad cards for as long as I can. It’s time to roll the dice. I look down at Q-8 suited. I figure this is better than two random cards that I will have next hand if I fold. It is certainly better than almost everything I have been dealt all tournament. I go all-in. To my surprise, player after player after player after player folds. It folds to the big blind.

Is it possible my all-in bet will actually get thru?

The big blind does not look happy about it, but he reluctantly calls with A-4o. I have almost 45% equity. That’s more than I could have hoped for.

The flop is A-K-8 rainbow. Not looking good for me, but I still have 24% equity.

The turn is a 10. I still have a pulse (and 20.45% equity).

I need a Q, J or 8.

There is no river miracle, and I’m out.

………

Tournament review

There’s really not much to say. I’ve never played a tournament where I had pretty much no playable hands. Yes, I had 10-10 and A-J, but in each case the betting before it was my turn to act pointed to a monster, so I folded, and it turned out that both times a villain had A-A.

Other than that, I did not get dealt a single premium. I stayed patient – astonishingly patient – and waited for a decent hand that never came. I’ve never experienced anything close to this before.

Well, the pregame plan was to not bluff in stupid situations. Mission accomplished (sort of), because you have to play a hand to have an opportunity to bluff.

I try to think back to any hands I have not described where maybe I should have played it differently. I can think of two.

As I wrote earlier, I made up my mind not to play the limping game everyone else at the table was playing early on. What I saw was players bleeding away chips and then getting to the point where they felt the need to overplay hands and getting knocked out unnecessarily. In, I think level 2, there was a hand where I think five players had already limped. I looked down at 4-4. With three players still to act I felt like this was a situation ripe for one of those players to make a sizable raise. You can definitely make a case that I should have joined in on the limp fest here. But like I said, I had made the decision to not engage in the limp fest going on. Sure enough, I would have flopped a set of 4s. After the flop there was a lot of checking, one player bet and everyone folded, so I’m not sure how much more money I might have won, but folding clearly cost me. But that is being results oriented. That said, I can see the criticism that I should have called preflop given the odds that existed.

The only other hand, that was close was when I had 5-3 in the big blind in the last one-third of my tourney. Three people limped, and I just checked. The flop was J-8-2 rainbow. Nothing there for me. I checked, as did everyone else. The turn was a 4. I had an open-ended straight draw. Do I go all-in, or do I check and hope no one bets, thereby protecting my equity? It was close in my mind. I chose the low-variance option to check. If someone bets small or maybe even medium, my thinking was I could call and see if I get there on the river. Unfortunately, one of the other players made a pot-size+ bet. With eight outs and one card to come, I just didn’t think I had the pot odds to call. I folded. A case can definitely be made that I should have jammed on the turn.

And that was it. I’ve never seen so many unplayable cards. And the two hands in which I had the bottom end of range in terms of premiums (10-10 and A-J), there was so much heat from other players that I folded and was proven right when villains had A-A both times.

This was quite simply the most boring tournament I have ever played. I was an observer, not a participant. I was patient, patient, patient (unbelievably patient), but at some point you need to have a hand. And a playable hand never came, meaning I folded, folded, folded my way to oblivion. It was death by a thousand paper cuts. This wasn’t gut wrenching like the feeling you get from a brutal bad beat. It was tedious as hell. On some level, I was relieved when it was finally over.

…….

Firekeeper’s Casino poker room review

I have now played here twice. It is my second most favorite poker room that I have played in behind only Talking Stick Casino’s poker room in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Firekeeper’s poker room feels comfortable. It is big enough to handle a good-sized tournament and cash games. It is also comfortable temperature wise. Too many poker tournaments feel like they take place in an icebox. Firekeeper’s actually sets the temperature exactly the way normal people would set it.

The staff at Firekeeper’s is great. They are friendly, helpful, knowledgeable. When there needs to be a ruling, from what I have seen, it is done quickly and decisively by the floor. Servers are always working the room to see if players want a drink. There is a free pop machine. The dealers are highly competent, efficient, friendly and just the right amount of conversational.

I was annoyed two weeks ago when I showed up and learned that the regular tournament had been replaced by an MSPT satellite, but, lesson learned, I’ll always call ahead moving forward to make sure the regular tournament will be played.

The other weird thing was the fact that I was not allowed to bring my backpack into the casino. A poker tournament where poker players aren’t allowed to have their backpacks? I didn’t know this was a thing. Not a big deal. Their rules are their rules. But still kind of odd.

As for the players, they are friendly, respectful and a number of them seem to know one another. The tournaments I played in skewed heavily toward old-timers. Everyone seems to get along. I suspect this particular tournament is regulars heavy. I only have seen one player who was even slightly edgy in that he raised issues that were nitpicky and required the floor be called unnecessarily. But when the rulings went against the issues he raised, he took them in stride.

The structures of the Friday afternoon tourneys I played in are not especially deep given starting stacks of 12,000 chips, but it’s a $50 tourney, so it’s not realistic to expect it to be a long, slow structure. You need to win some hands somewhat early in this tournament to stay ahead of the blinds. The add-ons are a little weird in that everyone pays them (once before the first hand of the tourney is dealt and once at the first break), so I don’t know why they don’t just make it a $65 tournament instead of a $50 tournament with a $5 and then a $10 add-on. But I think the add-ons are done for the financial benefit of the dealers, so that’s fine.

There is a spot to buy quick snacks not far from the poker room. I didn’t partake in any of the restaurants. Bathrooms are nearby and big enough to handle the events I played in.

My suspicion is this is not a big-time poker room, but it is a nice local spot if you want to play poker in a large casino. It’s not the grandeur of the Paris Ballroom during the WSOP, but if you are in the area, it is a comfortable, enjoyable, player-friendly place to play. What I’ve played in is a mid-afternoon tourney on a work day, so it has a small-time feel to it which is just fine. There are other tourneys throughout the week with different starting chip stacks and different buy-in amounts, but I haven’t played in them.

Strategy question regarding your last hand:
Is the groupthink these days to wait as long as possible?
Harrington rules no longer apply?

Not OP, but I will say that the general consensus in tournaments these days seems to be that you can fold down to much shorter stacks than what was the standard 15 years ago. Back then, everyone panicked as soon as they had under 20 bb. Personally, I often let myself fall down to 5-6-7 big blinds if I don't get anything playable or any good spots to jam.

That said, I still see people who prefer bigger jams and are less patient when they get short. And there is obviously still a lot of value in pushing 20 bb stacks over a raise etc. I know that GTO Wizard for example advocates pushing 25+ bb over a minraise and a call with hands like KJo and KQo if I remember correctly (depending on positions obviously).

Seems like OP played a very fast-paced tournament with a terrible structure, and didn't get many playable hands. Easy to fall down to 3-4 big blinds then, but the field was still so bad that:

1) He had fold-equity even with 3 big blinds.
2) The big blind sigh-called this massive jam despite holding an Ace (!)

If I had been dealt anything even remotely playable I would have jammed all-in earlier than I did, but that shows how bad my cards were.

The rest of the weekend

The good guys win the game. Michigan was the better team throughout, yet it was tied 7-7 at halftime. The game turned in the second half when Michigan linebackers picked off two passes to set the table for the offense. I’m not going into much detail since I’ve painted the picture of Michigan game day a couple of times recently.

Final score: Michigan 24, Washington 7

The next day was a bit more eventful than I would have liked. Not insanely eventful, but eventful just the same.

The drive home on Sunday started out calm and peaceful. I had an uncompetitive NFL game from London between the Rams and Jaguars on Sirius radio. The roads were relatively empty, Having a morning NFL game on the radio was a pleasant surprise even though there was no drama as to the outcome.

As I drove in total serenity, I took note of the changing colors of the leaves. Changing colors. Changing seasons. Four times a year the seasons change. The thought went thru my head that as a poker player, the seasons don’t change as much. For me, there is the WSOP for the two weeks I go every year, and then there are the other 50 weeks of the year where I train and prepare for the following year’s WSOP. Not a lot of nuance on my part.

The calm I was feeling then began to get repeatedly challenged.

It started with minor rain. Just a drizzle. Then a slight rain. Then a steady rain. Then a downpour. The type of rain that forces you to focus … or else.

The rain was still going fairly strong – but less than the downpour stage – when I drove past the Firekeeper’s Casino.

This got me to thinking about the tournament I played a couple of days earlier. From there, my thoughts turned to whether I want to play in this Friday 12:15 p.m. tournament in the future when I drive to Michigan football games. The case for playing is the staff and dealers are great, and I like the vibe of the room and the players. The case against playing is the structure in this tournament is kind of terrible. You just don’t get enough chips in relation to the speed of the increasing blinds. It’s fine if you just feel like playing some poker, but I don’t think it helps me prepare for the much deeper structure of the WSOP tourneys I play each summer.

So, do I play in it simply for the love of the game and ignore the fact that it’s not great prep work for the WSOP? I think the biggest consideration for the decision I make is the fact that I have to get up way earlier if I want to arrive in time for the Firekeeper’s tourney than I would if I was simply driving straight thru to my hotel for the Michigan football game. It’s a really long, tiring day if I play in the poker tournament. On Saturday about an hour before the game I was really tired. Thirty minutes before the start of the game I was in my seat and I could feel myself almost dozing off. I got up from my seat and raced to a nearby concession stand to buy a Coke to wake me up. I was fine once the game started.

I decide it’s not worth it to get up so early Friday morning to race to a tournament three-and-a-half hours from home when that tournament isn’t helping me prep for the WSOP. The structure is just too terrible. More importantly, being that tired at a Michigan game is just a non-starter.

If there is ever a WSOP-Circuit or MSPT tournament at Firekeeper’s that fits my schedule and budget I would definitely consider going. But the Friday afternoon $50 NLHE tournament is being scratched from future consideration.

I keep driving and I find myself getting hungry. That means Arby’s. I’m not aware of an Arby’s near my home, which is unfortunate because I consider the Arby’s beef and cheddar on a toasted onion bun to be fast food sandwich perfection (but only when I special order it without the red sauce). There are a ton of Arby’s just off the highway at various exits in Michigan on my drive, so I don’t have to wait long to see a sign for one.

I devour the sandwich along with curly fries and a Dr Pepper. Life is good.

I get back on the road. I drive a bit. Then I see the last thing I want to see. Cars at a complete standstill ahead of me. Every car has its rear break lights lit up. I come to a stop along with everyone else. And I wait … and wait … and wait … and wait …

I’m not moving either. As long as I’m not moving, I pull out my trusty notepad and start writing up what is taking place for this thread.

2:00 p.m.: Off in the distance I see a semi-truck and a police car whose lights are flashing. Neither are moving. No one on the road leading to them is moving.

2:15 p.m.: I haven’t moved an inch. Now another vehicle with flashing lights arrives at ground zero of whatever the problem area is. Obviously, there is a significant problem of some sort. The problem area is maybe 10 feet before the spot where two separate roads are about to merge. I should note that these are two separate roads that are part of the same highway construction project that is underway. The other road is moving slowly (rubber neckers) but it is nonetheless moving steadily. The cars on my road aren’t moving at all. As I see it, I shouldn’t complain. Someone ahead is having a far, far, far worse day than I am. It’s like a poker tournament where things haven’t gone great for you but you still have chips, which is far better than the guy who just got coolered and is out of the tourney.

2:30 p.m.: I still haven’t moved an inch. Another vehicle with flashing lights arrives at the problem area. I tell myself to be patient.

2:45 p.m.: I still haven’t moved an inch. A police car with flash lights and a blaring siren is approaching from behind me. It wants all of us to get out of the way so he can join the party ahead. Uhh, it’s a one lane road and we are in gridlock. Kind of nowhere to go. Everyone moves as far to the side as we can, and the police car barely has enough room to squeeze by. He’s more likely to sideswipe someone and create a new problem than he is to make a difference up ahead given all of the flashing lights already at the problem area, but a police officer wants you to move aside, and you move aside. I tell myself to be patient.

3:00 p.m.: I’m clearly not getting anywhere soon. I pass the time listening to a buffet of NFL games on Sirius radio. If anyone is low on gas, they better turn off their engine. I, on the other hand, still have a 3/4 full tank of gas, so I keep the car running as I listen to NFL football on the radio. I check my texts and see that ToothBrushSteve is having his own road woes: At 11:00 a.m. he texted, “Ohio Turnpike is crawling with Notre Dame fans heading home” from the Notre Dame-USC game the day before. At 2:45 p.m. he texted, “I’ve been in heavy rain and Domers (Notre Dame fans) all day.” I text him back with my own tale of woe. We are trading driving bad beat stories.

These updates remind me of a tournament trip report where I write that level after level I still have not been dealt a playable hand.

At 3:05 p.m. there is movement. I drive 15 feet. Then traffic returns to a standstill. I have no idea what just happened. I tell myself to be patient.

At 3:10 p.m. traffic starts moving. I get past the problem area. It appears that the semi-truck crashed into the temporary concrete barriers on the side of our road (remember, this is a construction zone as road work is being done), couldn’t move on its own and was blocking the road. As I pass, I see a tow truck pulling/moving the semi-truck out of the way, which has cleared the lane for cars to start driving.

As I drive a bit, I notice that the traffic headed in the opposite direction is backed up for three miles. The semi-truck accident does not impact the road on which they are travelling. This is simply a rubber necking delay.

I drive for a while. I am tired. I pull off at an exit that I know from decades of making this drive has a quality truck stop/gas station/food court. I need something to keep me awake. You know where this is headed. I get a Dr Pepper and a 3 Musketeers candy bar. (Note to self: I need to go on a Dr Pepper fast for a week or two after all of the pop I’ve consumed this weekend). But for now, I need to do whatever is necessary to stay awake, or else I’ll meet the fate of the semi-truck driver who caused the earlier traffic jam.

Eventually I get home. Long drive.

I pull into the garage. I get some of my stuff. I open the door to the house, and waiting there patiently for me is my dog Astro.

I have to make multiple trips to get the rest of my stuff from the car, and Astro waits patiently (he is going to want to play with me and his favorite ball).

I have an epiphany. I began this trip having recently gone overboard with my bluffing in online tournaments. I was contemplating whether I should continue with the aggression, be a bit more patient and lessen the aggression a bit, or get a lot more patient and less aggressive. Then I played in a tournament at Firekeeper’s Casino in which I was so unbelievably, so unrelentingly card dead that I had to be more patient than seemed humanly possible. Then I get stuck in a long gridlock traffic jam that is a huge test of my patience. And now I arrive home and my dog Astro shows me what patience looks like.

This can only mean one thing. The universe is sending me a message to be more patient.

…………

P.S. I don’t actually believe the universe sends messages like this, but it was a nice literary conclusion to the post. I’m still wrestling with what to do in the aggression versus patience debate.

A much-needed confidence boost

As you know if you’ve been reading along, I have not been faring well online of late.

All of the usual suspects for reasons: consistently card dead, can’t win a flip to save my life, bad beats. I will say no more. You don’t want to hear any more whining.

My online bankroll is still fine. It is still 11x my starting bankroll, although I had worked it up to 14x not too long ago. I haven’t cashed in a little while.

I played in two tournaments tonight with sagging confidence. It’s not that I think I have been playing badly. I think my play has been fine and the cards have not been cooperative (of course, everyone running bad probably says this).

In the first tournament of the night, I am my usual (recently) card dead self. Nothing playable (I swear, I’m not playing too tight). I stay patient. My chips slowly blind away. The best hand I have seen is 8-8, but the flop was three over cards, and I chose not to continue when faced with a bet.

I get dealt 10-10 (the hand I seem to get dealt the most as well as the hand I almost never win with). A shorter stack than me goes all-in and I call. Villain has 9-8o. The flop is 8-rag-rag. The turn is a blank. The river is another 8. Sigh.

I get it all in with A-9. I get called by an opponent who turns over A-8. I have him dominated. I lose when an 8 is turned over on the turn. Double sigh.

Confidence is not high, but I enter another tournament.

I start out card dead again, but I find a couple of spots to successfully bluff from the button.

I get dealt Q-Q. A premium. I’d forgotten what a premium hand looks like. I like it. I double up. I really like it.

I win another hand with K-J suited when the flop is Jack high.

I get dealt 3-3. I limp from UTG+2. Six of us see the flop, which is K-10-3 rainbow. I get three streets of value from two players and I am first in chips for the entire tournament.

I chip up a bit on the money bubble (12 people will cash). I’m second in chips. I make the final table. A couple of people get knocked out. I get in a hand against a medium stack. I have 10-10 (why is it always 10-10?). Villain has A-9. All the chips go in the middle pre flop. Villain flops a 9. Villain turns another 9. Sigh. I lose the hand, and I now reside in ShortStackVille. I am riff-raff. I chip up. I chip up some more. I am picking my spots well. I am no longer riff-raff.

We are down to four players. I am third in chips. I have A-9 and I open the betting. The player who is second in chips makes the call from the big blind. The flop is 9-rag-rag. I have top pair top kicker. Villain bets. I go all-in. Villain snap calls. That’s not good. Villain turns over 10-10 (how come 10-10 wins for other people but almost never for me? Yes, I’m whining.), I don’t improve and I’m out.

But still, I have accumulated a bunch of bounties and a fourth-place finish. This brings my online bankroll to just a smidge below my high-water mark.

While my bankroll was by no means desperate for this result, my confidence really needed this boost. Until this tournament, I think this had been the longest I’d gone without cashing. It’s not like it had been forever since I cashed, but it had been longer than I was accustomed to. I was used to cashing with regularity until my recent dry spell. This cash feels more satisfying than usual.

Final Table hunting

I am playing in an online tournament, and in the early stages I’m not getting much going, so I’m not taking any notes. I believe there were 80+ players, 12 will get paid.

Then, I start catching some cards. I get dealt Q-Q twice, both times I get action from other players, both times there is no Ace or King on the flop, both times I win nice-sized hands. I think to myself that when it comes to paired premiums, I get dealt 10-10 a ton and I get Q-Q quite a bit. I almost never get dealt J-J, and K-K and A-A have been virtually non-existent the last month or so. I think there have been more Big Foot sightings than A-A or K-K sightings for me.

Nonetheless, after the two Q-Q hands I have a very healthy chip stack. I successfully start pushing people around at my table a decent amount, but not so much that they notice. They seem to believe I am on a rush of cards and don’t fight back. With 37 players remaining, I am tournament chip leader.

A smallish stack goes all-in. I have 9-9. I significantly cover the players left to act behind me, so I go all in to isolate and try to win another bounty. The smallish stack turns over 9-9. Not surprisingly, we chop. Anti-climactic.

I’m second in chips with 27 remaining.

I’m third in chips when we get down to 18, at which time a number of new players join my table. Despite the fact that I am third in chips, the tournament chip leader gets placed to my immediate left. That’s unfortunate. Not the end of the world, but not optimal.

Gremlins then get into my laptop and I get bounced from the tournament site. Fortunately, I had rags when this happens. I quickly get back on the web site and fold my junk.

At this point I go really card dead for a while. On the money bubble with 13 players remaining, I have slipped to sixth in chips. The bubble bursts. Not long after that, we are on the Final Table bubble with 10 remaining. I get dealt Q-Q again. It’s the hand of the tournament for me. I open but get no action. The final table bubble bursts and I’m am fourth in chips out of the nine remaining players.

A player is eliminated. Eight players remaining, and I’m still fourth in chips.

Remember when I wrote above that K-K and A-A have been non-existent for me. Well, I get dealt K-K. I bet 3x. A small stack calls, which puts him all-in. The overwhelming tournament chip leader also calls. The flop is 8-9-10 rainbow. The thing to understand, even though I am fourth in chips the blinds are really high. We are not deep in chips. The only choices I have are check or go all-in. I know if I don’t bet, the tournament chip leader will put me all-in. Check folding K-K here seems bad. I don’t see how I can hope to win a tournament if I fold K-K in this spot. If he has it, he has it. And he certainly could have it since the flop hits his range much harder than it hits my range. Nonetheless, villain has been putting chips in very thin from what I’ve seen. I decide it’s better for me to put him to a decision than it is to allow him to put me to the decision. I still think I am ahead of his very wide range. I go all-in. He snap calls.

I suspect this is bad for me, but it turns out that I was right about him playing hands very light. He turns over Q-5o. I didn’t expect him to be that light. He’s drawing to an inside straight. I don’t understand the logic of his call other than the fact that he has been chasing bounties like his life depends upon it, and he has been getting there repeatedly. The small stack that is in this hand has completely missed the flop, so he is a non-factor. TournamentChipLeader has called from way behind and is hoping to get lucky to win two bounties.

The turn does not help him, but he hits his four-outer when a Jack lands on the river giving him a straight and I am out in seventh place.

Disappointing, but I’ve now made a Final Table two days in a row. This does wonders for my confidence.

(my kings vs. villain's Q-5)

A little later, Mrs. rppoker is watching a TV show I’m not interested in. I feel like playing poker, but I don’t want to play a real tournament since I probably won’t be able to focus with the TV going. I read leon’s new thread on LVL about getting to play in a NLHE tournament against whales who don’t figure to play well. Leon has asked LVL for suggestions on how to play in this setting. I have an idea. There is a freeroll NLHE tournament about to start on my poker web site. I figure the erratic play in these freerolls will approximate what leon will face in his whale tourney so I sign up.

I have been avoiding these free rolls lately (despite the opportunity to make free money) because the play is so awful in them.

The freeroll begins (something like 800-900 players, 50 get paid), and the play is even worse than I anticipated. The player to my immediate left is constantly going massively all-in in level 1 of the tourney. He keeps winning tiny pots, but eventually he runs into a big hand and goes bust. Then he rebuys. Who rebuys into a freeroll. He keeps doing the same thing. All-in, all-in, all-in, all-in. He keeps busting, and he keeps rebuying. Obviously, I am handcuffed with him two to my left. I have to be patient and let this play out. Finally, he goes all-in yet again, gets called by two players with monster holdings, and Mr. All-In luck boxes his way to a triple up. This does not slow him down one bit. It emboldens him.

There is another player at the table who is using a similar strategy (all-in, lose to a monster, rebuy), albeit not quite as relentlessly. I’m not getting dealt any premiums, so my strategy is simple but boring. Non-stop folding.

When we get to the first break, I have not played a hand. The good news is that when we return from break, there will be no more rebuys. It does not take that long for Mr. All-In to donk off his chips. Unfortunately, none of those chips find their way to me since I remain card dead. The other all-in lunatic also gets bounced from the tourney.

Finally, I think, now maybe I can play some poker. The problem is, I remain card dead the entire tournament. I don’t get dealt a single premium hand. But I manage to navigate my way through the tourney with just enough bluffs to stay ahead of the danger zone caused by the increasing blinds. I bet light in unopened pots when I am on the button. I bet suited connectors as though they are a premium pair, and the fact that my image is that of a folding machine allows me to take down these hands because the table assumes I must have something big given how infrequently I put chips in the middle.

We get down to 100 players, and, somehow, I am still in the tourney. But still a long way to get to the money for the top 50 places. I continue to find just enough spots to successfully bluff. At this point, the really horrendous players are gone, so the players I face have fold buttons, which I am exploiting.

I get to the money bubble. I survive the money bubble.

I continue to be card dead, but I win just enough hands to stay alive. I am a bluffing machine.

The blinds have gotten to be ridiculous. Even the big stacks aren’t that deep. You win one hand and suddenly you have a somewhat decent chip stack. The key is, you can’t afford to lose a hand.

I remain patient, and when I bet my opponents fold.

Down to four tables.

Down to three tables.

Down to two tables. Is it really possible for me to get to my second Final Table of the night despite being totally card dead the entire time?

We are down to 13 players. The blinds are 25,000/50,000 plus everyone antes. I am down to one big blind. I have patiently been waiting for something playable, but the dealer is not cooperating. Finally, I am UTG and I either have to play this hand or the next one. It actually folds to me. I have 7-4 suited. Hey, it’s suited. The small blind has even less chips than me and calls. The big blind is a huge chip stack, and of course he comes along to the party. Amazingly, I flop two pair. The small blind is drawing dead. The big stack has a flush draw. If I hold I will triple up, and another final table may be possible, Unfortunately, the flush draw gets there, and I’m out.

Just short of another trip to The Final Table Inn.

[QUOTE=rppoker]Gremlins then get into my laptop and I get bounced from the tournament site. Fortunately, I had rags when this happens. I quickly get back on the web site and fold my junk.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but what did you do with the hand?

Not particular to this post, but I feel as if you're at a point where you need the advice my old friend DaveB gave me years ago: Embrace the chase.

If you get it in good, and give your opponents the wrong odds to call with whatever they have, that's what you can do. Of course, sometimes you'll misread or misbet, but do that more often. Don't be upset when they suck out, review whether you played/bet/read the hand well and learn from there.