Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

I'm going to try something a little new

I've got something a little different for my next post. It will start as a tournament report of a tourney I played in, but once I get knocked out there will be a twist. Rather than move on to another tournament, I stuck around and observed two players I found interesting and will report on them as well. Their results were very, very different.

I think this approach to writing about poker does not really exist anywhere. If it comes out to my liking I may do more of it from time to time. Not every time, but if I think a player is interesting for any reason, I may follow along after I bust (which, of. course, we hope never happens to me, but, yeah, reality).

I will not use the players' playing names on the web site, because I have no interest in criticizing/embarrassing someone when a hand goes very wrong for them. As always, I will make up names for them instead.

This first attempt at writing this way is probably going to take a while since I have a lot of notes. At earliest I will probably post it late tonight.

I’m looking for good bluffing opportunities ... Battling against WreckingMachine ... A-A brings an unsatisfying result ... He called me with what?! ... Introducing rpReporter ... Following WreckingMachine ... Following WelcomeToTheJungle

Let’s see if we can get some better cards than I was dealt yesterday. I don’t really see how today can be any worse.

There are 86 entries in my online tourney, 15 will get paid.

I get to my virtual table, and I have notes on nobody. Not surprising since it’s a Friday at lunch time. I am caught up at work and rather than go out to lunch, I skip eating and fire up the tournament on my laptop.

The first hand there are a few limpers and then a player goes all-in. Three thousand chips when the blinds are 10/20. I see this a lot in freerolls but rarely in tourneys where people have paid an entry fee (Sweep Coins) to play. In any event, InAHurry has put 150 big blinds into the middle with ... it’s difficult to believe ... it’s certainly not defensible ... with ... with ... Q-9 suited. The absurd bet gets called by A-Jo (which seems kind of light to me given the massive bet size). Q-9 does not improve and he’s out. Hi and goodbye. Hit the Road Jack ...

A couple of hands later, a new player arrives at my table to my immediate right. He has a triple-up-stack of 9,506 chips. Apparently, people are losing their minds and massively overplaying their hands all over the place.

The blinds go to 20/40 in level 2 of the tournament. My table has the tournament chip leader to my immediate right, and a player who is seventh in chips overall is a couple of players to my left. This could be interesting.

UTG I have 6-6. What do I do? I have just begun the early stages of my return to poker studying, and the first topic I have chosen to put in some work is limpers and limping. In my head, I hear the opening sentence in a section of an article on open-limping by upswingpoker, which is, “Never be the first player to limp into the pot. I repeat, never be the first player to limp into the pot.” So, I have a problem here. I really don’t like the idea of raising here. But I also don’t like folding. The issue is I am UTG. If I have 2-2 or 3-3, I can comfortably fold. But 6-6 is stronger than those hands. But I hate the idea of raising with 6-6 UTG. From mid or late position, absolutely, go with a bet. But UTG I think I am just going to get myself in trouble with that kind of aggression with that kind of hand with so many players still to act. So, I break rule #1 – never be the first player to limp into the pot. I also break rule #2, which I assume is, don’t ignore rule #1, you dummy.

So, I have 6-6 and I limp from UTG. Five players call. This is actually ideal. If I miss the flop, I will have lost virtually nothing. But if I make my set, I can win a big pot at the expense or someone (or multiple players) who have connected with the flop. Surely someone will catch a big enough piece of the flop and will give a set some action. Low risk, high reward. This has worked out well for me, even though I have played it wrong.

The flop is K-J-8 rainbow. None of this flop is mine. Three over cards to my 6-6. There is some betting action before it gets to me and I fold. The turn is a 6, which would have been my dream card, giving me a set. Instead, I see two players get after it. Neither has a set. I would have won a huge pot. I know I can’t think this way. I can’t call a bet and a raise after the flop with fourth pair with a plan that I hope I hit a two-outer. Hope is not a plan. I quickly get over the missed opportunity.

Next hand I am dealt 7-7. What’s up with these hard to play lowish pairs? Three players limp, and I just check from the big blind. I think this is OK. It’s seemingly set mine or fold. The flop is A-K-4. It checks all around. The turn is a King. It checks all around. The river is a 3. Well, nobody seems to want this pot, so I figure I’ll go ahead and take it. I bet three-quarter pot, which still is a survivable amount of chips to lose -- given the small pot when the blinds are so low – if someone has me beat. Everyone folds. OK, creative chip manufacturing has commenced on my part. Good for me. I pat myself on the back. I have 3,148 chips, which is 29th out of 75 remaining. We’re still in the infancy of the tournament.

I think the blinds were 30/60 when I get dealt As-Qs. Three players limp. I raise it to 420. A player in the small blind who only has about 35% of my stack goes all-in. One of the limpers calls. I go all-in. The limper calls. The small blind has A-K, dominating me in the initial pot. The limper for both the main pot and the bigger side pot has 7-7. There is an Ace somewhere along the way, so I lose the initial pot to the small blind but I win the bigger side pot from 7-7. I am up to 4,062 chips, which has me 18th out of 73 remaining players. A-Q did not send me to the parking lot, as the saying goes.

So, what do I get the next hand? Ah-Qh. We’re playing with fire here. The blinds are still 30/60. There is one limper. I raise to 300 and get two calls. The flop is J-J-10. I don’t have the Jack, but they don’t know that. I bet and get two calls. The turn is an 8. It goes check-check-check. The flop is a 9. I just luck boxed my way to a straight. I bet half pot. Both players fold. I have 7,139 chips, I am table chip leader, and I’m 6th out of 68 remaining players.

The blinds go up to 75/150.

The player two to my left suddenly gets hit by the deck, Gets hit hard. He has become extremely active, and every time he gets to showdown, he has a monster ... A-K that flops an Ace ... A-A ... Q-Q (twice). At this point I name him HeHasIt. He has a boatload of chips.

The player to my right has K-3 and busts a couple players when he makes two pairs on the turn. I make a mental note that it’s strange that he was in the hand in the first place with an off suit K-3 against players who showed some pre flop aggression. He has been getting increasingly active at the table. He is now in most hands and is putting his chips to work. He is the table chip leader and he is relentless. He’s not having to get to showdown much, and when he does, he manages to win with very light holdings. I initially give him a nickname having to do with having light cards, but later in the tournament I will rename him WreckingMachine, so that’s how I’ll refer to him starting now.

WreckingMachine calls an all-in bet preflop. His opponent shows A-6. WreckingMachine has 10-6. Naturally a 10 is part of the flop, and WreckingMachine has won another bounty.

I, meanwhile, have been folding rags. I have 6,529 chips and am 14th out of 49 remaining. HeHasIt, the player two to my left who got smashed by the deck earlier for heaps of chips, needs a new nickname. HeDoesn’tHaveIt. He has donked off a ton of chips and is now just barely above starting chip stack with 3,521 chips.

The blinds go up to 150/300.

I get dealt A-A. It folds to WreckingMachine who has been playing almost every hand. He folds. Now he folds? NOW HE FOLDS?!!!!!! How is this possible? He is supposed to do my betting for me this hand. It’s like he knows what I have. I demand that he rethink his action and aggressively send a boatload of chips my way. It’s just baffling. I’d call the floor to raise a complaint, but there is no floor online. OK fine, I’ll do my own dirty work. I open the betting. Everyone remaining folds. Sigh. Not happy. I get over it immediately. I have 6,629 chips which is 15th out of 45.

WreckingMachine immediately starts playing every hand again. It’s like he knew I had A-A. In one hand, WreckingMaching calls a decent-sized all-in bet. WreckingMachine has 3-3. His unsuspecting next victim has 8-8. The flop has a 3 giving WreckingMachine a set. This is the moment in real time that I changed his nickname to WreckingMachine. He has 15,834 chips.

A very strong player I’ve played against quite a bit joins the table. He immediately goes aggro in a hand against WreckingMachine and actually gets him to fold. I make a mental note that WreckingMachine does in fact know where the fold button is when aggressively played back against.

I am in the big blind with Q-10. Two players limp. I consider a raise since Q-10 has the possibility of flopping well, but it’s not a huge possibility so I just check and play it safe. Q-10 does not flop well as A-7-5 is turned over. I don’t have any of it and fold to a WreckingMachine bet.

Next hand in the small blind I have 10h-9h. There is a bet. Someone else calls as do I. Again, I don’t want to go crazy here with a raise. Once again, this is a hand than can sometimes flop well, so I keep the pot small and I’ll assess after the flop, which is J-10-8 rainbow with one heart. I have quite a bit of this flop. I bet and get one caller. The turn is an Ace. Even though I only have third pair and a promising draw, I show no fear of this card and I bet half pot. The new player I mentioned two paragraphs earlier folds. I have 7,259 chips. I am in 15th place with 37 players remaining. It’s a decent chip stack, but I’m going to need to add more if I’m going to cash, which we still aren’t that close to.

WreckingMachine is in a hand that I’m not involved. He has 8-2o. He min bets pre flop. He min bets post flop. He min bets the turn. He min bets the river. At no time in the hand did he ever have anything more than 8 high. He gets called every time and loses. When his cards get turned over, my jaw drops in awe. This guy is relentless. He loses this pot with nothing, but he fearlessly battled for the chips in the middle. Also worth noting, from what I’ve seen, a lot of times he has started with nothing and somehow gets “there.” Most of the times, his opponent wilts under the heat of WreckingMachine’s fury and folds. Despite losing this last hand, WreckingMachine has 19,000 chips.

The blinds are now 200/400. I have 7,109 chips, which puts me in 16th place out of 33 remaining.

I am dealt As-Kh UTG and I open to 1,200. Only WreckingMachine calls from the big blind because ... because ... because WreckingMachine does not fold pre flop. The flop is a disappointing Q-8-3 rainbow. WreckingMachine bets a tiny 400, which he has been doing a lot. Although I have missed the flop, I know I have only two choices. Fold now since I know WreckingMachine will not let me get me to showdown cheap. If I show weakness, he will eventually try to push me off the pot. My other choice is to bring the heat to WreckingMachine the way he has been doing to the table, which has mostly been giving up before showdown. On the rare occasions when people have played back aggressively at WreckingMachine he has backed down prior to showdown. I decide I will take a stand and put him on the defensive.

I raise a little over half pot. WreckingMachine calls. The turn is a 10. I’ve missed, but I’ve also added some outs. Given the fact that my read is that WreckingMachine does not have much, any Ace, King or Jack should beat whatever two cards he is playing. WreckingMachine once again bets a miniscule 400 chips. I go all-in.

On a board that is Q-10-8-3 with no flush draw available, WreckingMachine calls with 6-6. He called with fourth best pair? This surprises me. He has to know I have been playing a TAG style. Plus, I’ve played the hand as though I have A-Q, A-A, K-K or Q-Q. At least that is the story I have tried to convey. Clearly, WreckingMachine has not believed my story. As played, the only hand I could realistically have that he has beat is exactly the hand I have. He either sees through me as though I were a pane of glass, or he simply does not know where the fold button is.

This hand reminds me of a hand I played in the 2019 WSOP. The player to my immediate right was very aggressive and had been pounding my big blind all day. In a small blind (him) versus big blind (me) confrontation just a bit before the dinner break, I was dealt A-K. LAG (him) versus TAG (me). I believe it folded to LAG and he once again bet into my big blind. I raised and he called. After the flop, turn and river he always checked, I raised and he called. My river bet put him all-in. All I had was Ace high, so I anticipated him turning over a monster. Instead, he turned over 2-2 for sixth best pair, which was the winner. There were five over cards to his 2-2, none of which hit my A-K. Even so, how on earth did he keep calling down my intense aggression with only 2-2? It was as if he knew what I had.

Same thing has just happened to me against WreckingMachine. On every street I fired away, and with only 6-6 he hung in there and kept calling. I don’t know how he managed to hang on while I was taking a flame thrower to him. I had not played a ton of hands thus far, so I thought my aggression would be taken seriously. He did not take it seriously.

So, I’m all-in with just Ace high with WreckingMachine having 6-6. Any Ace, King or Jack on the river and I am golden. I can still get “there.” The river is ...

... a blank. I’m out in 33rd, well short of the money.

Two ways to look at this hand.

Way #1: I bluffed off an entirely healthy stack with just Ace high. I’m a donkey. I played bad.

I don’t feel this way though.

Way #2: I read him as weak. I was correct. I played the hand from start to finish in which I told what should have been a believable story of massive strength. I think this was reasonable. On the rare occasions when people at the table have played back at him anywhere close to the firepower I just did, WreckingMachine has folded. While he called a lot, he had not been a calling station against significant aggression. I think trying to get him to fold as played was a worthwhile bluff. I still don’t know how he kept calling with 6-6. It was as though he could read my soul.

Maybe I’m not looking hard enough in the mirror, but I think Way #2 is the right way to view this. I don’t see how he was able to hang on for dear life with his meager 6-6. It was as if he could see my cards.

I think this was a spot. I saw the spot. I went for it. If you never bluff, you can’t possibly hope to run deep. I think this bluff as played works against any other player in the tournament. And actually, I think this bluff should have worked against WreckingMachine. I don’t view this as a failure. I mean, yes, it failed. But I think it was progress as far as my evolution as a player. I am increasingly looking for good spots to bluff. Maybe LVL disagrees with how I played the hand. I’m open to criticism if anyone disagrees with the line I took.

Any way you slice it, however, I am out of the tournament. Normally I would check to see when the next tournament is starting. I don’t do that. I have a Eureka moment and decide that following WreckingMachine the rest of the tournament and writing about it might make for an interesting read in this thread. So that’s what I do. In wrestling parlance, I tag out and rpReporter enters the ring.

OK, rpReporter here to follow the path of WreckingMachine the rest of the tournament. WreckingMachine has been a force to be reckoned with so far and has left a bloody path of poker roadkill on the road behind him. He is playing a very risky, extremely volatile, highly unorthodox style thus far. And it’s been working. That said, this poker reporter sees two possible outcomes for WreckingMachine. He is either going to win the whole darn tournament, or he’s going to implode and donk off all of his chips before the money bubble bursts. Either way, it should be a good show to watch.

Almost immediately, WreckingMachine’s table breaks. He arrives at his new table and despite the fact that he has a lot of chips, almost everyone else at this table has chip stacks either equal to or greater than what WreckingMachine has. This new table is more aggressive than WreckingMachine’s prior table was. This leads to a transformation. WreckingMachine slows waaaaay down. Whereas at the prior table WreckingMachine was in almost every hand, at this table he becomes Sir Fold a Lot. Fold ... fold ... fold ... fold. He folds a lot. The raging, attacking force of nature has become a serene, passive observer.

Finally, WreckingMachine gets involved in a hand. His opponent in the hand has half of WreckingMachine’s stack. All the chips go in the middle pre flop. WreckingMachine has K-K. Yes, sometimes he does have it. His opponent has A-6. There is an Ace on the flop, and WreckingMachine has just seen his chips reduced by 50%. I don’t want to say that WreckingCrew was due for this to happen to him since he has been cracking big hands of his foes with less than impressive hands that he plays, but ... well ... that’s exactly what I am saying. WreckingMachine just got a dose of his own medicine.

Variance. It’s a fickle mistress.

Still, WreckingMachine has 10,740 chips. More than enough to rebound with.

Then, WreckingMachine’s insistence on overplaying so-so hands finally leads to his demise. He has K-8o, which he badly overplays. On a board of J-Q-A-K he goes all-in and is snap-called by A-Q. The river is a blank, and WreckingMachine is out in 16th place, one spot short of the money. There really was no reason to donk off the rest of his chips with a really shaky hand. But he built up his chips this way, and in the end he loses the rest of his chips this way. He had enough chips to fold to the money, but that does not seem to be his style. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Build up a big stack with unorthodox play, set your remaining chips on fire with unorthodox play.

Like I said to begin my coverage of WreckingMachine, it seemed inevitable given his style that he’d either win the entire tournament, or he’d go up in flames short of the money. In fairness to WreckingMachine, the K-K versus A-6 hand was a tournament changer for him in a very bad way.

Well, that concludes our coverage of WreckingMachine, and ... and ... and ... hold on a minute, rppoker is whispering something to me. According to rppoker, there is a player still alive in the tournament that he has encountered quite a bit. According to rppoker, this player plays an aggressive style somewhat similar to WreckingMachine, and rppoker suggests I continue with my reporting by following this other player, who he says builds huge chip stacks in the very early stages of tournaments and frequently runs very deep.

I’m game if you the viewer are, so let’s get to a new table and see what rppoker is talking about.

I am handed rppoker’s notes on this player, which read, “Massively aggressive as tournament chip leader from start to finish ... Runs deep often ... Very aggressive ... Bluffs a lot.”

Ok, let’s see what this player is all about. We’re in the money but short of the final table. This player does not disappoint. He is definitely aggressive. His playing style evokes the aggression and burning intensity of the song Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses, particularly the line, “You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me.” This player takes and won’t tolerate anyone trying to take chips away from him. WelcomeToTheJungle keeps betting and keeps taking.

Insert welcome to the jungle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2...

We reach The Final Table, and WelcomeToTheJungle is transformed into something altogether different. He stops getting involved in hands. It’s as though his poker superpowers have suddenly gone away.

The passive approach pays some early dividends. Although his chip stack dwindles some, all the folding results in several pay jumps. We are now six-handed. The blinds are at 1,000/3,000. WelcomeToTheJungle has 23,686 chips. He continues to stay out of the way for the most part.

Then, the following hand takes place. WelcomeToTheJungle plays a hand from the big blind. It is three-handed heading into the flop. It goes check-check-check after the flop. After the turn it goes check-check-check. The river card is turned up, and the board is dynamic and scary. The board reads A-K-K-Q-7 with three hearts. A flush is a possibility. A straight is a possibility. A full house is a possibility. Even though there has not been any action after the flop or turn, there are still a good amount of chips in the middle due to the out-of-control size of the blinds plus the pre flop calling chips. WelcomeToTheJungle goes all-in. His two opponents both snap fold. Rather than simply collect his chips quietly, WelcomeToTheJungle shows his cards, which are ...

... 10s-2c. He had absolutely nothing.

Welcome to the Jungle, indeed. Savage. Absolutely savage.

I expect WelcomeToTheJungle to now go on a raising binge, but he does the opposite.

He goes back to staying out of the way. He seems to be laying in the tall grass, waiting for a big hand. Waiting to explode out of the tall grass like a lion in the jungle.

The blinds increase to 1,750/3,500. WelcomeToTheJungle has 29,936 chips. He is in fourth place out of six remaining players.

WelcomeToTheJungle keeps folding. Meanwhile, the chip leader is absolutely running over the table, playing most of the hands and raising not calling most of the time. I suspect he is stealing the blinds over and over and over as the rest of the table seems powerless to stop him.

Six players remain. WelcomeToTheJungle is last in chips with 22,936. The table chip leader takes a hand off (maybe he got a phone call), and it folds to WelcomeToTheJungle in the small blind. I expect WelcomeToTheJungle to go all-in with any two cards in order to try to steal the blinds and boost his dwindling chip stack. Instead, WelcomeToTheJungle gives his neighbor a walk. Who is this patient guy?

The chip leader has 105,089 chips. Second place has 35,000. It’s a one man show right now, and that man is not WelcomeToTheJungle. The chip leader busts a player, and his towering stack now stands at 126,493. There is a sense of inevitability to who will finish in first place.

WelcomeToTheJungle gets it all-in bad when his K-Q runs into A-K. WelcomeToTheJungle flops a queen and turns another queen. He wins the hand and stays alive. He got lucky. Very, very lucky. It helps to run good. He is now second in chips with 49,072.

Another player busts. We are four-handed.

WelcomeToTheJungle gets a walk in the big blind. That helps.

The blinds are 2,000/4,000.

The chip leader opens for 12,000. WelcomeToTheJungle goes all-in. The chip leader folds. WelcomeToTheJungle has 71,000 chips. The chip leader has 103,000. The gap has lessened.

The blinds are 2,500/5,000.

WelcomeToTheJungle is in the big blind. The chip leader limps. WelcomeToTheJungle checks. The flop is 10s-6h-5s. The chip leader maintains his role as the aggressor at The Final Table and bets 10,000. WelcomeToTheJungle folds.

WelcomeToTheJungle keeps folding.

Finally, he plays a hand and his pre flop bet wins him the blinds.

WelcomeToTheJungle gets it all-in terrible when his A-2 runs into A-K, but the runout of cards results in a chopped pot. Lucky.

WelcomeToTheJungle gets a big hand. He has Ah-Kd. He gets it all-in against a much shorter stack who has Qs-Js.

The run out of cards is Qc-4c-2s-8c-10h. WelcomeToTheJungle loses a 30,022-chip pot. He still has 51,461 chips.

Then, WelcomeToTheJungle goes all-in with 2s-2c. It’s not really a hand you want to get called. He doesn’t get called by one player. He gets called by two players. A player who WelcomeToTheJungle has covered puts all of his chips in the middle with As-7c. The chip leader calls with Ah-3s. The run out of cards is Ad-Qh-6d-10d-7h. WelcomeToTheJungle is out of the tournament in fourth place.

Although the 10-2 bluff that got thru was absolutely wicked, the play of WelcomeToTheJungle was not nearly as aggressive as rppoker’s notes on him would have led us to believe. It could simply be the case that sometimes the hunter becomes the hunted. It could be that the cards simply would not cooperate. Maybe sometimes the other player is just better. Hard to say without seeing the hole cards.

Oh, one last thing. You know that sense of inevitability that the long-time chip leader at the table was going to win the tournament as he ran over the other players for a lengthy period of time? He busted in third place.

rpReporter signing off.

Poker action at the Paris while the WSOP is far off in the distance, and how I can make it about me

The WSOP may be a long time into the distance, but there is still poker action taking place at the Paris in Las Vegas. I just stumbled across something fascinating from six weeks ago.

Per news3 in Las Vegas: "A Danville, California resident struck it big in Las Vegas, winning a $471,316 jackpot at Paris Las Vegas on Monday, September 15. Lien C. hit the mega jackpot after playing for three hours, achieving a seven-card straight flush."

https://news3lv.com/news/local/california-resident-wins-471316-jackpot-in-las-vegas

KSNV

California resident wins $471,316 jackpot in Las Vegas

This has me wondering, which is more unlikely?

-- An amateur like me winning a huge field WSOP event for close to $500,000.

-- Making a seven-card straight flush for close to $500,000.

A seven-card straight flush, are you kidding me? How does that happen? I've made a five-card straight flush only once (and got no action from my opponents). A seven-card straight flush seems as mathematically impossible as winning a mega lottery.

I have a pretty big imagination, but it's not begin enough to dream about making a seven-card straight flush.

I ask artificial intelligence what the odds are of making a seven-card straight flush, and the answer comes back ... 1 in 4,180,767.50

.................

If you are interested in the math (per Google's A.I.) ...

"The odds of getting a seven-card straight flush are approximately 1 in 4.2 million. This is calculated by dividing the total number of possible seven-card hands by the number of possible seven-card straight flushes.

"Possible hands: There are \(52C7\) possible seven-card combinations from a standard 52-card deck, which equals \(133,784,560\).

"Straight flushes: In one suit, there are 8 possible seven-card straight flushes (A-7 to 10-A). Since there are four suits, this gives a total of \(8\times 4=32\) different seven-card straight flushes.

"Probability: The odds are calculated by dividing the total number of hands by the number of straight flushes: \(133,784,560/32\approx 4,180,767.5\). This is often rounded to 1 in 4,180,768."
.................

I can't vouch for the math above (I didn't even try), but if I simply take artificial intelligence's word for it, I'm thinking the answer to my question near the beginning of this post is, I am more likely to win a WSOP mega field tournament than I am to make a seven-card straight flush.

So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

(Interesting tidbit: I tried to get A.I. to create a drawing of me with two thought bubbles. In one thought bubble was a seven-card straight flush. In the other thought bubble was the fantasy of winning a WSOP tournament. A.I. was incapable of creating a seven-card straight flush. I tried 20 times, and each time A.I. apologized profusely and then got it wrong yet again. Apparently a seven-card straight flush breaks A.I.)

A day spent on the couch watching pro football ... I eventually leave the couch to avoid marital woes ... Family dinner ... Some Sit-n-Go poker action ... A real tournament ... a freeroll ... The most useless quads in the history of poker

Usual Sunday for me.

This means I am planted on the couch watching the NFL. In the early window I mostly watch the Lions-Vikings game because two of my favorite former Michigan Wolverines play for each team (Aidan Hutchinson for the Lions, J.J. McCarthy for the Vikings). Once that game ends, I switch over to see the absolutely insane finish to the Bears (my hometown)-Bengals game in which the Bears blow a 14-point lead late in large part because the Bears screw up on the Bengals onside kick. Once the Bengals take the lead with less than a minute to go, then it is their turn to screw up as their woeful defense allows a long TD pass with something like 15 seconds left to play.

In the late afternoon window, I watch the marquee matchup between the Chiefs and Bills until it is time to go out for family dinner. It’s a shame to miss the end of this game, but, if I want to stay married, I have to get up off the couch at some point.

Softening the blow is the fact that we go to dinner at my very favorite restaurant.

When we return home, Mrs. rppoker and I play our dog Astro’s favorite game of doggie in the middle as we throw his beloved bouncy-beepy ball back and forth.

Eventually it is back to the couch for me to watch the Sunday night football game between the Seahawks and Commanders. I haven’t played poker today, so I decide to play some cards. I don’t feel like committing to a full-blown tournament, so I play in two Sit-n-Gos (back-to-back). I can’t explain why I draw a distinction between not feeling up to a tournament while being OK with Sit-n-Go play, but that was my thinking in real time. I finish second in the first Sit-n-Go, and then I come in third in the other. Both are in the money. So, small improvement in the online poker bankroll.

The Seahawks-Commanders game is close to being over. Well, from a competitive standpoint it has been over for a while. But there is still a little bit more time to play. Knowing that the game will be over soon, I decide to sign up for a full-blown online tournament. Just as I click the button to register, the Commanders dynamic quarterback Jayden Daniels gets hurt in garbage time of his team’s blowout loss. The score is 38-7 at the time. There are about seven minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter. The elbow injury seems serious. His elbow is immobilized and he heads to the locker room.

I’ve never understood why NFL teams keep their starting quarterback in on either side when the outcome is long and overwhelmingly decided. They all do it. I don’t get the reasoning. Get the starter out. Why risk it? Is it so they can pad their stats? Get them on the sideline. No one gets hurt there. Get the backup some reps. Keep the starter in one piece.

My thoughts on this subject matter end as soon as my tournament begins. There are 82 players, 15 get paid. Starting stacks are 3,000.

I recognize four quality players at my table. I have extensive notes on them. It’s a tough table draw. I don’t fear any of these players, but I know they are good. The rest of the players at the table, however, are insane. In fact, I also have notes on a couple of the bad players.

On the first hand of the tournament, I am UTG+1 and I have A-Jo. The blinds are 10/20, so I open 60. Four players call. The flop is Jd-7s-2s. It’s about as good of a flop as I can hope for. The big blind bets 40, I bet pot to thin the herd, and everyone folds.

Almost immediately, the players at my table go crazy. Mostly it is the people I don’t recognize/have notes on, but this makes for some tough decisions for the regulars at the table.
A really patient player I have played against a bunch faces a ridiculously massive all-in pre-flop shove. He calls with J-J and loses to K-Q which gets “there.” I know this player is reluctant to play for it all with J-J on the very first hand. He is a thinking player whose superpower is his willingness to take his time in a tourney, play quality cards only, and bluff when the spot seems good with decent equity. But villain’s bet seems so spewy that I suspect ThinkingPlayer feels he has to embrace variance in what looks to probably be (and in fact is) a coin flip.

Another player I have no history with goes all-in massive into an unopened pot in two of the first five hands. He does the same thing maybe a half-dozen hands after that.

I get dealt K-K in the cutoff. I hope, hope, hope one of these spewy players gets out of line. Instead, there are only two limpers. I make a raise whose sizing is solver approved versus two limpers, and I get two calls. The flop is A-8-9. Kings are Ace magnets. Still, the Ace hits my range much more so than the two other players in the hand. I decide I will take one stab at it. I bet half pot and my opponents fold. I’m up to 3,778 chips (13/73). The tournament has started nicely.

The next hand I play I am UTG+1 and I am dealt As-Qc. The UTG player opens the betting. I have notes on this player. My notes say this player is extremely, extremely tight and usually has a big hand when voluntarily putting chips in the middle. My notes are so adamant that this player is a nit that I almost fold A-Q. Instead, I just call. Four other players call. The flop is Ad-Jd-9d. Nitty from UTG opens the betting. Yes, I have flopped top pair, strong kicker. But I don’t have a diamond. For Nitty to open the betting, it screams strength. It screams A-K with a diamond, which crushes me. A-Q with a diamond is possible, although I block that. A-J is possible and has me badly beat. I don’t believe Nitty would open the betting pre-flop with A-10. I also don’t believe Nitty would have opened UTG with A-9, but even that has out flopped me. And if Nitty has K-K or Q-Q, it is not in his nature to open the post-flop betting when there is an Ace on the flop (although maybe with a diamond). I just don’t see many/any holdings that Nitty would play that I am ahead of. I unhappily fold. Everyone else folds as well, so I have no idea what Nitty had, but my money is on A-K with a diamond. I either missed out on an opportunity to double up (unlikely) or I avoided major trouble. Either way, I have 3,642 chips (18th of 67 remaining), which is very playable.

I am moved to another table. At this new table there is only one good player that I recognize, but she is very short stacked.

Almost as soon as I arrive at this table, all hell breaks loose when there is a full house versus a busted flush draw versus top pair good kicker for heaps. The winner is a player my notes say is a weak but sticky player

When I am in the big blind, I am dealt 10-9. There are two limpers, and then a player my notes say is extremely, extremely tight raises fairly large. I’d like to see a flop with 10-9, but against this particular player I decide to fold. She has Q-Q and doubles up versus the weak but sticky player mentioned in the prior paragraph who had K-3s and turned a K to take the lead, but then Q-Q gets there when a river Queen hits.

I am moved to another table yet again. Darn, the table that I leave has a bunch of exploitable players.

Now, as for my new table. Yikes. I have 3,434 chips (28/52). The player to my immediate left has 18,723 chips and is the tournament chip leader. How on God’s green earth can someone have this many chips this early in a tournament?

The player two to my right (2nd in chips at the table) with K-10o min bets. The player to my immediate right also with K-10o goes all in for 2,200 chips, The original bettor calls. Seems kind of thin to play such a big pot relative to the blinds with K-10o.

The player to my immediate right goes all in huge again on an unopened pot.

Over and over people are eager to play really big pots at this table. I decide I need to be patient and wait for a quality hand since this table is overly eager to play for stacks.

The massive, tournament leading chip stack to my immediate left is willing to call a big bet from a chip stack my size very, very light from what I’ve seen. I really want to get in a hand against him when I have a quality hand.

I am dealt K-Qo at 150/300, and I open 900. The mega stack to my immediate left calls, which means nothing from what I’ve seen. A brand-new player to the table makes a massive all-in bet. It’s his first hand at the table and I have no read to go by so I think I have to assume it means something big. I fold. Had I called, I would have been in a coin flip situation against the big all-in (8-8), and I did not notice what the player to my immediate left called off with, but I would have lost. Forget being results oriented, given that the large shove came from a new player, the possibility that K-Qo was dominated struck me as very real. On the other hand, by folding I was down to just a smidge over 6 big blinds, so maybe I needed to call it off. I didn’t realize how low folding would leave me. That said, at a live tournament I think K-Qo is in trouble. Online, maybe I have to go with it. I have 1,989 chips (33rd out of 36 remaining).

People are busting at this table like crazy

In the small blind I have 1,419 chips (31/32) and am dealt 9-8o. There are a bunch of limpers. I just call, I don’t improve, and I fold to a bet.

I have 1,229 chips (31/32). The blinds go up to 200/400. I just paid blinds, so I can wait a tiny bit, but I have to get it in this orbit. I need a hand with some equity, because everyone will be after my bounty.

The cards remain cold ...

8-3 (fold)

9-2 (fold)

Q-2o (close, I fold)

Q-2o (I fold)

J-2 (UTG I fold, which is a questionable decision given that I at least have a bit of paint, and I’m in the blinds the next two hands)

What’s with all the twos I’m getting dealt when I’m desperate for a hand.

The blinds go up to 300/600

I’m in the big blind and I have K-7. There are two huge raises before it’s my turn to act, probably going after my bounty, I have to go with it.

I am facing garbage and J-J. I turn an open-ended straight draw, plus a King will get me there. I don’t get there and go out in 24th place.

I’m tired. I’m not feeling it. I don’t feel like I am ready to play my A-game. I pass on an entry fee tournament and sign up for a freeroll instead. (500 players to start)

In level 2, a player who has lost most of his chips, and has gone dark (sleep mode) only has less than the ante left so their cards play. Amazingly this player has A-A, flops a set, and turns quads. This may be the most useless quad Aces in the history of poker. He blinds out very quickly anyway.

The highlight of this freeroll for me comes when I have A-9o in the big blind. I think three or four of us see the flop. There is no betting after the flop or turn. After the river a huge stack makes a min bet and I call correctly with Ace high.

We go on break, and I think that one call was only time I voluntarily put a chip in the middle. A nothingburger of hands. I have 2,071 chips (180/371). I am pretty much at starting stack (2,000)

I will be in the big blind after the break. There are two limpers. I have K-10o, and I call. The flop is K-2-3 rainbow. I have top pair, mediocre kicker. I can’t be bothered with kicker problems. I need to pick up chips. I go all in and take it down. I have 4,231 chips (158/352).

I have A-Ko on the button. There is a limper, followed by a raise to 1,620, I go all in. The big blind calls with A-3s, limper folds, raiser calls w/6-6. The flop has a King in the window (yay me) and a 6 out the door (poor me). My pair is crushed by a set and I’m out. Had the King in the window held I would have had 11,304 chips and things might have been interesting. If something unfortunate like this has to happen to me, a freeroll is the ideal place.

Random Q - why not travel to Vegas or somewhere else for a little mini-series of tournaments to get some reps in with live poker? Even on regular weeks in Vegas you will find plenty of decent ones to play, and Venetian obviously almosts always have some kind of series going on.

Sounds much more fun than (mostly) just playing online, although I get that you are married and getting approval from your wife might be the biggest hurdle here 😀 But I think that would be way better practice for WSOP; to face actual humans and getting more used to their patterns rather than the button-clicking often taking place online.

It's a reasonable question.

Yes, I would love the idea of going to Las Vegas to get some live play.

But you have also hit upon the reason I am not doing so. I'm married.

As it is, this Fall I will be going to four University of Michigan football games with my best friend who I have seasons tickets with. And while I love playing poker, I love going to Michigan games more. In addition, this Fall I took an overnight trip to play in a couple of MSPT tournaments. My wife is exceptionally understanding of all of this. I don't want to take advantage of her letting me do the things I enjoy.

So yes, Las Vegas several times a year sounds awesome. But no, I'm not going to push my luck.

I try to embrace poker technology ... it does not always show me love ... at times it makes me angry ... and still I try to make nice ... it’s the only way to get better ... finally, some breakthroughs

Tonight is rppoker versus technology. Early on technology runs me over like a LAG player steamrolling a TAG player who is getting no cards.

For starters, I had this post entirely written, photos downloaded, and copy edited. I was about to hit send when I got greedy and decided I needed one more A.I. piece of artwork to complete the post. I accidently hit the wrong button and I exited my unsaved document. All my work gone, all my words lost. I take the bad beat like a champion, OK I’m lying, I go on momentary life tilt.

This reminds me of the time when I was still a sports writer and I covered a Cincinnati Bengals game in which RB Corey Dillon ran absolutely wild. He was unstoppable and ran for a huge rushing total. I had finished the draft of my column, waxing poetic about this amazing performance, using whatever passed for a laptop way back then and all of a sudden something went horribly wrong and everything went bye-bye. I had to rewrite from scratch. Wasn’t happy. No time for unhappy. I had to write fast.

In any event, this post’s subject matter was/is the fact that I have decided to put in some time studying. Not exactly back to the poker basics. More a matter of specific areas I want to study.

I fire up GTO Wizard. I know that this is going to require me to get outside my comfort zone and try to create simulations and/or customized drills. I know that has the potential to go very badly.

What this means is a head’s up battle between Old Man Coffee (me) and modern technology (GTO Wizard).

I try to keep up with the times and with technology, but at 63 years old I often find this to be a frustrating, uphill slog.

The first spot I want to study is how to play K-K post flop when the flop contains an Ace. I try several different times unsuccessfully to create the simulation I have in mind. My frustration is mounting, and my dog Astro senses I am unhappy and he bails, heading upstairs to find Mrs. rppoker. After more false starts, I finally figure it out and create my simulation.

I study this for a while, but then I stop. I can study this more in a day or two. I decide that tonight is going to be all about getting comfortable with the technology that is GTO Wizard. I’ve used GTO Wizard in the past, but I never tried to customize anything on it. I need to get good at doing so.

The next thing I want to be able to study is playing properly on the money bubble. I have dealt with the bubble three times at past WSOPs and twice in MSPT events in my short live poker playing career. I think this is important to work on. The good news is GTO Wizard has already created bubble play practice drills.

I go through these drills for a while. Again, now that I know this exists, I can practice more in the next couple of days.

Onward in my challenge. My next area of study proves to be the most difficult. I want to have drills for how to play against limpers. GTO Wizard does not have drills for this as best as I can tell. OK, time to create my own drills.

This was not easy. Failure. More failure. Still more failure. Stunning failure. Frustrating failure. Angry failure. Finally, I figure it out. Eureka! I have created drills for playing against a pre-flop limper.

I work on the drills for a while when I notice something. The drills I have created only have me playing 15 BBs. I want something deeper. I try to create drills in which I am 35 or 40 BBs deep. I get nowhere. I input what I am certain is the proper information, but it doesn’t do what I want.

I try and I try and I try. No joy. I can’t figure it out. I give up. Fifteen BBs deep will have to do for now.

While I am stymied and admit defeat in my quest to create drills for facing a limper when 35-40 BBs deep, I have nonetheless had some successes working with GTO Wizard to create a simulation and some drills on subject matter I have been wanting to drill down on. I’m going to take this as a win.

Just as a new poker player has to learn to embrace a learning curve that can end badly, I have to embrace the fact that there will be missteps and frustration in my quest to use poker technology to get better at the game. The one bit of positive news is that when the technology baffles me, I will not need to maintain an unreadable poker face. Whether it is a look of puzzlement or anger, I won’t have to hide what I am feeling.

Premium cards, bad results ... Mediocre cards, good results ... A strange night of poker

Busy day at work. Good busy. I’m not complaining.

My daughter is out of town, so I go to dinner with her long, long, long time boyfriend. He asks if we can go to an Indian restaurant he likes. I’ve never been to an Indian restaurant, but I’m game. The menu has a bunch of stuff that I’m not sure exactly what they are, so I take a leap of faith and order a shrimp with lots of spices dish. It was quite good. The boyfriend (who is like family at this point) offers to pay for dinner. I won’t hear of it. But I appreciate that he made the offer.

I get home and eventually I settle down to some poker studying. My attention span is short, so I decide I’ll play a little bit of online poker.

I’m tired, so I don’t take down my usual notes.

Not that I needed to take notes for this 80-person turbo bounty tournament. Hand #1 of the tourney, I am UTG and look down at Q-Q. I open and it folds to the button, who raises. I re-raise. Eventually all the chips go into the middle pre flop. This was reckless of me. At some point I probably should have just called. But it’s a turbo, so I just figured you have to build a chip stack somewhat fast. And also, it’s a bounty tourney. I go for a quick bounty. The reality is that unless villain is punting off his stack (which definitely happens in these turbo events) it should have eventually become clear to me that I was only flipping versus A-K or dominated by A-A or K-K. He had A-A and I’m out of the tournament on the first hand in last place. Yeah, I was that guy. You know how tournament poker is supposed to be a marathon and not a sprint? Well, I just ran the 100-yard dash.

Can’t end the night on that note. I sign up for a large field tourney (741 players). I can’t connect with any boards, and before you know it, I have lost half my starting stack. Then I have A-K suited, a fair number of chips end up in the middle as I’m all-in against two players. I flop the nut flush, and just like that I am healthy in chips once again.

From there I don’t get a ton to work with, but I find just enough spots to successfully bluff that I am able to make a deep run, albeit it never with a huge stack. I make the money. I make the final four tables. I’m still hanging around when we get down to four tables. I am low on chips when we get down to two tables. I connect with a couple of flops and I am out of the danger zone briefly. We are down to 12 players. Is it really possible I can make a final table without the benefit of very many good hands? It is not. The blinds have become a huge problem. I get it in with K-Q suited and lose to A-10.

Talk about tournaments being polar opposites. In the first tournament I get dealt a premium (Q-Q) on the very first hand and I run into A-A. In the second tournament I get very few premiums and somehow navigate a 741-person field to almost make The Final Table. Almost.

I decide to play one more tournament. 75 players, 12 get paid.

At my first table, the player to my immediate left is the strongest player at the table. The player two to my left is very spewy. These assessments are based on my notes on them from prior tournaments.

The strong player to my immediate left wins an enormous pot on the first hand of the tourney. Great, just great. He’s strong, and he has chips.

A player busts the second hand of tourney. I’m in no position to mock, having busted the first hand of a tournament earlier.

Another player busts on fifth hand. This table is ready for blastoff.

The strong player to my left is very active, very aggressive, very strong. I’ll call him StrongAsOx

StrongAsOx turns his A-3 suited into the nut flush, he gets paid, and he now has 7,380 chips. Meanwhile, I have folded from 3,000 to 2,920.

Table change. Good, I suspect StrongAsOx was going to be a problem. I have very few notes on my new opponents.

I have yet to play a hand, and the field is down to 57 from the original 75. We are still just in level 2.

Finally, I get a hand. Not just a hand. THE hand. I have A-A. I 3x open and get two customers to come along for the ride. The flop is Ks-3s-10d. Please let someone have a King. I bet small, something like ¼ pot. The table chip leader, who seems splashy and averse to folding from what I have seen, calls. The other guy folds. The turn is the 10h. I don’t love this card. Table Chip Leader bets. I can’t give him credit for a 10 just yet. It is entirely possible he sees the scare card and is trying to pounce. I call. The river is a beautiful Ace. Now I don’t care if he has a 10. I have a full house. Table Chip Leader bets ½ pot. I min raise. He folds. I have 5,092 chips, which has me in 13th place out of 56 players remaining.

Very soon thereafter, I am UTG+1, and I am dealt Ac-Ks. The blinds are 30/60. I open to 180. Two players call, and then the massive table chip leader, who has been pushing the rest of the table around light and getting “there,” raises to 756. I re-raise, putting an additional 1,752 chips in the middle. Table chip leader and one other player call.

The flop is 4c-Kh-7h. I have enough remaining chips to bet half the pot. All-in. Both players call. There are almost 14,000 chips in the middle.

I have top pair top kicker. Table chip leader has 7-7 for a set. Somewhere in the distance I hear taps playing for me. Amazingly, table chip leader does not win the hand. The other player (who has shown baffling cards thus far at showdown) has 4s-Qh, and runner-runner hearts gives her a flush. Somehow, my A-K flopped a King and finished in third place in the hand. I thought the almost 14,000 chips were mine. I thought wrong. Another really quick exit for me.

Wow. Just wow. I am speechless.

I do believe I am done playing for the night.

WSOP-Circuit, Grand Victoria Casino, Elgin, Illinois
Event #1: $400 entry fee, 40K freezeout No Limit Hold’em, $50K GTD

Today is a geographically desirable live event for me. WSOP-Circuit has found its way to a location that is just under an hour drive for me. The roads are clear. The skies are sunny and clear. This would be great football weather if I were going to a college football game instead. It’s 54 degrees. Ideal Midwest Fall weather.

As I am driving, I see a truck with “Mr. Electric” painted on its back. I instantly think, gee, it would be awesome if I could take on the persona of Mr. Electric at today’s poker tournament. I am easily amused.

At one point my car’s GPS keeps announcing that there is stopped traffic in four miles. Again, it tells me that there is stopped traffic in three miles ... in two miles ... in one mile. Finally, I get to ground zero and see why traffic is stopped.

I say with annoyance out loud, “It’s called a stop light.”

Yes, I am talking to my car.

I arrive in Elgin. The roads are battered. There are construction cones and detour signs everywhere. It doesn’t take long until I reach the Grand Victoria Casino.

I park. I walk into the casino. I don’t need a player card because my WSOP player card is good here. The WSOP has made an attempt to announce its presence.

I register quickly. It is as easy as 1-2-3, which is fitting because I see that my table is number 123.

I stumble around a bit trying to find where I will be playing. I am told to go to where the boat begins or something like that, then turn in such and such direction, and then take the stairs down. I stumble around some more unsuccessfully. This is not a problem, as I am 30 minutes early for the 11:00 a.m. start time.

I find the tournament area I will be playing in. Since it is below ground, there are no windows. The ceiling is low. It has the look and feel of an oversized basement. None of the pageantry of the WSOP in Las Vegas.

I’ve brought my early Winter jacket with rather than a hoodie, because I am tired of freezing in live venue poker tournaments. Even though I am early and the room is relatively devoid of poker players, it is toasty warm. This is a nice change of pace.

I don’t have a backpack with me, since at the Hammond, Indiana WSOP-Circuit I played in recently I was told by security that backpacks were not allowed in the casino. As players start to trickle in, I see that backpacks are allowed here.

I locate two separate bathrooms for future use.

I sit down at my table, and I learn that this is a freezeout. This is a surprise to me. I had brought two bullets of cash with me, but I am more than fine with the format. I kind of prefer a freezeout to a rebuy, although I have learned to embrace the rebuy aspect of most poker tournaments.

My table is as follows:

Seat 1: Me

Seat 2: Georgia (Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt)

Seat 3: Stylish (cool sweater, cool shades)

Seat 4: AlreadyWinning (when he learns he is the button to start play, he says, “Already Winning”😉

Seat 5: LadyLuck (she arrives an orbit late and sits down as the button)

Seat 6: Muscles (powerful arms)

Seat 7: Chargers (L.A. Chargers hat)

Seat 8: Squinty (he squints his eyes when trying to read the cards the dealer turns over)

Seat 9: RockfordOrange (orange Hard Rock Rockford) sweat shirt

Before cards are in the air, Georgia tells me he is off to a bad start. It seems like he tried to win back today’s poker entry fee in the pits, and it did not go well.

The tournament begins ... the table bet sizing starts out bigger than anything I’ve seen before

Cards get dealt. Starting stacks are 40,000. Levels are 25 minutes long.

Level 1
100/200/200

In my first hand I have A-10. There are four limpers. I make it 1,200. Two players call. The flop is Q-J-10. It goes check-check-check. The turn is a 6. I decide I will bet if it checks to me. Instead, Squinty makes a healthy bet, I fold and then other player calls. The river is an Ace. Had I stayed in the hand I would have two pair, Aces and Tens. I also would have lost to Squinty’s two pair Aces and Jacks.

In the small blind, I have 8-7. Squinty limps. I complete my blind. Big blind checks. The flop is Q-J-8. Squinty bets, I fold, big blind calls. I don’t know it yet, but Squinty is very LAG, very active, very aggressive. The turn is a 10. At showdown Squinty wins with 10-4. OK, now I am starting to get the picture. Early on, Squinty is involved in pretty much every hand.

The table as a whole is very different than I am accustomed to in that players are opening 4x to 6x pre flop and frequently getting multiple callers.

End of Level 1: 37,900 chips.

Level 2
200/300/300

Once again, this level, players are opening way bigger than is considered standard. Opening bets of 5x and 6x are frequent, and they are getting called. The table is also very sticky after flops.

Stylish busts when his Q-8 pre flop gets it all-in and busts against A-K.

I am getting nothing playable. I think to myself that this is a good time in a tournament for this to happen since the blinds are so low.

End of Level 2: 37,100 chips.

I run a fully committed bluff ... I’ve not only got my opponent fooled, I have the entire table fooled ... The room goes from toasty to frigid

Level 3
200/400/400

People have stopped opening 5x and 6 pre flop, but they are still opening 4x and usually getting 2-3 callers.

I get dealt Ac-Kc and open to 1,500. Someone raises to 4,500. Someone else calls. I decided to just call and assess after the flop. The flop is 10c-8c-2s. I have the nut flush draw and the nut overcards. I still haven’t made a hand, but there are a lot of cards that can help me. I haven’t played a hand since very, very early in Level 1, so I think my image is such that I can take the lead betting, and I put 11,000 chips into the middle. One player folds, and RockfordOrange goes into the tank. He is staring me down. I stare back. He calls. The turn is 3d, which changes nothing. Rockford Orange does not seem confident to me. I decide I can blow him off his hand. I go all-in. If he calls, I can still get there on the river with a bunch of outs. RockfordOrange again goes into the tank and again stares me down. So, I again stare back. Finally, he unhappily folds.

Phew. I would have felt pretty stupid bluffing it all off and going up in flames with only Ace high in Level 3 of a freezeout.

As the dealer takes my cards and pushes me the pot, Muscles says, “Don’t you want to show?”

(I do not)

Georgia says, “He wasn’t bluffing.”

(Yes, I was)

AlwaysWinning says with certainty, “He had pocket tens for a set.”

(No, I didn’t)

It was a stone-cold bluff (with some equity) for all my chips in Level 3 of a freezeout. I don’t know if this constitutes recklessness or progress. I have 56,400 chips. I feel like Mr. Electric!

A new player wearing a Detroit Tigers hat now arrives and fills the vacated Seat 3. Everyone keeps coming up to him to congratulate him for winning a satellite yesterday, and then also winning some gimmicky drawing. He will turn out to be a good, thinking player.

The room that was toasty warm before the tournament began has now turned cold. What is it with poker tournaments and their decision makers’ need to put the players in an icebox?

End of Level 3: 56,400 chips.

Facing a trio of aggressive players who are unbluffable ... I have a game plan but I need playable cards to execute

Level 4
300/500/500

UTG makes an opening bet. I am UTG+1, and I fold A-10 off suit. Normally, you would say that A-10 off UTG+1 is way behind an UTG open, but at this table it’s not a certainty. Still, I tell myself not to play medium strength cards at this aggressive table where some of the players refuse to fold before the river card.

In particular, Muscles, Chargers and Squinty (at the other end of the table from me) are unbelievably active. At least one of them is involved in (and usually first to bet) in almost every hand. Plus, they do not seem willing to fold post flop and post turn. They are kind of unbluffable, so I have decided to only play quality cards and probably get paid off over multiple streets when I have it. Of course, I will need to actually get dealt quality cards.

AlwaysWinning gets involved in a massive pot against LadyLuck. AlwaysWinning has A-K on a board of A-6-J-J-10, which is no good against LadyLuck’s A-J. AlwaysWinning is down to crumbs.

My table neighbor Georgia keeps chasing flushes that don’t get there, and he is growing frustrated.

End of Level 4: 53,800 chips.

We go on break. I take stock of the tournament thus far. I have been dealt one premium – Ac-Kc – that flops a flush draw, misses on the turn but I bluff my way to a big pot. Otherwise, I haven’t been dealt anything playable. Yet, somehow, I have increased my starting stack by 34.5%.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that from the moment I set foot in the casino, my allergies have flared up. The icy temperature of the poker room is also not helping. I am starting to get an occasional, irritating cough from this. I feel kind of lousy. This sucks.

I look at the time on my phone, which is 12:45 p.m. Playing in a windowless room, it feels more like night time. Average in chips is 41,864, so my 53,800 chips are healthy.

6-6 in early position at a table with hugely aggressive players ... the Three Musketeers ... I try to steal the big blind of Tigers and he takes a mighty swing

Level 5
300/600/600

I am dealt 6-6 in early position. I limp, which is dangerous given the aggressive nature of this table, but I don’t see any other way to play this. I know, I know, never limp as the first person in the pot, but I think this is the way to go. Surprisingly, no one raises. That doesn’t mean there is not action. Six of us see the flop. Good, I think I’ll either lose a small pot or I will win a really big one if a Six arrives on the flop. It does not. The flop is J-5-2. There are two checks. I check. Then someone bets, someone else calls, and I am only too happy to get out of the way.

Georgia busts, but it is not because of his propensity to chase and miss his flush draws. He has trip Jacks, but he loses to a full house.

I am in the cutoff, and surprisingly the Three Musketeers (Muscles, Chargers and Squinty) who have been aggressively opening betting with a huge frequency all decide to take a hand off. I am in the cutoff with K-10o. I open the betting 2,000, and everyone remaining folds. I have 54,700 chips.

When I am the button, it folds to me. I have 9-7o and I bet 2,000. Tigers in the small blind pops it to 7,000. The big blind folds. I fold. I tried. Tigers and I are talking later on a break, and he says he had Q-Q. I have 51,200 chips.

In the 2 seat, vacated by Georgia, a European player joins the table with late registration chips.

End of Level 5: 51,200 chips.

A-A from UTG ... the Three Musketeers rachet up the aggression even more ... A-Jo shrivels before my very eyes before I can even act

Level 6
400/800/800

From UTG, I am dealt As-Ac. This is terrible timing. I have not been very active at the table, primarily because I have not been dealt very much. For me to open the betting from UTG, I am certain that everyone is going to race for the exits as though I opened my jacket (it’s still really cold) and brandished an AK-47. Why couldn’t I get dealt A-A in late position so that the hyper aggressive triumvirate of Muscles, Chargers and Squinty could start off the betting? I’m not going to limp for fear that we go 6-way to a flop, which would be a disaster for A-A. I bet 2,500 chips. Sure enough, people start insta-folding. They can’t muck their cards fast enough. It reaches Squinty in the big blind, and he calls. At least I figure to win something for my efforts. The flop is 9-9-6. Squinty checks. I bet small. Just a mere 2,500. He folds. I have 54,900 chips.

A player in a Green Bay Packers sweat shirt joins the table in seat 9.

AlwaysWinning who was reduced to crumbs quite some time ago, has doubled up a couple of times, but is still low on chips. He finally busts when his 9-7 suited loses to A-Q.

Muscles, Chargers and Squinty rachet up the aggression even more. One of them raises pretty much every hand. They try to stay out of each other’s way, preferring instead to inflict their reign of terror on the rest of the table. I really want to get in a hand against them given they have to be raising light a decent amount of time, but I am getting dealt almost nothing playable. The A-A hand is an outlier.

End of Level 6: 50,900 chips.

Level 7
500/1,000/1,000

I am in the big blind and have A-Jo. Chargers opens the betting. I have every intention of raising him. Unfortunately, Packers acts before me and he raises big. This is the first hand he has played in the almost two full orbits since he joined the table. It’s nitty, and maybe it’s a mistake, but I fold.

A new player arrives in Seat 4. He says he just posted the big blind at his prior table and now has to post the big blind in his first hand at our table. Furthermore, he is wearing a hat that says BB3 (Big Blind to the third power, but I can't get it to appear that way here). Of course, I name him in my notes as “BigBlind.”

I mark my notes, “I can’t find a hand/spot to bet.”

End of Level 7: 48,400
(Tournament chip average is 50,159 so no need to panic)

3-3 in the big blind facing a large small blind bet, and I’m not sure what to do ... I go after Tigers’ big blind again, but this time he believes me

Level 8
600/1,200/1,200

Euro busts when his 9-9 is up against A-K, and there is an Ace on the flop. He barely played any hands.

Tigers says Rivers Casino (very near where I live) has a Monday NLHE tournament. I did not know this. I’m interested. I ask Tigers for more details. He says it plays 10-handed the entire tournament. I’m not interested.

I’m in the big blind with 3-3. Surprisingly, it folds to Packers in the small blind. He opens 4x. It’s a large-sized bet. I’m not sure what to do. Calling for this many chips, merely to set mine seems bad. If I miss the flop, all three cards are likely to be over cards to my threes. Then what do I do? Raising is a possibility. I consider it. But all I’ve got is a pair of 3s. I’m really not sure what to do. If I raise and he really has a hand, I will have unnecessarily donked off a bunch of chips. My default in these situations is, if in doubt as to what to do, fold. I fold. I’m not sure this was the right play.

I am on the button, and it folds to me. I have 9-9. Of course I open, and I bet 3,600. The small blind folds. Tigers from the big blind folds. Tigers says to the newish small blind, who he seems to know, that I tried to steal his big blind once before, he had Q-Q and he raised causing me to insta-fold. Tigers says to the small blind, “He was f#^cking around last time given his insta-fold. He’s not f#^cking around this time.”

End of Level 8: 45,400 chips

We go on break. Average stack is 51,587. I’m not in terrible shape, but the lack of playable cards is getting to me. And when I’ve had something, the spots have been pretty dicey much of the time. Still, I’m above starting stack

A mini rush of quality cards ... I bet, they fold ... I bet, they fold again ... I bet yet again, they fold again ... I notice half a tell on Tigers ... I open with 6-6, and BigBlind says he’s had enough of my recent aggression

Level 9
1,000/1,500/1,500

I have 30 big blinds. Don’t panic. Still, it would be nice to get some cards.

In the second hand back from break, I am in the cutoff and it folds to me. I have Q-J suited. I open for 5,000. The remaining players fold. I have 49,000 chips.

The very next hand, Squinty limps. I have A-K and raise chunky. Everyone folds. I have 54,500 chips.

The very next hand I get dealt J-J. I open the betting. Everyone folds. I have 58,500 chips.

It’s a mini rush of cards.

I mark down in my notes that I have half a tell on Tigers. I’ve been noticing for a while that whenever he gets involved in a big hand, his chest heaves more than usual with breaths. It’s not like he is hyperventilating, but I can see a difference. The problem is none of these hands get to showdown. Thus, I don’t know if the breathing pattern represents a bluff or a big hand.

When I am in the cutoff I have 6-6. It folds to me, and I open the betting for 5,000. BigBlind, who interestingly enough is in the Big Blind, has taken notice of how aggressive I have gotten this orbit, and he says, “That’s enough,” and he calls. The flop is A-10-4. He checks. An Ace is way more in my range than his, so I bet and he folds. I have 62,000 chips. Tournament chip average is 54,486.

End of Level 9: 62,000 chips

A tournament changing hand ... Chargers is the only player still playing massively aggressively at the table ... The blinds are starting to nip at my heels

Level 10
1,000/2,000/2,000

It folds to me on the button, and I have A-J suited. I open the betting for 6,000. The small blind who is somewhat short-stacked goes all-in. Big blind folds. It’s another 26,000 for me to call. It’s a tough decision. The small blind has seen me get very, very active during the last orbit. It’s possible he is making a move with a medium pair. It’s also possible he has me dominated. On the one hand, we are a long, long way from making the money, so chip accumulation is necessary. If I call and win I will be just short of 100,000 chips (just under 50 BBs). If I call and lose, I will have 30,000 chips, which is still 15 BBs. In my mind it’s a close decision. I am suited. At some point I need to build my chip stack, and I can’t wait for only the nuts to do so. I’m not euphoric about doing so, but I make the call. Villain has A-K suited. I lose the hand. All of the improvement in chip stack last orbit is now gone. Time to play a short stack.

Of the aggro triumvirate that once was Muscles, Chargers and Squinty, only Chargers has remained aggressive. Muscles and Squinty have lost a whole bunch of their once towering chip stacks, and now they seem like they have to wait for a premium hand to act. Chargers, on the other hand, is in an incredibly high percentage of hands. Most of the time his aggression wins him pots before showdown. He has been pounding my big blind, and I haven’t had anything that would allow me to play back at him. I am not the only player he has been targeting. Furthermore, when he does get caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he keeps getting “there.” It’s a pretty unbeatable combination – play aggressive, get there.

Chargers has Q-10, and he cracks Packers A-A to send the Green Bay football fan to the exits.

I am down to 25,000 chips, when I am dealt A-Jo. I go all-in. Everyone folds. I have 30,000 chips.

End of Level 10: 25,000 chips

A-K and the question is do I bet small to induce action, or do I go all-in?

Level 11
1,500/2,500/2,500

Chargers continues to run roughshod over the table when his 9-9 busts the big blind who has A-10 suited.

I get dealt A-K UTG. I go all-in for 25,000 chips. Everyone folds. Maybe I should have just bet 7,500, but I think that betting 3x for value makes my hand look way stronger than if I bet 25,000. I thought going all-in would make it look more like I was just trying to take down the blinds and would be more likely to get called than if I bet 7,500 and seemed like I was betting for value. In any event, I win the blinds and have 31,500 chips.

A player with a massive chip stack arrives in seat 4. He looks like former Michigan football head coach Lloyd Carr.

The blinds are becoming a massive problem for me, and, unfortunately, I don’t get dealt anything that will allow me to get my chips into the middle.

End of Level 11: 18,500 chips.

The blinds have become a big problem ... The Land of Any Ace

Level 12
1,500/3,000/3,000

I am dealt A-4. I will be in the blinds again in two hands, which will decimate me. I am in any Ace territory. I’ve waited patiently as long as I can wait. I go all-in. Tigers calls with J-J. I’m out.

There have been 337 entrants thus far (late reg is not over). There are 135 players remaining when I bust.

What do I take away from today’s event?

Tournament recap: It was a frustrating day. I never felt like I could get all that much going. In 12 levels I got dealt either seven or eight premium hands. But a lot of the time it was bottom end of premium (a bunch of A-J), a couple of times I ran into bigger hands or the betting was so heated that I had to fold, and the one time I was dealt A-A, I was UTG and got very little action. There just weren’t that many “spots” for me to target. I felt like I was pushing a giant boulder uphill most of the day. I felt overmatched and kind of helpless today, although perhaps the confluence of aggressive players at my table combined with my well below average cards/made hands made success improbable even for a better player than myself. As for the venue, the poker room itself was kind of dreary, and it the temperature was too cold. I don’t know why the powers that be at various tournaments I have played in think it’s a good idea to inflict frigid discomfort upon its customers. The dealers were all good.

I get home and eventually play some online poker ... the results are maddening

I get home and hang out with Mrs. rppoker for a while, and when she gets tired I go online to play in a couple of tournaments. I didn’t take notes, but here is how they ended:

Online tournament #1

I am again/still card dead.

A-8 makes a very questionable all-in bet (that has me covered). I get it all-in with A-K (CO) vs A-8 (UTG) for what will take me to an average, playable stack

The run out of cards is ...

... A-Q-2. I’m looking good. Then we see the turn ...

... 8. Well, that is both painful and unpleasant. The river is ...

... A blank.

... I’m out

Online tournament #2

I register for another tournament. I have a solid stack when the following hand takes place. Two players both limp. I am on the button with 9-9 and bet enough to put them all-in. To my surprise, they both call. They have 8s-7d and As-6c respectively. I have 59.9% equity.

The flop is Kc-7h-6s. Both villains have a small piece of the flop, but I am still ahead. I have 60.8% equity.

The turn is 9s. I now have a set. A-6 is drawing dead. Somehow, the 9 on the turn that gave me a set has increased the number of outs 8-7 has from five to eight, but my equity has improved to 80.95%.

The river is 5s giving villain the winning straight. Sigh. This is getting old. While it is not a two-outer that runs down my set of 9s down, it was still a long shot. And long shots are finding ways to beat me with annoying frequency. This hand pretty much derails me as I am now short on chips, and I get knocked out in short order.

Not happy .... variance has not been my friend

I’m not asking for sympathy here. I know it is part of the game. But it is really dragging me down. What I’m feeling increasingly is the fact that variance has not been my friend.

Have I lost focus of why I started this poker journey in the first place? ... Am I a grinder or a fun seeker?

I started this journey because it was cool and it was fun. It stayed that way for quite a while.

But now that I am taking improvement more seriously, it is feeling less like fun and more like work. The fact that I have. been very, very frequently card dead for excruciatingly long periods on an almost non-stop basis lately has been really frustrating. And while the bad beats have slowed down (at least before tonight), they are overwhelmingly happening at my expense and rarely in my favor. Plus, I find myself being impatient when it comes to progress online. I am still close to my high-water mark in terms of my online bankroll, but lately I seem to just be treading water and I’m not feeling OK with that, which is dumb.

Adding to my tale of woe, WSOP-Circuit and MSPT tournaments lack the big-time event feel I love at the WSOP. It’s a lot of driving to mundane venues, which is very different than the bigger than life feel of the WSOP as an event and Las Vegas as a location. I also think that committing to 12-13 days at the WSOP makes it much easier to accept a bad day’s result, since there are so many days to follow of play, whereas when I play in a MSPT or WSOP-Circuit it is only for 1-2 days, meaning one bad beat or one bad tournament is tougher to absorb/stomach since there is not a tomorrow.

Also, all the note taking for my thread, all the time it takes to write up my reports, edit them and post them is taking a toll. On the one hand, I really enjoy the writing. Maybe even more than the playing. But it’s a lot of work, time and effort.

I am feeling poker burn out. I think I need a break. I’m not giving up on poker. But I think I liked poker much better when it was less nonstop. The amount I am playing, if I’m being honest with myself, is not enough to rapidly make me catch up with the competition. Yet, this amount of playing is making poker less fun for me. Maybe this is all of the run bad, followed by lengthy card dead, talking. I’m not sure. But if I am looking in the mirror and being completely honest with myself, I am a looooooong way from being good. To get good, I will have to really grind. So, I have to ask myself, is the point of all of this to get really good (which will take a long time and more hours than I probably have to give as a business man/married man/family man) or is the point to just have fun. It seems to me that the two options are at odds with one another for me. Originally, the whole idea was to put myself in The Arena, but to mostly treat it as fun. Mostly treat it as a hobby. My tendency in life is to try to get really good at something once I get involved in it, but in the case of poker it feels like this is having a negative impact. I think I’d rather have fun because 1) fun is fun, duh!, and 2) I’m not sure at my age if I really have the time and inclination to put in the amount of work get to really good. I don’t know. I’m just rambling at this point. I don’t think the perfect answer is reachable right this second.

But, yeah, I think a break is what the doctor ordered. I have gotten way behind on my reading, which I love to do. Books (non-poker) by my favorite authors are piling up in my home office, waiting to be read.

I think it’s time to read some of them, and allow my poker playing to take some time off and recharge its batteries.

DogFace, thanks for your thoughts. You always have an interesting perspective, always seem to get me, and always offer good advice. Greatly appreciated.

Finally some live poker 😀 Since I love hand histories, here are my comments on some of them:

You started this hand with less than 100bb, and given the 'dead' cold-caller I think AKcc is a hand that you should look to 4-bet here preflop. And if you are going to 4-bet, I think that a jam is the only sizing that makes sense. Both because you can pick up 10500 chips if both opponents fold, and also because it's hard to find a sizing that doesn't look committing. Making it something like 15k with 22k behind is an option, but you are OOP and pretty much forcing yourself to jam most flops except the most horrible ones.

As played I also don't love the lead on this flop. I like that you followed through on the turn, but by leading out here you are basically folding out antyhing worse and only getting called by hands that have you beat. I think your hands functions much better as a check-jam all-in on the flop, especially given the pot size. Already 14500 to the flop I believe, and if you check and the raiser bets something like 6k, you have a very good stack to just jam over and promote fold-equity. And if you get called it's no big deal either, as you will have a ton of outs (all clubs and possibly A and K as well).

Opening the button is probably a decent idea with your image, even with a hand as weak as 97o. I will just point out quickly something smart that Jason Koon said on a podcast a couple of months ago - when everyone has folded to you on the button that means a lot of small cards have likely been folded by the players who acted before you. So the chances of finding high cards behind you is actually slightly bigger than you might think at first glance.

I think this is fine, considering you have no information on 'Packers' and you wrote that he seemed like a solid player. Also, if 'Chargers' have a wide opening range and you can complete the action from BB going heads-up (let's say that 'Packers' folded), it wouldn't be terrible to just take a flop and keep his dominated hands in. That said, I don't hate the idea of a 3-bet either, and I am trying to work in more 3-bets from the BB into my own game.

I would call here. Seems you are still around 40 bb deep, and there are other boards besides flopping a set that could be decent for you. Furthermore, if you call him once on the flop, that might freeze the action and he will check to you on the turn. You can then decide if you want to bluff or take a free card and try to get to showdown.

This seems like a very clear call given BTN vs SB and the fact that you had seemed a bit active recently. AJs is a great hand against a fair bit of the hands he could be jamming here.

-----

Overall it seems you didn't have a ton of great hands to work with and an aggressive table. I know it's easy to feel like you are playing too passively at these type of tables, but sometimes the timing and the right cards are just not popping up at the right time. Although with your OMC-image you could obviously experiment throwing in one loose 3-bet against a player who you think will give you a lot of respect. Especially if you have a blocker-hand, like A-low or KTo or similar. These are not good enough to call in most positions, but seems like decent candidates for a light 3-bet.

New approach, no more personal poker rules

OK, it's time to tear up my personal poker rules sheet.

Well, I don't actually have my personal poker rules on a printed piece of paper, but I have a mental poker rules sheet somewhere in my brain.

Near the top of the now discarded list is, don't play distracted. To heck with that. I am going to multi task. It's a Saturday, which means I will watch a lot of college football. I start the day watching the Texas Tech-BYU game. I also register for a 124-person online NLHE tournament, 18 get paid. My plan is I will play the tournament during the first half of the early window college football games, and I will watch the second half of the games poker free. I do not have my trusty notepad at my side for note taking. The emphasis is on fun over poker growth. After awhile, I decide that the Texas Tech-BYU game is not competitive enough, so I switch to the Indiana-Penn State game (which delivered massive, insane, unbelievable, legend-making drama).

So, I'm watching college football and playing in an online poker tournament.

And something amazing happens. I run good. I run very good. I get dealt a slightly above average amount of good hands. Plus, when I have premiums, the flops are ideal. Also when I have monsters, my opponents have just enough to bet into me or call my bets when they have the worse hand.

When I have A-K, my opponent has A-J and there is an Ace on the flop. I get my first bounty.

When I have 9-9, pre flop there is a limp, a bet and I just call. The flop is K-9-2. I check, an aggressive villain bets, I call. The turn is a 7. I check, villain bets, I call. The river is a 3. There are no possible flushes or straights. I check, villain goes all-in, and I call. Villain has K-3 suited. He flopped top pair and rivered a second pair, which was no good against my set of Nines. I win another bounty.

When I have A-J suited against another aggressive player the flop is A-A-7. A-J suited got me crushed in the recent WSOP-Circuit event when it ran into A-K suited in a crucial hand. Nonetheless, on this flop, I block A-K or A-Q. It's possible villain has A-K, but I can't assume my opponent has the nuts every time they bet. I know this villain is aggressive and will bluff light if I simply let him do the betting for me, which is exactly what happens, he doesn't have a better Ace, and I win another bounty.

Now that I have shown down monsters in which I simply checked called all the way to the river, I now decide that when I have it I should start betting. This approach wins me a couple of nice pots. Also, it let's me steal some blinds. Then I try to steal the blinds a couple of times very light (i.e. 4-2 suited, 5-4 suited) and receive enormous resistance and fold. One time the small blind had Q-Q and the big blind had A-K. The other time the small blind had A-Q and the big blind had 9-9. I got off pretty unscathed.

The best part of today has to do with bad beats. I don't suffer any. I don't deliver any bad beats, but the deck running pure is a lot better than what I have been experiencing for a while now.

I get into the money, and unfortunately I go card dead the rest of the way. I steal the blinds with middling cards a couple of times after the table sees me folding for a while. I make The Final Table last in chips. I try to be patient, but when the blinds arrive I have to fold 2-7 in the big blind, but from the small blind I get it all-in with A-7 suited. I have run in to K-K. Pocket Kings are supposed to be Ace magnets, right? Not today. I finish in 9th place.

So, the take away from today is that watching college football leads to getting great cards when you play online poker. After all, I have been running terrible while playing totally focused poker. Today I play unfocused poker and suddenly the deck loves me.

Based upon my sample size of this one tournament, the evidence is overwhelming that playing distracted poker leads to tournament success.

What's that? You say a sample size of one is mathematically and statistically lacking? You say that the correlation simply does not exist? Yeah, I know. I can't dispute the skepticism.

But most important, I had fun today playing distracted poker. I have combined my two favorite interests -- college football and poker. It's my personal version of peanut butter cups ("Two great tastes that taste great together").

Hey BigWhale, thanks for the hand history analysis. Always interesting to read your thoughts.

Operation Distracted Poker

After going out to dinner with Mrs. rppoker, we get home and play with our dog Astro. When Mrs. rppoker gets tired, I go downstairs to watch college football and play online poker.

The football game I watch on TV is the second half of Alabama-LSU (and eventually Nebraska-UCLA). Once again, I am breaking my previous rule about not playing distracted poker.

The 80-person poker tourney starts out well for me. I win a couple of bounties and have a healthy chip stack. I am getting paid when I have it, and people are folding when I am bluffing.

I am getting a decent amount of premium hands, and no one is delivering bad beats to me.

When we get somewhat close to the money bubble, I go card dead. I have sufficient chips to bide my time, so I stay out of the way. The money bubble bursts, and I am 8th in chips with 12 players remaining. We are playing six-handed at two tables, so I open up my game. I am UTG with 2-2, and I open 3x. I hold my breath. I do not want to get called. Everyone folds. Phew.

I increase my bluffing. I’m getting away with it.

I get dealt A-A. I just limp in from early position. A very aggressive player senses weakness and goes all-in. Obviously, I call. Villain was bluffing with junk. The run out of cards is pure and now I have a chip stack that must be taken seriously. I now increase my pre-flop bluffing even more. I’m not a maniac, but I pick my spots well, and everyone keeps folding to my aggression.

The Final Table bubble bursts. I am 3rd in chips. Given that we are now nine-handed along with the fact that there is an aggressive player who has the chip lead by almost 4-to-1 over the next most chips, I decide to tone down the bluffing. I am getting enough good hands and bluffing just the right amount to slightly increase my chip stack. A key hand comes when a player limps, I raise with 9-9, and the limper, who I have covered goes all-in. This is an uncomfortable spot,. A pair of Nines is a good hand, but it’s not Aces or Kings. I am pretty certain I have to call, which I do. Turns out villain shoved light with A-8o. I fade an Ace and even though my chip stack has increased, I am still 3rd in chips.

It gets down to four-handed. The massive big stack still has a 4-to-1 chip stack compared to the rest of us who are pretty even in chips. I now really increase my aggression. I create some distance between myself and the two players who I had been even in chips with. I cut into the chip leader’s stack, although he is still tops in chips.

Chip leader then busts both of the other two players in the same hand.

We are now head’s up. He has close to 70% of the chips. I get even more aggressive. I cut into his chip lead. I narrow his chip lead some more. I am now even with his chip stack. I take the chip lead. I extend my chip lead some more. Then all of his chips are in the middle. I have A-6 suited. He has 4-4.

It’s a coin flip. If I win it’s over, and I get first-place money. If I lose, I won’t be decimated, but I will be short-stacked.

I don’t win the coin flip.

I’m not dead yet. I turn up the aggression even more. My chip stack doubles, but I’m still way behind. I chip away some more. Then I am all in. I don’t remember the cards for some reason, but I think it was something like I had A-7 suited, and he had J-J. I know Kings are Ace magnets, but are Jacks? They are not. I lose.

Even so, second place is a very nice result. It brings my online poker bankroll to $92.63. I started playing online a little under four months ago with $5.00 in my account, which Global Poker provided as a sign-up bonus (I refer to it in dollars because it is easier to read, but it’s actually Sweeps Coins in which one Sweeps Coin is redeemable as $1.00). This is my first time above $90.00 ($92.63 to be precise). It’s too bad I lost the A-6 suited versus 4-4 coin flip, which could have won me the tournament and my bankroll would have climbed above $100.00. It would have been cool to reach triple digits. Something to aim for.

So, let’s recap my day. I played in two online poker tournaments today while watching college football at the same time. The first tournament had 124 participants. The second tournament had 80 players. I made The Final Table in both tournaments. While watching college football at the same time. Once time might be a coincidence. But twice surely must be ... OK, fine, still a coincidence. A sample size of two is still tiny, but it is double a sample size of one.

I’m just saying.

So, the original game plan was to play in another WSOP-Circuit event in Elgin five days from now. But after a less than exciting experience a few days ago at the same WSOP-Circuit, I said I wasn’t really loving playing in regional events and was leaning toward only playing live at the WSOP in Las Vegas.

Do my two final tables today online change my mind? Do these positive results make me think I am good enough to keep playing in regional events?

My mind is not changed. Today’s two final tables online don’t change the fact that I just don’t find the regional events to be exciting to play in. It’s too much work to get to these regional events. More importantly, they lack the pageantry of the Las Vegas WSOP. Plus, since I only can play one or two events in the regional events from a time perspective, I lose the whole I get to keep firing vibe of my Las Vegas WSOP schedule. The nice thing about playing online is if one tournament does not end well (which is likely since only 15% of entrants cash) I can simply play in another one shortly thereafter.

I like having the ability to keep firing when one tourney ends out of the money. Losing in a regional event and then having to take the drive home with no ability to keep playing is kind of a bummer. It’s not that I’m afraid of the caliber of competition at the regional tournaments. It’s simply a matter of I don’t find the regional events to be bucket list exciting.

I like DogFace’s suggestion to replace the regional events with one 4-5 day offseason (away from my summer WSOP schedule) Las Vegas trip for live tournament play. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find the right time to make this work. I can’t really do it during college football season since I go on four weekend trips to go to Michigan football games. Maybe something in January or February could work, although it’s possible Mrs. rppoker and I will be heading somewhere warm (Arizona, California, Florida or Hawaii are under consideration) during that time to get away from the Chicagoland cold during those months.

What I do feel confident of is I just lack enthusiasm for regional events. A couple of days have passed since I played in the WSOP-Circuit event in Elgin. I still don’t feel any desire to play in additional events at that venue over the next couple of weeks.

I think I am going to stick to online play and Las Vegas play. Online, I’d like to increase my online bankroll some more, and then maybe I’ll take a step up in stakes to see if I can be successful there.

I’m also going to stick with my recent epiphany that I need to catch up on my reading. I have a number of books written by favorite authors of mine that I am eager to read.

All future poker decisions will be made with consideration given to +EV in fun, even if it is -EV in the maximization of poker results. Hence today’s decision to play in online poker tournaments while I also have college football games on.

Here is what much of my day looked like today (real photo, not an A.I. generated drawing): Online poker + college football + my dog Astro snoozing at my side on the couch.

Operation Distracted Poker gains more momentum

The very next online tournament. I continue with Operation Distracted Poker as I am watching the Chicago Bears versus New York Giants game while I play.

109 entrants, 18 get paid.

I make it into the money 7th in chips.

As it is nearing The Final Table bubble, I get it all-in with J-J against A-Q. It's another coin flip.

The flop is K-K-2 rainbow. So far, so good.

The turn is 8. I'm one harmless card from having a stack that can get me to a final table yet again.

The river is an Ace. Ace on the river. I'm out.

So, let's recap Operation Distracted Poker. I have played in three tournaments since this operation began. I've cashed in all three tourneys. I've final tabled twice, and in the other tourney I busted near The Final Table bubble when I lost a coin flip. And in one of my final table appearances I finished in second when I was a coin flip away from winning the whole thing.

I've got to work on winning coin flips. Maybe I need to check the coin used in the coin flips to see if it is heads on both sides and I'm being assigned tails.

Nonetheless, that's three consecutive positive outcomes for Operation Distracted Poker. Am I statistically pertinent yet? I mean, once could be a fluke, twice could be a coincidence, but three straight times is becoming a pattern.

Operation Distracted Poker continues to make the money ... although it does experience a horrendous bad beat

It's the late afternoon window of NFL games. Operation Distracted Poker continues while I watch the Detroit Lions versus the Washington Commanders game.

When I look for something to play online, the only thing I can fire up right away is a massive freeroll that offers cash prizes (Sweeps Coins = cash) as well as serving as a satellite to an even more humongous freeroll (top 100 finishers qualify from the flight that is now running). There is some late registration still going on, so I figure why not, and I enter. There will ultimately be 1,977 players.

The blinds are already getting high and after folding for a bit, my chip stack is already about to enter the danger zone. I hit the hyper aggression gas pedal, and my table keeps folding. Then I get a couple of premium hands. Before you know it, I am table chip leader. After a while I slow down a bit. I don't want to donk off all my chips. Still, I use controlled aggression.

I make the money (top 306). As we approach the top 100 satellite ticket bubble, I look down at A-A. I get into a raising war with a player I have covered (by some, not a ton). He is all-in. I am happy to fully commit. A very short stack has also come along for the ride. I am good on the flop. But on the turn there is a King. I don't hit my two-outer on the river, and my Aces have been cracked. Had my Aces held, I would have been third in chips in the entire tourney. Instead, I am now somewhat of a short stack.

The top 100 bubble bursts, and again I go on hyper aggression mode. I triple up when my K-10 suited wins. The blinds are absolutely massive. Finally my aggression gets the best of me when my A-6 suited runs into something I am ahead of but hardly dominate, and I get out flopped and lose.

I go out in 66th place. My online bankroll gets a bit of an increase.

Plus, I have a free ticket to play in the Grand Prix Turbo Series: SC 5,000 Final Sprint which has a first prize of 915.00 (Sweeps Coins = cash) later tonight.

I have family dinner tonight at a restaurant, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to play.

In any event, Operation Distracted Poker has now delivered profitably in four consecutive events.

The winning streak comes to an end ... Have I stumbled upon a new playing style?

Operation Distracted Poker's winning streak has ended.

While watching the the tail end of the Los Angeles Chargers versus the Pittsburgh Steelers game, I was playing in a 110-player online tournament tonight.

We have lost about half the field. I have not had a single playable hand when I am dealt Ah-10h on the button. UTG+2 (who has been pretty loose from what I have seen) opens 3x, it folds to me, and I call. The blinds fold.

The flop is 8h-7h-4c. I have in the ballpark of 18 BBs remaining. It's a turbo and I need to manufacture chips if I want to become relevant. I go all-in. Yes, it's overaggressive. But I decide it's time to gamble. If I get a fold from villain, I will add some much needed chips. If I get called, I figure I still have a bunch of outs.

Villain calls with 6-6. He has third pair and a gut shot. I'm a little surprised he called. Nonetheless, I am a slight favorite as any heart, Ace or 10 will give me the lead. I don't get there, and I'm out.

So, the Distracted Poker winning streak is over, although I did not play a single hand while the football game was on, and the football game ended (and I turned off the TV) prior to my bust out hand. So technically, I was playing undistracted poker when I bluffed off all my chips.

I have two things to share. One is interesting, while the other may or may not be game changing:

1) There was a hand at my table in which every player but me saw the flop. I've never seen eight players see a flop before.

2) I think there may be something to be taken from Operation Distracted Poker, which is I was way less invested in my tournament life when playing this way, and this led me to make a bunch of extremely aggressive plays/bluffs that led to a bunch of deep tournament runs. I was doing way more bluffing than usual for me. For a change, the possibility of getting knocked out was unconcerning to me. Maybe caring too much about my tournament life is a leak in my game (some of you have made this comment to me in the thread before). Maybe pushing the envelope is a way to build up a big stack when it works with the downside being that I risk getting knocked out earlier than I am accustomed when it doesn't work. I know that when I play live (especially at the WSOP in Las Vegas) I have been extremely averse to a quick knockout since I really enjoy being a part of the event/tournament/circus. But given that no one cashes in every event, perhaps it is better to take more chances and either have a bunch of chips or have little to no chips. I'm going to have to give this some additional thought. Maybe I need to experiment a bit with this approach. This will quite possibly negatively impact my online bankroll, which I kind of hate since that has been something of a measuring stick for me. But I think I need to get over this and try out this new style for me to see how it fits. I'm not talking about becoming a total raving lunatic at the table, but I think I need to open up my game. This fills me with both excitement/anticipation as well as nervousness/dread. Maybe I should play my old style half the time, and then play this more wide open style the other half of the tourneys I play and then compare the results.

A great night of poker

I think I played the best poker of my life tonight.

I started the night playing in a 124-person online tournament while watching the NFL rock fight between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers on TV. In the poker tournament, I folded for a couple of orbits. Then I got to showdown twice with the winning, really strong hands.

Now that I have showed a couple of really close-to-the-nuts hands, I decide that I can now start bluffing. I bluff several times, and my opponents fold. Well, if they are going to keep folding, I’m going to keep bluffing. I rachet up the aggressive bluffing. Not to maniac level, but controlled, semi-relentless aggression. It keeps working.

Finally, someone plays back at me when I have “it.” They are all-in close to dead after the flop. They hit runner-runner, and deliver a bad beat to me. Sigh.

I still have a playable stack. Given that on the bad beat hand, I had a monster after the flop, I figure I can keep being aggressive since every hand I’ve had go to showdown, I had huge hands. Again, the table is folding to me. I rebuild my stack. Then, I have a well above average stack. Plus, the table has given me multiple walks when I’ve been in the big blind. They seem to want no part of me.

Finally, Take Two, someone who I have covered plays back at me after I flop a straight. They are all-in close to dead. They hit runner-runner and make a flush, and deliver a bad beat to me. Double sigh.

I still have a playable, but diminished stack. Once again, given that after the bad beat hand Take Two I had a monster after the flop, I figure I can continue with the aggression since I still have yet to show down anything but a monster.

Again, I rebuild my stack. I have A-K suited and I get it all-in against someone who has me covered. They have J-10. There is a 10 on the flop. I don’t improve, and I’m out in 41st place in a tournament where only 18 players will cash.

I didn’t even come remotely close to the money. Yet, I am thrilled with my play. I have never before had so much control over my table like this. When I had it, I kept getting called. When I was bluffing, the table kept folding. The other players completely backed down when I was in a hand. They seemed intimidated.

I opened up my game wide, and everything was working. Except for the three bad beats. If those hands had held up, I have no doubt that I would have had a massive (MASSIVE!!!) tournament chip lead.

Afterward, I am not at all upset. I am not pouting about my bad luck. I am ecstatic at how well I played and how much I dominated.

Process over results.

Right after I got knocked out, a freeroll tournament was about to start, so I figure why not. There are 732 players, 50 get paid.

The play in the early stages of these things is really spewy, so I mostly bide my time and only get involved with premium hands to try to eliminate some semblance of crazytown variance.

When we go on the first break, my chip stack is below average. Something like 3,000 chips. During the break, players have the opportunity to pay for an additional 4,000 chips. I don’t go for the add-on for a couple of reasons: 1) paying for add-on chips in a freeroll seems silly to me, and 2) the blinds are still pretty low, so I figure I can sink or swim with the chips I have.

I’m not getting many cards in this tournament, but I am finding just enough spots to steal that I slowly but steadily chip up and stay ahead of the blinds.

As we near the money bubble, I am amazed that I am still alive. I have really danced between the rain drops to last this long. With 65 players remaining, I am 35th in chips. At this stage of the tournament, almost all of the players seem decent or better.

The money bubble bursts, and now I really ramp up the aggression. The only people who will really get paid much are the top half-dozen finishers. It’s go big or go home time.

With 30 players remaining I am in 12th place with 60,782 chips. The blinds are 4,000/8,000 [1,200] so there’s not a lot of nuance to how you play a hand. I get involved in a key hand, when it folds to me in the small blind. I have A-5 suited, and I go all-in. The big blind calls with K-Q. I am ahead, and I stay ahead.

With 22 players remaining, I am 11th in chips with 84,382. The blinds are 6,000/12,000 [1,200], so if you get involved in a hand, you better win it.

With 19 players remaining, I am 14th in chips with I think something like 60,000 chips. My table is six-handed, and I am dealt K-10 suited UTG. We are on a pay jump, but I’m not nitting it up now just to fold my way to an insignificant pay jump. This is an opportunity to build a chip stack that can make me dangerous. I go all-in. Even if everyone folds, taking down the blinds will be of great outcome. A huge stack calls from one of the blinds with Q-9 off suit. OK, I got it in good. If I hold, I think I will be one of the top half-dozen chip stacks. I flop a 10, which is nice. Villain turns a Q, which is not nice. I miss on the river, and I’m out in 19th place.

Once again, I have played quality poker. Still, it was a lot of time spent for a very small financial gain, which does not matter.

Process over results.

No poker tonight

After dinner, I watch the second half (and overtime) of my Michigan Wolverines nail-biting, one-point win over Wake Forest -- basketball, not football. I missed the first half when Michigan built up a 13-point lead. I saw all of the second half when Michigan not only blew that entire halftime lead but also fell behind by seven points. Somehow, this utter collapse is my fault? Fortunately, the good guys mounted a comeback, got it to overtime, and with a razor-thin one-point lead survived Wake Forest's final errant shot of the game. Michigan 85, Wake Forest 84 (OT).

It's way too early in the college basketball season for me to have to deal with such a stressful game. I am smack dab in the middle of Michigan football season and all of its tension-filled games. College basketball season needs to cut me some slack right now. Michigan basketball is ranked #6 in the nation right now, so I will eventually be more tolerant of dramatic games on the hardwood. The upside is greater this season in basketball than football, but I am firmly in football mode right now. It's strange, when there is a dramatic game like this not involving your team, your reaction is, what an awesome, thrilling game. When it is your team playing, an absolute war like this is excruciating.

Once the game ends, I make good on my promise to myself to start catching up on my reading. No poker tonight. Or tomorrow night. Probably no poker the night after that. I have a bunch of books by some of my favorite authors to choose from. The time to begin is now. My selection is obvious.

I pick Dan Brown's latest Robert Langdon epic The Secret of Secrets. I choose tonight to start this book with a purpose in mind. Last night was Monday Night Football, so I didn't want to start then. Starting tonight is ideal because I want to finish the book before the weekend when watching football will be front and center for me. This book is 671 pages long, so starting tonight will fit my schedule. The good news is, I am an extremely fast reader and I can read non-stop for lengthy periods of time. I get through the first 237 pages tonight (Tuesday). I'll be done by sometime Thursday night. I am enjoying the read thus far. Twists, turns, codes, clues, extensive research, compelling villains, and the familiar star of the story in the midst of a global conspiracy. It's a page-turner. It's smart writing. I don't especially think there is a great evolution in the Langdon character or the story arc, but it is delivering exactly what I want, which is another rollicking Robert Langdon thrill ride.

The hoity-toity book critics have long been dismissive of Brown's books. The reading public loves Brown's books. I side with the reading public. My guess is the snooty critics probably find their usual reasons to pooh pooh this book, although I stopped reading what the critics have to say about Brown's books a long time ago. I think Brown's books are awesome. I just wish we didn't have to wait so long from one book release to the next. While Brown writes long, he also writes slow. It took him eight years from the release of his prior book (Origin in 2017) to the release of this latest novel. Physical books you can actually hold may cease to exist by the next time he comes out with a new book.

by rppoker m

A great night of poker

I think I played the best poker of my life tonight.

Again, I rebuild my stack. I have A-K suited and I get it all-in against someone who has me covered. They have J-10. There is a 10 on the flop. I don’t improve, and I’m out in 41st place in a tournament where only 18 players will cash.

Process over results.

THIS! You played fantastic in this tournament. You built a stack, and got it in ahead multiple times vs villains who didn't believe you. You took two bad beats, and rebuilt your stack each time. The deck conspired against you in this one, but from my perspective, you were the best player at the table.

I finish my mini poker break once I finish reading my book ... it’s time to play some cards ... I am bad at poker ... I am great at poker

I have just completed reading Dan Brown’s latest novel The Secret of Secrets.

It was an enjoyable read, albeit not quite as compelling as most of his earlier novels. Also, I was able to anticipate all of the twists and turns before they get revealed. This is something of a skill of mine. Frequently, when I am watching a movie with Mrs. rppoker, I will predict a twist in the story. When I turn out to be correct, she will ask me how I knew, and I always say, “Because that’s how I would have written it.” She doesn’t really ask me how I knew any more.

At 671 pages, The Secret of Secrets could easily have told its tale in 250-300 fewer pages. Were the book written by a less acclaimed author, an editor would surely have required significant cuts. But when the author has written as many international bestsellers and sold as many books as Brown has, he can write as lengthy a book as his heart desires. He’s earned the latitude.

Whenever he writes his next book, I hope Brown writes a non-Langdon book. I kind of feel like the Langdon character may be a bit played out. I would certainly read another book about the Langdon character, but I think Brown should spread his wings and write something new as he has done a couple of times.

Another Langdon book would strike me as something of a money grab. A sure thing success from a financial standpoint in much the same way as there are never-ending 007 movies. It makes financial sense. It doesn’t make as much creative sense. Regardless, when Brown finishes his next book, I will read it.

And now we return to all things poker (until I decide to read another book).

........

I turn on the Patriots-Jets game on Prime in the third quarter.

I register for a poker tournament. I don’t recognize anyone at my table. Everyone has 3,000 chips to start.

In the first hand of the tournament, I am dealt A-Ko UTG+1. I open the betting 3x to 60. I get raised to 228. Someone calls. I go all in, and I get called by A-Q (the other player folds). I wouldn’t play this hand this aggressively in a WSOP tournament, but in a bounty turbo online tournament I play it huge. The flop is J-6-2, and I’m ahead. The turn is a Jack. I’m still ahead and about to double up. The river is a 6. Sigh. Two pairs on the board and only the Ace in each of our hands plays. My kicker advantage just got counterfeited. We chop. The river cost me a ton of chips.

The very next hand I am dealt A-Ko again. I open to 80, and I get a call from the player I just chopped with. The flop is 2-3-10 rainbow. I continuation bet 100. Villain folds. I have 3,334 chips.

A bit later I have K-Qo. I open 3x and get two calls. The flop is A-5-8. I meant to bet 400 chips, but I misclick and my bet is only 40. I swear I hit the 50% bet button, so I don’t know how my bet was only 40 instead of 400. I get one call from the player I chopped the first hand of the tournament. It turns out he has K-8. I suspect he would have folded had my bet been 400. The board run out is A-8-5-5-8. It goes check-check on the turn, After the river, he goes all-in massive. I think he’s bluffing and is playing the board, as am I. He got it in bad against me during hand #1. And I pushed him out of a pot in hand #2. I think that if he has a 5 or an 8, he would bet for value rather than make such an enormous bet. I think he wants to try to outplay me here on what I think could well be a chopped pot. I call. He has an 8 for a full house. I am down to 490 chips. Stupid! Unnecessary!!! There was no reason to call such a massive bet when I am only playing the board. The reward of me calling and being right is a nominal amount of chips. The risk of being wrong was a huge amount of chips. I needed to stand down. I butchered this hand in every way possible. I misclicked after the flop and then compounded the initial error by going brain dead after the river. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I am down to 400 chips when I next get involved in a hand. There are two limpers, and I have 8-9 suited. I go all-in. Not because I think I will be ahead if I get called, but because this is a hand that can flop well, and I need to acquire chips. The sharks smell blood (more like they want my bounty) and three people call. On the one hand, three callers seems undesirable with any hand I could have. On the other hand, if I flop well and win I will have a playable stack. The flop is A-9-2. I got a piece of it, and when everyone checks, I think I might be ahead. The turn is a King. One player bets, two players fold. Villain has K-Q. I miss the river, and I’m out of the tournament.

I am fine with the last hand. I am not fine with how I played the second-to-last hand when I misclicked and then later punted away the bulk of my chips.

I am bad at poker.

......

I register for another tournament. The Patriots-Jets game has just ended. I decide I am going to focus on this poker tournament. Really focus. Laser focus. No distractions. I turn off the TV. I decide I will not take hand notes (well, for the most part I don’t take hand notes).

Total focus. I can feel The Force.

I slowly build my stack. Then I double up.

I make two big pre flop laydowns and both times I am right when villains have A-A (both times it went to showdown between two other players at which point I saw the pocket aces. One time I folded A-Q to an UTG raise, the other time I called a pre flop bet with 9-9 but when another player went all-in huge I folded).

With 23 players remaining I had two of the best players I regularly see running deep in these tournaments to my immediate left and a massively aggro player one player later. I have to pick my spots wisely.

I get away with an important bluff, when I have Ac-Js on Kc-10c-6s flop versus the massive aggro player I just mentioned (who has recently taken a pretty big hit to his chip stack). I was the preflop aggressor from the cutoff, and when he checks I put him all in huge and he folds. It was a risky play, but my read on him was that while he is extremely aggressive, when he checks after the flop and someone bets into him, he has always folded. Not once have I seen him slow play a big hand in a situation like this after a flop. When he bets, it doesn’t always mean he has it. But when he checks the flop, it has meant he will give up if he faces heat.

We go on break. There are 20 players left (15 get paid). I am 4th in chips.

I make The Final Table, and I am still fourth in chips.

I chip up to 3rd in chips when there are eight players remaining.

Soon thereafter I show discipline in a crucial hand. I am dealt K-K. I open 3x from early position. Shockingly I get four callers. I wasn’t looking for that many customers. I tell myself that if there is an Ace, I cannot continuation bet. If there is no Ace then I will show some aggression.

There is an Ace. The flop is A-9-7. Don’t do it. Don’t do it!! DON’T DO IT!!!!! There is a bet, and I don’t do it. I grudgingly/unhappily fold, and from there the chips fly into the middle. One player has A-rag (which has me beat). The other player has 9-9 for a set (which also has me beat). This hand could have ended me if I got out of line. I feel like patting myself on the back.

We get down to four players remaining. I am last in chips, but I nonetheless have a very playable stack. I chip up to third in chips, but then I lose a hand to a player I have covered when he is all-in with 7-7, I have A-J suited and I do not improve. I’m back to last in chips.

I find some good spots to successfully bluff, then I get some hands, and before you know it we are three-handed and I am chip leader.

I now completely change my approach. I have not been playing an out-of-line, huge number of hands. My table image is tight aggressive, although villains have seen a normal increase in my involvement in line with three-handed play. That now changes. I become the most aggressive player at the table. By a lot. I’m betting relentlessly. They are folding way too much. So, I keep betting. I have more chips than the two of them combined.

A player is eliminated and we are now head’s up. I have more than a 2-to-1 chip lead. I grind my opponent down, and finally he is all-in. He has A-7. I have A-6. I flop an open-ended straight draw. This could be it. I don’t get there. I am still chip leader, but now my opponent has a playable chip stack again.

Head’s up goes forever.

My game is wide open, I am betting light like crazy, and he keeps folding. In the small blind I take a limping strategy and then bet after the flop and he keeps backing down. He seems very averse to playing post flop.

At some point he starts going all-in from the small blind like 80% of time. I’m not getting cards in these instances. No problem. I’ll just keep folding my big blind until I have it. Especially since he is folding every time to my post flop bets after I have limped from the small blind.

We go on break. Our chip stacks are ...

Me: 182,228. Him: 69,772.

The blinds go up to 3,000/6,000 after the break.

I get him all-in pre flop during the very first hand after break. This could be it.

I have K-Qo and he has ... K-Qo. Well, that was certainly anticlimactic. We play on.

I get him all-in again, and I’m way ahead pre flop, post flop and on the turn. This could be it. He hits a river miracle card. We play on. I’m still chip leader, but he once again has a playable chip stack. This could take a while.

Villain continues his strategy of going all-in from the small blind waaaay more often than he can possibly have it. All I need is a hand I can call with. It finally happens. I have 9-9 from the big blind. He once again goes all-in. I make the call. He has 8-7 suited. This could be it. He flops an 8. He does not improve. He is out. I have won the tournament.

I am great at poker (see final sentence of previous tournament recap in this post)

......

The win results in my online poker bankroll blasting into triple digit territory for the first time (I started with $5.00 in my account, which was the sign up inducement from Global Poker a few months ago, and I have never had to reload). I am now up to $109.45. I am very pleased with the milestone of reaching a triple-digit bankroll. As I’ve said before, this pittance of money is not important. The accomplishment, however, is important to me.

......

Tonight is the perfect example of why I have made the very recent decision to forgo regional live tournaments (I was originally scheduled to play in a WSOP-Circuit event yesterday but chose to skip it) and just play online for the time being as I prepare for WSOP 2026. I played terribly in my first online tournament tonight, then played fantastic poker in my second online tourney. In a regional tourney I have been playing in just 1-2 tourneys, and when the results aren't great it's deflating since it's not so easy to sign up for another live tournament. The volume of online play makes it easier to deal with short term variance and/or the occasional punt.

I go on a poker reconnaissance mission, and I get to see a show far more entertaining than what I came for

I ate my lunch today at my desk at work. While I chomped away at my food, I went into the Global Poker web site on a reconnaissance mission. There is a player who has been showing up on the money bubble and in the money with some frequency lately. I’ve never been at a table with him until the late stages of a tourney when he typically is short-stacked.

My read on him is that he is a very tight player since I have seen him play very few hands in these situations. Based on an admittedly small sample size, my read is that he looks to fold into the money as well as fold to the final table if he can. I want to see if this is his style all tournament or if it is only a money bubble and final table bubble strategy.

I watch him for a while, and I see that he is actually kind of aggressive and at times spewy in the early stages of a tourney. Interesting. It’s not what I expected to learn. I tap my analysis on this player into my player notes.

This is not the entire purpose of this post.

Just as I am about to bail, I see a hand play out that does not involve the player I came to observe. It is a massive confrontation. Picture two planets colliding.

Now picture the two planets colliding from a poker perspective.

That is the devastating collision that takes place. It is carnage even more brutal than A-A versus K-K pre flop. In this case, the tsunami like ruination comes post flop.

The first player has A-K. The other player has 9-9. No big deal. It’s a fair fight. All of the chips do not go into the middle pre flop, which is ...

... 9-K-K. BOOM!!!!!!!!!

The first player has trips Kings with an Ace kicker, a monster. The other player has a full house. A bigger monster. All of the chips that can go in the middle, get shoved into the middle. The guy with the full house was the table big stack to begin the hand. If he wins this hand, he will be the tournament chip leader by a large margin.

The turn comes, and it is a ...

K

Holy S^*t!!!!! Quad Kings with an Ace kicker. The player with 9-9 and a full house is drawing stone, no-hope-for-survival dead.

This is Terminator versus Predator violence. Shield the eyes of your children. Go inside your house and lock the doors. Hide!! Run!!!! Say your prayers!!!!!!!!!!.

This hand is not the entire purpose of this post.

FullHouseNoGood still has a very playable chip stack, but my goodness, how does a person recover from that painful a hand and play good poker? The desire, the need to go on rage tilt has to be massive.

I decide to stick around for a little bit and watch how FullHouseNoGood handles the bad beat.

Turns out, he handles it pretty well. Plus, the deck seems to recognize that it has done him wrong and needs to make up for it.

Very shortly after the epic hand, FullHouseNoGood is dealt A-K, and he flops trips. He wins a big hand, and just like that he is third in chips on the money bubble.

Not long after that he wins another big hand with Jh-5s. Really? With Jh-5s? That’s what happens when there is a four-way hand played pretty passively, and the board run out is ...

5h-6h-7h-8h-blank FullHouseNoGood wins with his Jack high flush. He is now second in chips.

The money bubble bursts.

The Final Table bubble bursts, and when it does FullHouseNoGood is actually the chip leader (barely).

The deck continues to make good on the earlier bad beat, and when he flops a set of twos, FullHouseNoGood knocks out the first player at The Final Table. He now is the overwhelming chip leader. After a bit of continued great cards, FullHouseNoGood has three times the chips of the player in second place with six players remaining.

It gets down to four-handed, and FullHouseNoGood is still chip leader by a wide margin. He soon has more chips than the other three players combined.

Gravity reappears, and his A-J loses to 10-10 to bring his ascent back down to earth a bit.

It gets down to three-handed, and he is second in chips, but he is still close to the chip lead. He takes the chip lead back. The deck decides it’s done enough to make up for the earlier bad beat, and FullHouseNoGood’s two pairs lose to a set of threes. FullHouseNoGood still has plenty of chips, but he is no longer chip leader.

SetOfThrees is the chip leader, and he now goes on a big run of cards/winning hands. SetOfThrees builds a really big chip lead.

The other player in the final trio of players has been very passive. He hasn’t played many hands, which means the blinds eat away at his chips, and finally he gets knocked out.

We are head’s up. FullHouseNoGood has recovered from his horrendous bad beat to make the final two. Pretty impressive. Never any tilt, although the run of good cards may have eased the way.

The chip counts are ...

SetOfThrees: 207,913 chips

FullHouseNoGood: 89,087 chips.

On the first hand of head’s up play, FullHouseNoGood bluffs it all off over multiple streets. After the river, the board reads ...

9s-6c-Kd-2h-10s

FullHouseNoGood has A-5 suited. All he has is Ace high. His bluff has run smack into the two pair hand of SetOfThrees who has Kh-2c.

Still, FullHouseNoGood gets second place money, which is pretty impressive given the titanic beat he suffered just short of the money bubble.

This is the purpose of this post. If you still have chips remaining, a bad beat does not have to be tournament defining.

Tonight, I was the King Of Hardly Any Poker Chips.

Just grinding a short stack. All night long.

In my first tournament, it looked very promising initially. Promising didn’t last long at all.

I was dealt 6-6 from UTG+1. I just limped. A player in middle position raised. The button called. I called. Given that it was Level 1, it wasn’t that many chips to call. I figured the implied odds made the call worthwhile. I flopped a set, which I slow-played. I turned a full house. All the chips were in the middle from the middle position player and me. I was way ahead, but he hit a river miracle for a better full house. Another player wrote in the chat: “Dirty.” Already, I was down to 1,000 chips (starting stack was 3,000).

Time to grind a short stack. Mostly I folded. Occasionally I found a spot and bluffed my way to some additional chips. I got dealt A-A and slow played it which is dangerous but I needed a double up badly. A massively aggressive player saw my passive approach and blasted away. I was only too happy to get it all in and I had my double up. Even so, I was not flush with chips.

Very frequently during the tournament I was either last in chips or very close to the absolute bottom.

I flopped another set, slow played it and got another double up.

At this point, my table had seen me slow play a set on two occasions and A-A in another. Furthermore, every time I got to showdown I did so incredibly strong. At this point the table became very wary of me even though my chip stack didn’t warrant it. I took this to be an opportunity to open up my game. I started raising more frequently and the other players kept folding. When I was in a hand, they seemed to believe monsters were under the bed.

We got down to 18 players remaining, I was 12th in chips, and 15 players would get paid. It was a remarkable comeback to be a short stack almost the entire tourney, and now I was on the verge of cashing. A new player joined the table with an enormous chip stack a few spots to my right. EnormousChipStack started pushing the table around, as she was obligated to do as the table big stack.

There were still 18 players remaining, when I was dealt 8-8. It folded to EnormousChipStack who limped, which was unusual since she usually bet/raised. Then it folded to me in the small blind. For some reason I had a flashback to my 2025 WSOP. In the one tournament I cashed that year we were nearing the money bubble, but it wasn’t like we were only a handful of bust outs from the bubble bursting. The table captain was either highly entertaining or a pompous jerk depending on who you asked at the table. Opinions were very split. In any event, TableCaptain had seen his chip stack take a hit, but he wasn’t down to scraps. He had more than enough chips to fold his way into the money. Instead, he took a very aggressive, very thin line. While he waited for the dealer to turn over the community cards, TableCaptain said something along the lines of, “I’m not here for a min cash. I’ll either have enough chips to give myself a chance to make a deep run tomorrow, or I’ll bust before the bubble bursts.” The dealer turned over the community cards, and TableCaptain busted just short of the money. He did not act at all upset about the outcome. It was a worthwhile gamble to him. At the time, I thought he played the hand unnecessarily recklessly.

That was what was running through my head present day when EnormousChipStack limped, it folded to me in the small blind and I had 8-8. I was 12th in chips with 18 players remaining and 15 get paid. I could limp into the money. Maybe. It’s not like I was a big stack. But just limping into the money with crumbs did not move the needle for me. I saw the opportunity for more than a min cash. I felt like if I went all-in there was a great chance the big blind and EnormousChipStack would fold, which would be a good outcome. And if I got called by two over cards, it would be a coin flip. Not the end of the world. If I got called by a better pair, that would obviously be a disaster. But as played, I did not think the limping Miss EnormousChipStack had a better pair than me. She would have bet and not limped with a better pair than my eights.

I went all-in. The big blind folded. EnormousChipStack called and turned over A-Qo. I did not expect her to be that strong, but still, it’s a coin flip. Lose and I’ve lost my opportunity to min cash. Win and I’ll be 7th in chips, and then I can take my shot at a deep run where the real money is. The flop is K-J-rag. I’m still ahead, but I have to fade a whole bunch of the villain’s outs. The turn is a Queen. Sigh. I don’t hit a river two-outer and I’m out of the tournament.

My immediate thought is, I’m not at all upset. I gave myself a reasonably good chance at a chip stack that would give me the opportunity to go for the win. Given that I was an extremely short stack for most of the tournament, this is kind of remarkable.

I like the fact that I went for the deep run and not the min cash. This is progress. At the past two WSOPs, when I made my deepest runs I just min cashed. Making the money was all that mattered to me. I wanted the accomplishment. I wanted a Hendon Mob entry.

I like the fact that tonight I went for it. Villain limped pre flop, and I had 8-8. It’s not like I went all-in with 7-2o. I had a real hand and made what I think was a reasonable play. Unfortunately, I ran into the very high end of her limping range. Actually, I think I ran into several steps above what her limping range should have been. And even at that, it was a coin flip.

I lost. I made no money. I have a smile on my face. I think I made the right play. I Think I made the play that I would have avoided as scared money a few months ago. I’ll be curious to see what I will do if faced with a similar scenario in WSOP 2026.

......

I register for another tournament. I never really get anything going.

I have two problems: 1) I do not get many playable hands, and 2) the player two to my left is a luckbox calling station who is playing in every hand (no exaggeration).

So far CaptainCallingStation has been getting lucky, and he has a big stack. I have no doubt he is going to donk off all of his chips. I just hope it will be to me. Being card dead does not help against a player like this. The other problem is that when I do get a hand, I do not connect with the board and I don’t dare try to bluff him because he has absolutely no earthly idea where the fold button is. For example, I get dealt A-Jo, I open and CaptainCallingStation calls. I completely miss the flop, but I continuation bet and he calls. I miss the turn, and at this point I have to give up. We both check the turn and river, and it turns out he flopped bottom pair. I am absolutely certain he would have kept calling had I kept betting.

In a surprise to absolutely no one else at the table, CaptainCallingStation eventually gives all his chips away. Unfortunately, he doesn’t hand over any of these chips to me. The silver lining is I can start bluffing again with him out of the way.

I don’t get a chance to bluff, because the next hand I play I am in the big blind with J-3o. I am just waiting for someone to open the betting so I can fold. Instead, it folds to a new player at the table. It is a player I have played against a lot. He is a strong regular who plays well, builds big stacks a lot, and he runs deep a lot. He just limps. It folds to me. I just check. I don’t like my cards, but I’ll take a free flop. The flop is Jack high. OK, that’s a pretty good flop for me. I make a small bet and get called. The turn is a 3. Somehow, my J-3o has turned into two pairs. I have nice plans for the chips I am about to win. I go all-in and get called. My opponent has an open-ended straight draw. He has eight outs with only the river card to come. He gets there on the river, and I’m out in 44th place, way short of the money (12 players will get paid). No way to avoid going broke on this hand.

.......

I didn’t cash in either tournament tonight. I have no complaints about the way I played. Some nights you are just meant to lose.