Embedded Files
Commentary for Tournaments held on 2/13/10:
Play for the 2009 season ended this past Saturday with a couple of players on a hot streak and some major moves on the Money Leader Board. Ruben continued his red hot play, cashing in 5 tournaments in a row. He leaped another 3 slots on the money leader board and finished the year in 12th place. Bobby chopped for first in both games, jumping ahead of Alex to finish 3rd on the money leader board. Muhammad continued his hot streak, chopping for first in game one and passed seven players on the money leader board.
We played 86 tournaments at the Dojo in the last 12 months. Tournaments were held 43 out of 52 weeks. We look forward to another exciting year of poker and to the growth and development of everyone's games.
Commentary for Tournaments held on 2/7/10:
My 11-year-old son, Ryan, played his first tournament for money on Super Bowl Sunday. He came in 3rd! There were only seven players so he finished out of the money, but he played very well in the first game. He went out on a three way all in with the best hand (pocket queens)--not much more you can do than get all your money in with the best hand. In the second game, his play was not as good, but we have 10 years of training before the 2020 World Series Main Event when he will be 21. Look out poker world; the Rush Boys are in training!
It was a low-key affair as I pulled the Super Bowl Sunday game together at the last minute. The two and a half feet of snow on Friday and Saturday forced a cancellation of Saturday's regularly scheduled game. So, we were only able to muster up seven players, but it was fun nonetheless.
Ruben and I chopped both games. We were nearly even in chips in game one and I had a 3-1 chip lead in game two. I had two instances of bad reads on my part leading to aggressive all in moves that paid off. In each case, I would have been crippled or out of the tournament had my opponent called. In the first case, Muhammad had a bigger ace than my A/10, with A/Q. I raised preflop to three times the blind and he called. He was first to act and checked. An ace had come on the flop and I made a continuation bet of more than half the pot. He called my bet. There were two hearts out on the board. When he checked the turn, I figured he was on a flush draw and pushed for about another $12,000, which was about what was in the pot and put him all in if he called. He thought for a long time, put me on a set and folded.
In the second case, Zach raised on the button to $3,000, which was three times the blind. I had Jack/6 of clubs. I put him on a mid pair or button steal. I made a loose call, figuring any face card might be a scare card if my read was right. A jack, queen and some other card came on the flop. He bet $3,000. I considered reraising at that point to see where I was, but decided on smooth calling. Another queen came on the turn. He bet another $3,000, which I read as weakness--again, maybe pocket 8's or some other mid-pair. I immediately went over the top, all in for another $10,000 in a pot that was already over $18,000. He thought for a while. He asked, " if I fold will you show?" I never know how to read that, but I said I would. He put me on a queen and showed pocket kings. I showed my pair of jacks, incredulous that I had just won this massive pot. Aggression, aggression, aggression...I ended up cashing twice and should have been out of the money in both tournaments.
My two cashes put me over $5,500 for the year, with one more session left. Ruben passed three people and moved into 14th place on the money leader board with his double cash.
Commentary for Tournaments held on 1/22/10:
Friday games are always hectic and difficult to start on time due to traffic and work. We got 14 players for game one, but it took a while for everyone to get there. Newcomer, Muhammad grabbed an early massive chip lead and in the process of doing so, put quite a few players on tilt. I have said this before and I'll say it again. I understand getting mad in poker, but get mad at yourself, not the other player. Berating other players is silly and it needs to stop. If you take a bad beat or make a dumb move, get mad at yourself all you want--go punch the heavy bag, but let's not create a confrontational, unsportsmanlike atmosphere at the Dojo. We are all here to learn.
I played well enough to cash in game one, but got outdrawn on an all-in that I was dominating preflop, A/Q off suit vs. K/Q off suit. I think I went out in 6th place. The game came down to 3-way play between Yared, Muhammad and Stephanie. They played it out and Yared won, jumping ahead of Mickie S. on the Leader Board. Stephanie cashed for the 2nd week in a row and is closing in on the $3,000 mark for play in the past 12 months with three weeks to go. Muhammad held on to 3rd place for his first cash in only his second appearance at the Dojo.
Game 2 started with 9 players and was a more laid back affair. Selam played very solid again, making a very crucial laydown in a big hand versus me, in which I had gotten lucky and hit my nut flush on the river and made a value bet of $2,500. Bobby reclaimed 4th place on the Money Leader Board when the game ended on a 3-way all-in and Bobby scooping up all the chips and the $178 first prize. I kept my cashing streak alive, coming in 3rd in game two for 7 straight weeks of cashes.
Results & Commentary for Tournaments held on 1/16/10:
Once every couple of months, a players gets so hot in a given night that your best strategy is to stay away until you get down to 4 or 5 players. That's almost impossible to do when that player is limping into more than half of the pots. On Saturday, Jeff D. got hot and was nearly unstoppable. He was making almost every straight draw, he was hitting back-door flushes--it seemed like whatever way a hand could be won, it was happening for Jeff. He took a lead right away in game one, which began with 18 players. Things tightened up a bit for Jeff when we got down to 4-handed play with Yosef, Bobby & me all taking dents out of Jeff's stack. We agreed to a 4-way chop of $166 each to get the next game started. Three of us were fairly even, but I had a slight chip lead.
Game two started with 9 players and Jeff once again took the lead early. We ended up chopping game 2 as well with Chris G, Jeff & me each taking down $111. Jeff's double cash allowed him to leap ahead of several players on the money board and into 12th place, with only a few weeks left until we wipe the slate clean for a new year of poker.
The double cash put me over my goal of $5,000 in winnings for the year at the Dojo. I have been on a nice roll with 8 cashes in the last 6 weeks played. I attribute my cashing streak to a few things: 1) having good discipline in which starting hands I will play and in what position 2) staying patient and not panicking if my stack takes a hit early 3) switching gears and increasing my aggression when the game gets down to 5 or less players. None of these are eye-opening revelations, but too many players don't have the discipline to follow through. They can't help themselves from limping in early position with K/J off suit or calling with a weak ace in the blinds after a big raise. I also see many players get very uncomfortable when they are down to $5K or $6K and they make unnecessary moves, rather than being patient and waiting for the right opportunity. Finally, I am seeing many folks get early chip leads, but then squander those chips when the final table becomes short-handed because they do not turn up their aggression and mix up their game. Find you areas of weakness and then practice your fixes and see what happens. See you Friday.
Saturday, January 2nd Tournament Results & Commentary:
The first poker action of the 2010 featured 21 hungry players looking to cash in on their poker resolutions and earn a piece of the lucky $777 prize pool. Long-time regulars, Bob R. and Jeff E. made a return to the Dojo after a long absence. It looked like it would be a sweet homecoming for Bob R. as he sat on a stack exceeding $90,000 with six players remaining. Then he hit a speed bump. He doubled up Jeff E. He doubled up Chris G., then it was Ice Age 2: The Meltdown.
One of the things I always try to avoid when it’s getting down to money time is getting involved in a large pot with the other big stack on the table unless I am fully confident that I have the best hand. When you’re the big stack, push the little stacks around and stay out of the way of the other big stacks until it gets down to 4 or 3-handed play. Otherwise, this can happen: The blinds are $3,000 - $6,000 and Mickie S. is the other big stack on the table with roughly what Bob R. has. Mickie limps in and Bob checks the big blind. The flop produces three spades. Mickie acts first and bets $8,000. Bob, without hesitation re-raises to $24,000. Mickie thinks for a while, and then calls the additional $16,000. I have no idea what Bob has at this point, but I put Mickie on the nut flush draw with the ace of spades and that proved to be correct. On the turn, Bob makes a weird bet of $12,000, which Mickie calls. They both check the river, which was the ace of clubs. Mickie wins the $87,000 pot or 41% of the total chips in play. One has to assume Bob was on a total bluff since he mucked his cards. This one hand changed the complexion of the whole game. Jeff E. was able to hang on and survive multiple all-ins to finish in 4th even though his chip stack seemed to never exceed $25,000. Zach played with confidence; having just come off a tournament win at a casino in Iowa (I know, Iowa doesn’t count, but we’ll add him to the Rush Dojo Wall of Fame anyway) and he, along with Chris G. and Mickie S. split the remaining money three ways, each taking down $235. Mickie S. jumped ahead of Bobby B. and Joe N. to move into 4th place on the money board with just a month remaining in the year. Zach’s win catapulted him ahead of Dustin, Yosef and Mickey G. and into the 8th place slot.
Game 2 started with 11 players. It came down to Dustin B, Andy A, Stephanie & me. To get to the final four, I was involved in two big hands with Mickie S. (Mickie is involved in a lot of big pots!). In the first, I had pocket aces and raised 3x the blind pre-flop. I got two callers. The flop was two diamonds and all low cards. Mickie led out the betting with $2,400. I went over the top, all in for another $9,000 as I put Mickie on a diamond draw and did not want him seeing any free cards. He thought long and hard and called with A/3 of diamonds with straight & nut flush draws. My hand held up and I doubled up. The next blind, I had pocket 10s, raised big pre-flop and was called again by Mickie. I hit a set of tens on the flop and he called my all-in on a straight draw and hit on the river—back to the grind for me.
Stephanie hung tough, but went out on pocket tens vs. K/Q suited when Dustin spiked a king on the flop. I knocked Andy A. out with K/10 clubs when the blinds forced him to make a move with any two cards. I hit a 10, allowing Dustin and me to chop the top prize. It was a good night of poker. Happy 2010 and see ya’ll next week!
Sunday, December 13th Tournament Results & Commentary:
After a break of a couple of weeks, poker returned to the Dojo in the form of an unusual Sunday afternoon game. Seventeen players showed up for game one, creating a nice pot for the winners. DJ continued his hot streak. He won first place a few weeks ago, followed that up with a cash in 57th place at a WSOP $340 buy-in event at Harrah’s in Atlantic City and then destroyed the field with his unorthodox style in the first tourney.
When the game got down to six players DJ went all-in more than 50% of the hands for an extended period of time. In one instance, his A/9 was dominated by the pocket kings of Yared, but he sucked out an ace to add to his big stack. The hand that sealed the deal for DJ was when Andy, who was 2nd in chips by a significant margin, called with one of DJ’s all-ins with A/K. To the surprise of everyone, DJ turned over pocket jacks, setting up a classic race. Of course, when you’re hot, you’re hot and DJ’s pair held up. Andy was upset with his call, but no one could really question it, given DJ’s wild antics. Calling a big all-in with ace/king is always debatable. You have to consider a lot of factors such as how far away from the money you are and what is your chip stack relative to the all-in and the other remaining players. In most cases, I would rather call with a made hand and given the fact that both players involved in the hand were the chip leaders, I’d want it to be a big pair—jacks or better to call. The only mitigating factor here was DJ’s play, which seemed to indicate he was going all in with any decent hand. Again, tough call given the situation, but it certainly helped the remaining players cash.
Bobby, Leo and yours truly decided to chop 2nd-through 4th place money, given the fact we were all in the $15,000-$25,000 range and DJ had over $100,000.
Game 2 began with 16 hopefuls and featured many knockouts by way of suck outs. Alex was the beneficiary of a huge suck out in a pre-flop jacks vs. queens vs. kings three-way all-in. I happened to call for the jack on the river and boom, there it was. Yared got bounced by a runner, runner, back-door flush after calling Stephanie’s all-in with a weak ace with an ace & king on the board. Stephanie showed middle pair with the king but got two straight clubs on the turn & river to win. I also called for the clubs in Stephanie’s hand. But alas, fate was not so kind to me. After I was moved to the second table, I got involved in a family pot with 8/9 suited. The flop was 6/7/10 rainbow. Shonna bet out $1,000, Justin raises to $3,500 and I am loving life, with a rainbow board, having flopped the straight. I push all in for another $4,000. Justin says, “I know I’m behind, but I call.” He shows two pair, 6/7. A six peels off on the turn, proving once again, that anything can and will happen in this lovely game.
Jeff D. and Matt S. played solid poker throughout, finishing 4th and 3rd respectively and earning a share of the cash. The big winners were Jason D. and Scott B., who ended up in a heads up battle for first. Scott’s been a way for a while and Jason’s been having a tough go of it at the Dojo, so it was nice to see them cashing for decent money. Scott ended up outlasting Jason and earned his first outright victory of the year. Congrats to all the cashers & we’ll see you Saturday.
Saturday 11/21/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary
It was a good night for the house as I cashed for 2nd in both games and Stephanie came in first in game two. A large field of 19 players put $703 up for grabs in the first tournament. DJ made a triumphant return to the Dojo, snapping necks and cutting off heads in route to a $300 first place finish. His ultra-loose style had some players perplexed and others pissed as they saw DJ knock out player after player. Newcome Andy A. and regular Glen C., rounded out the cashers, coming in 3rd and 4th respectively.
Mickie S. and I split 2nd place honors in a three way chop in game two, which started with 10 players. We recognized Stephanie's significant chip lead by granting her a larger share and first place honors. Mickie S. jumped into 5th on the money leader board, passing Bobby & Yared. Stephanie increased her lead on Alex, securing 2nd place on the money board and I moved closer to my goal of $5,000 by the end of January.
The World Series Circuit Event in Atlantic City is up next. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the break from play at the Dojo and come back refreshed and ready to learn. Peace.
Sunday 11/15/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
The good news is my dry spell is over. I was part of a three-way chop for 1st place in game one. The bad news is in the second game I made one of the top five worst plays I have ever made playing No Limit Texas Hold ‘em. I made a bad decision and then lost my mind.
Let’s focus on the good first. It’s always nice to wake up with a hand after someone goes all in. I knocked out Yared and Sahlu in the same hand about 90 minutes into game one with pocket aces. Once I had over $25,000 that early, I resolved to finish in the money, but it proved to be very tough going.
When we got down to six players, everyone was playing well and no one made any silly moves. Joe, Alex, Scott B. (making a return to the Dojo after a long absence), Glenn R., and Ronald were playing very good, solid poker through the several blinds of 6-handed play. I think we got up to $1,500 & $3,000 and we were still six handed. I started to get short stacked and saw my chances of cashing beginning to slip. I pushed all in with close to $25,000 with pocket 9’s and was called by Joe’s ace/jack. My hand held up and I knew I was cruising to the money after doubling up to over $50,000.
Another crucial hand earlier in six handed play saw Glenn tripling up with pocket deuces. He pushed for $9,000 total in 1st position. Ronald calls. At the time I had $2,000 in the big blind, it was $7,000 more for me to call. There’s $21,000 in the pot before I put my $7,000 in and I had 9/10 diamonds in the big blind. The safe play is to fold there. It was for close to 1/3 of my stack at the time, but I desperately wanted to knock a player out to get closer to the money. Glenn hit trips and tripled up to close to $30,000 and was able to hang on for a piece of the three way chop. Alex returned to his game with a strong performance and although he had a modest chip lead, he graciously agreed to the chop as all 13 players for game two were present and ready to get started.
Control, clam, reasoned thinking—all of these are necessary traits to win consistently at poker and in game two I let my emotions overtake my reasoning. I am resolving now not to let that happen again. It wouldn’t happen at a casino tournament, so why let it happen here on my home turf? No cursing, no getting angry…I went out a bought a heavy bag and set it up in the basement to take out any future frustrations.
The situation was fairly early on before we had combined tables. We were at 11 players and I was trying to hang on until the tables combined. I think the blinds were up to $300-$600 and I only had a little over $5,000, so I was short stacked on a five handed table. Everyone folded around to me in the small blind and I called with 4 hearts/5 of spades. The flop gave me a double belly-buster straight draw, with a 2, 6, 8 hitting the board and two of them were spades. I needed a 3 or a 7. Mistake number one was I checked to Joe, giving up control of the hand. He bet $500 and I called. The turn is the 7 of spades—exactly what I was looking for. It put three spades on the board and I began to over think the hand. I should have either gone all in, or checked and gone over the top of whatever Joe bet, all in. If he has two spades, so be it, I lose, but I cannot put him on that hand in that situation. I do not have the chips to mess around. I need to take a stand. So what do I do? Mistake #2--I check. And Joe bets $1,500. I think for a few minutes. Why I didn’t pull the trigger, I have no idea. Mistake #3--I just called with just a little over $3,000 left behind it---totally stupid. Then, the ace of spades peels off, putting four spades on the board. I check, Joe goes all in and that’s when I lost my mind. Mistake #4--I freaked out, mucked my hands, not even considering that I had a spade and just assuming that card beat such me—such an immature reaction, and me—so very stupid. How can one person make so many bad decisions in one hand of poker?
Bobby B., in only his second appearance after a two-month hiatus for coaching football, cashed in second place. He, Alex and Joe had a good three-way battle going for a while. Alex got caught trying to make a steal of the blinds when they were up to $3,000-$6,000. Joe knocked him out and took Bobby down heads up.
Alex moved to within $7.00 of Stephanie for 2nd place on the Leader Board. Joe jumped ahead of Yared into 4th and Bobby passed Mickie S. to move into 6th. Lots of movement and some good lessons learned. See you next week!
Saturday 11/7/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
Coming off a tournament win at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City on Halloween, I was confident I would get back to my winning ways after a two week drought. It didn't work out that way. A large crowd of 19 players showed up for game one, including the return of Bobby B. $703 was up for grabs and it proved to be a huge night for Jeff D., who ended up second in the first game and first in game two. The key hand in game one resulted in Stephanie going out on the bubble in 5th. She pushed with pocket jacks and was quickly called by GlennR., who had pocket kings. Things were looking good for Stephanie after she spiked a jack on the flop, but the river was unkind, when the two-outter king showed up and knocked her out, allowing Glenn to cruise to his first victory at the Dojo. Newcomer, Helen, cashed in her first event and took home $130 in third. Selam played a solid game to cash in 4th with $58.
Game two was a strange affair, featuring 12 players, but ending in only three hours. The game featured many meltdowns, inlcuding one by yours truly. I made a rookie mistake, overplaying A/J off-suit in early position (we were down to six at the time). Yared limped from 1st position for $1,000. I raised to $3,500 in second position. LaMar G. was to my left. He said, "well you have to gamble sometime", and called. My read on that comment was that he had a big hand and I was possibly dominated. I put him on big slick. Everyone folds back to Yared, who decided to put in the additional $2,500 for the call. The flop is all hearts with no card higher than a Jack and no straight possibilities. I had top pair with top kicker, but I didn't have a heart and didn't want someone drawing in case they had the ace or king of hearts. Yared check. I really didn't think the hand through and declared, "all in", for another $14,000. If I had been smart, I would have bet $3,500 or $4,000 to see where I was at in the hand. As it turned out, LaMar had a monster with pocket queens. He calls my all-in and Yared can't wait to get his money in as he had two garbage hearts for the flush. There were so many factors in this hand that could have played out differently. If LaMar reraises me preflop, Yared folds and I fold and LaMar takes down a decent pot. If Yared decides not to put in the additional $2,500 preflop, LaMar probably ends up winning the hand and taking a decent amount of my chips. If I just make a feeler bet post-flop, I still have $9,000 left and can come back. It's all about taking the time to think and on this hand I did not. Bad play on my part, means a third week with no cash, my longest try spell at the Dojo all year.
Yared knocked us both out on that hand, but did not put the chips to good use. He was out within the next 20 minutes. Zach went out on the bubble and Stephanie finished 3rd to cash for $84. Mickie S. took 2nd and $135 and Jeff D completed a huge night with $225 for first.
Saturday 10/24/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
We had a smaller than average turn out for the tournaments this past Saturday. Both games fielded 9 players to start. In the past, I'd say that's a decent size table and I don't mind playing one table tournaments as it more realistic (like casino tournaments) to play on a full table, rather than starting short-handed as we often do with 6 or 7 players on each table. In any case, I was ready to get back to winning, but it didn't turn out that way for me.
Game one saw us allow two rebuys--something we swore we wouldn't do anymore as it promotes bad play. In any case, Sahlu was out very eary and we allowed him to rebuy. He was quickly followed by Zach. The problem with rebuys is if you let one do it...well you know, we had to let Zach rebuy as well. The Sahlu rebuy came back to bite us as he finished in 1st and cashed for $156, making it two weeks in a row he's won. Yared finished in second and made one sick read on newcomer Matt S. Matt had raised to $4,000 pre-flop with four players left and the blinds at $800 - $1,600. Zach moved all in and Yared called from the big blind. Zach didn't have enough to call the $4,000, so there was a small side pot. I knew why Yared was calling--he had the stack to do so, he already had some money invested and he was setting up a check down with Matt to get the best odds of knocking Zach out and putting the three remaining players in the money. Matt missed that memo and immediately bet out $4,000 on the flop after Yared checked to him. The board was rainbow garbage. Yared thought about it, said, "you didn't hit anything, did you?", then moved all in for another 5 or 6K on top of the initial bet. Matt didn't think Yared hit anything either and called. Matt turned over K/Q and Yared turned over K/4 of diamonds. He had paired his 4, made a sick read and got paid. That's how you play poker, my friends...and, oh yeah, Zach took down the original pot, but was soon out. Matt played solid poker in his debut at the Dojo, but went out on the bubble in game one. This allowed Jeff D. to gain his first cash here, coming in 3rd and pocketing $74.
Game two featured Matt & Yared going deep again. They ended up in a three way battle with Stephanie for the money. Stephanie played high quality poker down the stretch and knocked Matt out. Matt cashed in his first appearance at the Dojo, bringing the total number of players who have cashed in the past year to 45. Stephanie & Yared chopped to take down $136 each and Matt took home $60 for third place. Yared leaped two places on the leader board and is now in 4th. Stephanie solidified her second place standing.
My commentary is limited this week as I didn't get to write on Sunday like I normally do and don't remember as much detail as usual--that plus the fact, I'm still on tilt and need a break to regroup. No games this weekend. Happy Halloween!
Saturday 10/17/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
It was a night for Alex and Stephanie to continue their fierce battle for 2nd place on the money leader board with Alex taking a chop for 1st in game one and Stephanie able to cash third in game 2, thus holding Alex off from over-taking her by a mere $25. Sahlu O. cashed for the first time at the Dojo, winning game two outright with his A/Q holding on to beat Ruben's Q/J in the very first hand of heads up play. Ronald B. held on to cash third in game one. It looked like he might be the bubble boy, but Stephanie decided to go for it with pocket 5's in the big blind and was called by Alex with A/Q. Alex hit his ace and cruised to the two-way chop for 1st with Ruben and Stephanie was out of the money and left to ponder why she didn't just call and hope to catch.
Sometimes you just aren't feeling it and yesterday was one of those nights for me. Nothing is working and you begin to doubt yourself, compounding your bad luck with indecision. We've all been there. It sucks.
Dustin B. returned to the Dojo after being away for a few weeks getting married & going on his honeymoon. He picked up right where he left off, winning nearly every hand he played on our 7-handed table (there were 14 players to start game one). At one point he had over $40,000 of the $70,000 in play on our table before the tables were combined. When your facing that type of juggernaut, your 4x the blind raise with pocket queens is going to get called by K/j off suit, out of position and a king is going to spike on the flop. That's just the way it's going to be. He was catching straights, two pair with 8/2, you name it, it was happening for him. Unfortunately for him, the luck changed after the tables were combined and Dustin melted down like a polar ice cap in the age of global warming. Ruben, Alex, Ronald & Stephanie were there to catch the falling chips and battle for the money. It was good to see Ruben taking down a first place chop. With his two cashes, he jumped 8 places on the money leader board into 13 place.
Game Two was more of the same for me. I never surpassed my starting chip count and just bled the whole game--a slow painful way to go through a tournament. In one of the first few hands of game two, which started with 10 players, Yosef doubled up Sahlu O, who flopped the nuts with Q/J and a board of J/J/Q. (Actually, pocket queens would be the absolute nuts, but we all knew that Yosef (pictured below) didn't have pocket queens.)
We allowed Yosef to rebuy (the table overruled me) and he lasted about another 20 minutes before going out again. Sahlu played well from that point on. There were a couple of questionable calls when a doubled up people in a few hands, but he had the chip stack to survive and played well enough to take the whole thing down--congrats! One notable hand in the second game featured Sahlu with aces, Mickey G, with kings and
with pocket jacks. In the same hand, I had pocket 10's, but quickly folded after the reraise by Mickey G. preflop. Sahlu's aces held up, knocking Donkey out for the second time and sending Mickey to the rail as well.
Next week's another day--need to block out the distractions, stay positive and get back to winning. See ya'll next week.
Saturday 10/10/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
Tournament poker often comes down to one crucial hand. It can come early in the tournament, where a double up changes the course of the rest of the game, or it can come late, crippling you after hours of patient play. It can be the difference between cashing and going out on the bubble or the difference between taking it all down and coming in second. Both games yesterday featured such pivotal hands.
In Game One, 15 players posted, with Joe N. doing his best Phil Hemulth impersonation and coming late to the game in the fourth blind. Play moved along briskly. I had gotten short stacked early, having failed at a couple of key bluffs early. I was as low as $4,000 and yo-yoed between that and $11,000 for most of the tournament.
The key hand came with the blinds $1,000/$2,000. I was the small blind with GlennR. In the big blind. Selam min-raised from first position to $4,000. Yared calls from middle position. I looked down at A/5 of spades. An argument can be made for a fold if I put Selam or Yared on a bigger ace—that would make me a 70/30 dog. However, to my left, I see Glenn with $2,000 in his hand, ready to make the call. If I call, there’s $16,000 in there preflop. I only have to put in $3,000 with the potential to win $16,000. I am getting 5-1 on my money with nut flush possibilities, wheel draw possibilities and the possibility that none of my other three opponents has an ace. I put in the other $3,000 to make the call and Glenn calls from the big blind. The flop is a rainbow with an ace, 9 and some other low card. I was first to act. I am not crazy about the flop because I am still scared of an ace with a higher kicker and my flush draw and wheel draws are virtually nonexistent. I check, Glenn checks, the preflop raiser, Selam, also checks.
Yared surveys the situation, he’s in good shape for a position bet to steal the large pot. He deliberately bets out $8,000, which is an excellent ½ the pot bet. Does he have the ace? I don’t put him on any set, so is he making a position bluff or does he have the goods? If he doesn’t have the goods, are Glenn or Selam checking a big hand, hoping to induce a bet from an aggressive player like Yared? I put Yared on a position bluff and I put Glenn on a complete whiff, but I am still concerned about Selam, who was the pre-flop raiser. Is he slow playing a big hand, or was he scared of the ace. While I am deliberating a call, he shows his cards to someone at the table not in the hand. I read into that a big hand that’s counterfeited by the ace. Calling Yared’s bet puts me all in as I only have another $5,600 behind my initial $4,000. I make the call, Glenn folds and Selam folds, showing pocket kings. Yared says, “you’re good”, gets the pot right and shows me the bluff. My ace holds up and I go from a little over $9000 in chips to $27,200. One hand making a huge impact on the outcome of the game. If Selam raises to $6,000 or $7,000 preflop, does Yared call? I certainly don’t. If Selam makes a continuation bet of $8,000 on the flop after my check and Glenn’s check, I probably have to fold. If Selam doesn’t show his cards to someone else at the table I may not have been as confident in my read as I was after he did. Lots of factors going into one hand that allowed me to end up with my equal share of a four-way chop. It changed the outcome of the entire game.
Mickie S. gets the official first place for game one as he had the chip lead when the chop was agreed to. Glenn ended up as the bubble boy with Karlis and Zach also cashing for their share of the 4-way chop. The results impacted the Money Leader Board as Mickie S. jumped into 6th, moving ahead of Yared and just behind Bobby B. Zach cashed for the 3rd straight week, actually cashing in both games and makes a big leap in the money standings, cracking $1,ooo for the year and moving into 9th place ahead of Mickey G.
Game Two featured 12 players, but with a prize pool of 13, since the players let Kelvin P. rebuy after doubling Yared up in the first hand. Kelvin had called Yared’s all in on the river. Yared had trip Kings (pocket kings with one on the board) and Kelvin had A/Q with an ace on the board.
The pivotal hand in this game came late in the tourney, but it was a classic. With five players left and the blinds $1,500/$3,000, Selam raised to $8,000. Mickey G. was next to act and goes all in for another $24,000 and change. Joe N. starts talking and looks as though he’s actually contemplating a call. He counts his chips, asks Mickey some questions, and eventually makes the call. Selam is going nuts, and shows me he has pocket jacks. He wisely folds, and Mickey turns over pocket queens, while Joe shows the leading preflop hand with pocket kings. We had pocket Jacks, Queens & Kings in order in the same hand. The kings hold up, Joe becomes the massive chip leader, cruising to a first place finish and Selam retains the majority of his stack to eventually come in second. After that big hand, it was a battle for the bubble as Dewey and Zach were both short stacked and trying to avoid going out 4th with no money. Selam used the situation to his advantage with Joe looking to cruise and Zach & Dewey looking for a perfect double up hand. Zach ended up outlasting Dewey, who had played an impressive short stack for the entire game. Zach made his first double cash and Selam willingly took 2nd place honors as he was tired and Joe had a massive chip lead.
Mickey G. was upset with himself, wondering if he had made the wrong move. I assured him that it was the absolute right move, as there no way you can put Joe on kings or aces in that situation. Once big hand changed the entire course of the tournament. Sometimes as in the first game, many different decisions could have changed the outcome of the hand. Other times, as in the case of the second game, some hands are just destined to play out the way they play out and everybody makes the moves they were supposed to. Was Joe going to fold his Kings—I don’t think so. Was Mickey G. going to fold his queens if he smooth called and Joe went over the top? No way. Was Selam ever going to call with an all-in in front of him and a call—never. The hand was going to play out the same way every time.
Saturday 10/3/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
"Poker is a game of luck." "Poker is a game of skill." When I hear someone say poker is all luck, I say great, thank you for letting me know what I am dealing with. In most cases, it's a pretty bad player who doesn't understand or hasn't even contemplated the myriad of nuances that go into playing good poker on a consistent basis. Yes, in any given tournament or in any given hand, luck will come into play, but we all know over time, it has a way of evening out and the more skillful players will win over the long haul. Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me of the role luck plays in poker.
When my good friend Bobby B., aka "Tyrone", aka "Robert", aka, the Big Man, started playing poker at the Dojo almost four years ago, he would always say, "it's just luck, Dan". Since that time, Bobby has become one of the most consistent cashing regulars playing here. He cashed in his first World Series of Poker Circuit Event with a starting field of nearly 1,000 players. He knows now what most good players know--you have to be good, but it never hurts to get lucky. Game One yesterday started with 14 players. I doubled up early in the 1st blind, with a 9/4 off suit big blind special that became a boat on the river. The river card was the 9 of hearts, giving my opponent, newcomer, Dave B. the king high heart flush and me 9's over 4's. Dave had reraised my $1,600 bet on the turn to $3,200. He had hit his king and had the flush draw. I had hit the 2 pair on the flop. I was concerned about a bigger 2 pair when he reraised, plus I usually don't want to get too crazy that early in the tournament unless I have the absolute nuts, so I just call his minimum reraise. The best possible card for me is the 9 of hearts and I see it peel off. We all know the feeling. It's a high--I got the nuts, how do I maximize my take? I can't check here, as the 9 is a scare card if he hit the flush. I bet $4,000, Dave shoves over the top, I call. Good or lucky? Obviously, I was lucky in this hand. Lucky my opponent was in the hand with K/5 hearts, lucky I hit 2 pair on the flop, super lucky the 9 of hearts comes on the river--of course you have to be skilled enough to know how to maximize your chips when you're lucky, but that's another topic.
My luck continued in Game 1. I was hitting nut flushes on the flop, flopping boats, hitting straights...life was good and it looked like I was cruising to the money. Then, with four people left and a stack of over $50,000, my luck hit a wall. Kelvin minraised in the small blind. I think the blinds were $2,000/$4,000. In any case, I called after looking down and seeing pocket 5's. The flop comes with a 6 and a 5, giving Kelvin a pair of 6s and a straight draw and me the big hand I was looking for--trip 5's. Kelvin pushes. I snap call and he hits his 8 for a straight on the river, costing me over 2/3 of my stack and taking me from chip leader to short stack and setting me up to go out on the bubble. That is exactly where I ended up in Game One. Bad luck? Of course, it is, but I can't be mad at anybody and I probably would play the hand the same way over 90% of the time in the same situation. I could have shoved preflop, but why? That would be high risk, low reward. I could have reraised preflop to see where I was at in the hand. In this case, he most likely would have folded since he had garbage. This might have been the smarter play than just calling. In any case, once I hit on the flop, I am not folding trips. So, it's bad luck. We all run into it. You just shake your head, dust yourself off and look forward to cashing in the next game.
Game One ended up with a three-way chop between Selam, Kelvin and Zach. All three played very good poker throughout the tournament to cash. Zach made some good reads, crucial calls and played back at Yosef a couple of times to show that he can't be pushed around. Kelvin made a winning return to the Dojo after an extended absence. In a hand a missed, I am told Kelvin made a sick call on the river with just ace high to win a big pot. He had his mojo working. Selam cashed for the 2nd time in a month, earning a share of the first place honors.
Game Two featured a bit of luck for me I have never experienced before in the six years I have been playing poker--back-to-back pocket aces. I was card dead all tournament. I had hardly played any hands and was short stacked for a long time. I was as low as $3,100. I had a little over $6,000 when I doubled up on the 1st pocket aces vs. Stephanie who had gone over the top of my preflop 2.5X the blind raise all-in with pocket 6's. The very next hand--I couldn't believe my eyes--pocket aces again! Zack moves all in, Stephanie moves all in, I call. The aces hold up, I knock two players out and all of a sudden, I am in good position to cash...lucky....but, patient and good enough to hang around to take advantage of the luck.
Game Two came down to a heads up battle between the always patient, Alex J. and Dave B. The first 15 minutes of heads up was a blood bath, with Dave constantly chipping away at Alex's stack. It looked like curtains for Alex until a couple of timely double ups put him right back into it and in position for a mutually agreed upon two-way chop for first. Dave B., redeemed himself from the early exit in Game One with an impressive win in his debut at the Dojo. Alex made progress in his chase of 2nd place on the Money Leader board, inching closer toward Stephanie’s total.
Good luck next week! (....or should I say, "Good skill"?)
Saturday 9/26/09 - TOURNAMENT RESULTS and Commentary (Fair & Balanced :-)...
It was another wild night of poker..new players, suck outs, 5-way chops, comebacks, controversy...we had it all. Fourteen players started Game One with $40 and high hopes. The Dojo welcomed 4 new players (Sahlu O., Vincent E., Marlise S., and Peter M.) along with the usual cast of unsavory characters.
Game One had just passed the 5 hour mark when the five remaining players agreed to an unprecedented five-way chop. Jerome C. And Mickie S. were the chips leaders and the blinds were approaching $3,000 - $6,000 when the chop was negotiated--Jerome might say, "strong-armed". Conventional wisdom says we saved Jerome from squandering his chip lead and busting out on the bubble as he has been known to do, but Jerome didn't see it that way. Mickie S. was quick to point out that he had as much chips as Jerome, but was also willing to chop with Zach M., yours truly (Dan R.), and Yared T., who seems to cash in nearly every appearance at the Dojo.
The game featured quite a few memorable hands for me. In one of them, I laid down K/Q off suit to Mickie S. who had gone over the top of my $8,000 bet after the flop for another $11,000 and change. I had hit top pair on the flop with nothing very dangerous on the board. Pot odds says I should have called. I thought for a long time and laid it down. My rationale was that he could have Aces or AK. This went against what I typically preach--you can't put your opponent on the only hands that can beat you. He waited a long time to call my preflop raise--eyeballing me for what seemed like a minute or so. He waited an unusually long time to make the over the top move after the flop as well. I read strength into those timing tells, but it might have been a major mis-read. I didn't put him on a set. I would have still had $13,000 after the call and I am certain in hindsight I should have made the call. If they look strong, they're typically weak. This was a case of thinking too much about the hand instead of just letting the math make the proper decision for me. I played that hand not to lose the tournament instead of playing it to win it. Mickie did not show, but claimed he had pocket 10's. That's why I love this game. To me this situation is the classic math vs. feel/read dilemma in poker. You should know the pot odds and odds of making your hands but sometimes your read or feel for the hand is not in synch with the math--what do you do? In this case, my thought process was conserve the chips and fight another day, but a few hands later I was down to the $13,000 chip level I was trying to avoid by making the call.
In a hand shortly thereafter, I made an all-in move in 2nd position with a little over $14,000. Yared was to my left and folded pocket Queens. When he showed there was much debate at the table as to whether that was a good lay down or not. We were a couple of knockouts away from the money, it was for his tournament life, he had already shown the ability come back after a set back, so he wanted to chose his spot and finally, he gave me credit for a big hand, based on my reputation and playing history--Yared and I have played a lot of poker against each other. Was it a good lay-down? I probably could not have made that letdown, but that doesn't make it wrong. Yared cashed in Game One and won Game Two outright. He is #5 on the Money Leader board, despite having missed several months due to soccer and work trips. What did I have? Well, when I find out what Mickie had against me in the hand above, I'll tell you :-)
Game Two was a runaway blowout for Yared. He got a string of incredible starting hands for a sustained period of time. He was hitting sets with pocket pairs, two pair on the flop with suited connectors, you name it, and he was catching it. The game seemed like a battle for second place with Zach M., Tim B., Joe N. and me trying to avoid the bubble and Yared consistently adding to his chip lead. Then came the hand...
Joe raises with aces, Zach goes over the top all in with pocket 6's. I presume he's hoping for a race situation there. Joe, of course, snap calls with his aces. It looks like curtains for our boy, Zach. A 6 peels off on the flop, giving Zach the set. There are two spades on the flop. The turn brings another spade--what was it you ask? Ah, there's the controversy. I see the three spades on the board, look at Joe's hand which contains the ace of spades and I start calling for a spade...Sahlu was dealing and peels off the 9 of spades on the river, giving Joe the nut flush. The table erupts, Zach walks away, disgusted. The board gets mucked, Joe gathers the chips and starts stacking them...at least a minute goes by then Alex mentions something about a pair of 4's on the board, which would have given Zach a boat. Now, others are agreeing..."yes", they say..."there was a four on the flop and a 4 on the turn". I honestly don't remember. Everyone starts to look to the house for a ruling. At the Dojo, the cards speak for themselves. Even if you think you lost, and someone--anyone, notices a winning hand that wasn't first spotted, the pot goes to that winning hand. In this case, the board had already been mucked and there was no way to know for certain what was on the board except for people's differing recollections of what was on the board. In this case, the pot stays with Joe. Moral of the story: One, never give up on a hand...study the board, ask the dealer to wait a second and double check. Two, know that you turned a boat.
See you next week!
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