The Well: iMsoLucky0 (2.6.07)

[iMsoLucky0]

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Do you have notes on me (actual or mental) and, if so, what do they say?

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No actual notes and my only mental note on you is 'good 2+2er'. Surprisingly I don't really keep notes on anyone and rely on my memory and feel to make most of my reads.

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Have you been playing a lot of MTTs lately and, if so, do you agree with me that they have gotten a bit harder since the Neteller thing? I feel like I am constantly at tables with 5 or more 2p2ers or P5ers.

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I have barely played online MTTs the last 6 months, but I do agree that the games have gotten harder recently. Even before the neteller thing, it has seemed as though there are more and more people that are at least competent all the time in the bigger online MTTs.

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A few more questions (you and Colson were way up on my list of who I wanted to see do a Well):

Give me three keys that you think distinguish your game from your run-of-the-mill good/winning MTTer (distinguish between live and online if necessary).

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Thanks, and I look forward to Carl's well too. The number 1 key to my game is changing gears and mixing it up at the right time. This is more important live than online but I think I'm able to do it to a certain extent online. Second, I am very good at always being aware of the exact tournament situation of myself as well as all the other people on the table. Live, I am constantly counting everyone's chips and online I'm paying attention to know when someone is getting ready to make a move or getting frustrated. Last, I think my tilt control is far superior to most good players. Regardless of what happens to me, I am usually able to regain my focus quickly and not let one mistake turn into 6.

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You are an excellent "restealer," but what weapons do you have in your arsenal for dealing with (or even trapping) oher restealers?

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As I just said, I think I am very good at recognizing when someone is ready to make a move or when they are satisfied with their stack and just trying to inch their way up the tournament. As far as specific weapons go, I'd say the number 1 weapon is being able to not put myself in a position to be restolen from easy. I think I'm good at making my steals look like hands and my hands look like steals, especially live. I also steal from some unusual spots that people would never suspect me to steal/resteal from. Another of my favorite tactics is to open limp the CO/button when I feel I will be restolen from. Lots of people know how to jam their stack in the middle, but they'll be thrown off by a limp. I am very confident in my postflop tournament play and can extract even more chips in these situations by playing the pot in position than just stealing pre.


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How do you rate yourself on dealing with those inevitable downswings and bad beats? What sort of mental approaches do you take?

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It's weird, but back when I was playing regularly online I was the best at not letting beats bother me. I just NEVER got bothered by a beat or anything that may have happened to me. I think it came from my roots in SNGs where you get used to seeing some of the sickest, most retarded beats like every other hand of the bubble it seems.

Since I've had more success and have become even more confident in my play I find myself letting these things bother me more for some reason. I guess I am to the point where I expect to win and that's no good, but it's still not nearly as bad as what I see from other people.

[shaniac]

Do you consider U2 one of the top five greatest rock n roll bands ever?

[iMsoLucky0]

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Top 3 biggest online wins?

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80,000, 77,000, and like 5 wins in the 45-55k range.

[timex]

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Top 3 biggest online wins?

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80,000, 77,000, and like 5 wins in the 45-55k range.

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Holy [censored]


Will you teach me?

[gobboboy]

timex, you need to coach people on how to stake people well. Seriously. You're almost getting more than me from the aussie millions.

[iMsoLucky0]

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Describe three entertaining/educational/high pressure poker hands u have played in detail.

Also, explain in detail how u maintain your youthful glow.

HO

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Hand 1) At the Doyle Brunson 10k tournament at Bellagio, Oct, 05. Blinds are 1k/2k/300a, I'm chipleader at the table with like 180k and limp UTG with 66, the CO who was a tight ABC player makes it 9k, I call.

Flop is something like 952r and I check, he bets 11k, and at this point I'm very sure he has two jacks. It was a very specific read but I was almost 100% sure that's what he had. I could feel he liked his hand but was also afraid, and I knew he had been watching me play and was capable of making a laydown. He had about 45k left after his bet, and I made it 26k knowing he was looking for an excuse to fold. He thought for 2 minutes and folded JJ face-up.

Hand 2) USPC, 06, day 3, blinds 800/1600/200a (I think) still a bunch of players left, I'm one of the chipleaders with like 230-250k. UTG shortstack wth like 40k limps, I limp next with 45dd, the button who is another big stack and v overaggressive makes it 6000ish, we both call. Flop is 443 two hearts, 1st limper leads 15k, I just call knowing button is raising, and the button makes it 50k straight. First limper thinks forever before calling and at this point I'm pretty sure the button has a huge hand he isn't getting away from. I move allin which was kind of an overbet, and he calls instantly and shows two aces. The first guy had 99, and gg those guys.

Hand 3) USPC, 06, 19 left, 18th gets 9kish more than 19th and I am chipleader with about 900k to second places 600k. Guy with 600k is sitting directly to my left and we have played together this tournament quite a bit. He was the kind of guy to play fairly tight (as in plays AT+, pairs, facecards etc), but was very aggressive once he decided to play a hand. He had reraised me several times throughout the tourney and all had done was either fold or call/fold to his c-bet on the flop. He also had made the final table of this tournament the previous year and I knew his goal of the tournament was really only to final table again.

Anyways, blinds 2500/5000/500a and I open to 15k on the button with KTo. He makes it 40k from the SB as he's done several times and I decide this is the time and make it 120k. He gets nervous and fiddles a little bit before finally calling the bet. Flop comes KQ4 (rainbow or two tone I forget), and he bets 200k. I read him for exactly AK because of his betsize/demeanor and know he will fold to a push because of the level he was on. He was definitely going to read me for a set or AA, so I pushed. He thought for at least 5 minutes before finally folding AK faceup. This one is gonna be fun to watch on TV.

As for the youthful glow, I've always been told I have a babyface and probably always will. But aside from that, it's probably by surrounding myself by older rough looking guys like Shane [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

[Absolution]

Nice hands. I like hand 2 where the button actually thinks his AA is still good after you smooth call on that flop.

I have heard some pros talk about bad players at their tables and in one hand they'll talk about a guy who can can't get away from his overpairs and how bad he is, but in the next they talk about a guy who can get pushed off his top pair/overpair hands. You seem to pick up a lot of chips differentiating between these two players by observing their situation and previous play. If you throw out the occasional monster cooler hands and big bluffs, most of big stack tournament poker seems to come down to how well you play your one pair/A high hands. How do you balance your play as to not become one of these exploitable characters? Also, what are some other common weaknesses you exploit at the table? Do you have examples where you exploited someone who likes to squeeze play by just smooth calling a preflop raise or raising a blocking/information bet with nothing?

[iMsoLucky0]

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Nice hands. I like hand 2 where the button actually thinks his AA is still good after you smooth call on that flop.

I have heard some pros talk about bad players at their tables and in one hand they'll talk about a guy who can can't get away from his overpairs and how bad he is, but in the next they talk about a guy who can get pushed off his top pair/overpair hands. You seem to pick up a lot of chips differentiating between these two players by observing their situation and previous play. If you throw out the occasional monster cooler hands and big bluffs, most of big stack tournament poker seems to come down to how well you play your one pair/A high hands. How do you balance your play as to not become one of these exploitable characters? Also, what are some other common weaknesses you exploit at the table? Do you have examples where you exploited someone who likes to squeeze play by just smooth calling a preflop raise or raising a blocking/information bet with nothing?

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I think the way to keep from not being one of the exploitable players is to always be looking at the situation and trying to figure out what the other guy is thinking. Both the players that can't fold top pair and the players that you can move off a hand fall into the trap of only seeing their cards and their side of the situation. When you're thinking about the other guy you can start figuring out if your ace high is good or your 2 pair is beat.

I pointed out some of the common weaknesses/mistakes I see earlier in the thread, but some others are people that don't defend their blinds at all and people that overly protect chips they put in the pot (see this a lot in overly aggro players live).

I can think of several hands in particular where I have smooth called raises because I felt a squeeze coming. One in particular stands out to me. It was day 2 of the Niagara WPT a few months ago and I was on a very tough table that was super aggressive. With me were good2cu, prtypsux (online MTTer, not sure if he 2+2s), Farzad Bonyadi, Brad Booth, and 1 or 2 other pros I can't remember. On the hand I'm thinking of, prtypsux opens to 3 BBs from UTG and I was next to act and looked down at aces. He had been active and so had I, so I knew the table couldn't pass up the opportunity to squeeze an UTG raise and a UTG+1 call, so I just called and picked up a ton of chips when good2cu reraised and folded when I moved in.

I can't really think of particular hands where I raised a blocking/information bet with nothing but I'm sure they've happened. I probably just don't remember because it either worked and didn't seem like a big deal or they didn't work and I felt retarded.

[psyduck]

Great thread Jordan.

[Beachman42]

TIA for giving back!

I am a recreational player who enjoys live MTTs so much so that I have been to Vegas 6-8 times in the past year to play. This year, I have booked my trip to the WSOP to play in a $1,500 buy-in NL event. (3X my largest event so far).

How do you recommend a WSOP noob prepare? What on-line events would you recommend? What live events (esp. in LV)?

I'm a decent winning player on FT & PS but its only a hobby for me so I won't be putting in 20+ hours a week. I'm really interested in your thoughts on how a rec player can best prepare to get the most out of the experience as the $$ isn't very interesting to me and certainly won't change my life.