Stars 20/180 Tournament Report: April 8th

seke2 · #1 04-10-2006, 01:59 PM

I posted one of these back in February (around the time ZBT posted one) and got some nice feedback, so I thought I'd do it again. This is from a Stars 20/180 where I finished in 3rd. Had a few MTTers sweating me (golfingguy5, uclabruinz, Nez477, tubasteve, and some others stopped by) who all told me I played well, so I thought I'd share how I played with you guys and let you see some of the moves I ran. Honestly, I was real happy with my play in this one since I never got AA, got KK a few times but never got paid huge, only got AK once, and only got QQ once (and that was my knockout hand). Only 1 big important suckout too. Here goes.

I'm basically including every hand where I VPIP'd or hands where I thought about it, since I want to show the whole tournament, not just the hands that had me scratching my head.

Hands I thought were interesting/could use feedback on:
39, 58, 59, 68, 83, 112, 120-123, 148, 156, 164, 165, 178, 186

I would LOVE to hear peoples thoughts on the stretch of hands from 120-123, especially 123. Read through all 3 before you comment, I think the 3 put together a bit of a story.

Here's everything from the start until we get ITM. ITM->FT to come in a later post.

Hand 6: Too tricky for this early?

I honestly used to raise in this spot early just to see how the BB would react, but I've stopped doing that. I still think I play a little too tricky early on, but this is fairly standard for me.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG+1 (t1800)
MP1 (t1520)
MP2 (t1470)
MP3 (t940)
CO (t1470)
Button (t1470)
Hero (t1480)
BB (t1690)
UTG (t1660)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
7 folds, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t40) 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t30, BB calls t30.

Turn: (t100) K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t60, BB folds.

Final Pot: t160

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t160. 

Hand 10: No set, no bet

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t1770)
SB (t1220)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1250)
UTG+1 (t1510)
MP1 (t1470)
Hero (t1530)
MP3 (t1620)
CO (t1630)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG calls t20, 2 folds, Hero calls t20, MP3 calls t20, 2 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t100) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets t160, Hero folds, MP3 calls t160, SB calls t160, BB folds.

Turn: (t580) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
SB bets t1040 (All-In), UTG folds, MP3 folds.

Final Pot: t1620

Results in white below: 
No showdown. SB wins t1620. 

Hand 17: But 44 is my lucky hand...
Should I have even called the first raise? Obvious fold the 2nd time around.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t1530)
UTG (t1620)
UTG+1 (t1850)
MP1 (t970)
MP2 (t1560)
MP3 (t1470)
Hero (t1480)
Button (t1350)
SB (t1670)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
3 folds, MP2 raises to t80, 1 fold, Hero calls t80, Button raises to t500, SB calls t490, 1 fold, MP2 raises to t1560, Hero folds, Button calls t850 (All-In), SB calls t1060.

Flop: (t4570) 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t4570) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t4570) 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t4570

Results in white below: 
SB has Ac Ah (full house, aces full of nines).
MP2 has Jc Jh (two pair, jacks and nines).
Button has Js Jd (two pair, jacks and nines).
Outcome: SB wins t4570. 

Hand 39: Made a set, why did I bet?
I'm pretty sure I should have just checked this flop and hoped the turn brought some paint to help me get paid off, right? This board is light on the draws (some possibly straight draws with the T8) and its unlikely anyone else has top pair with me having TT.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t1445)
MP2 (t3385)
CO (t2295)
Button (t1340)
SB (t3215)
BB (t1210)
Hero (t1295)
UTG+1 (t3685)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
Hero raises to t150, 4 folds, Button calls t150, 1 fold, BB calls t100.

Flop: (t475) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t250, Button folds, BB folds.

Final Pot: t725

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t725. 

Hand 43: Bet sizing is an art
Really like the size of my preflop reraise here, I think it's perfect given the size of MP2's stack. Not uncallable, but he's going to risk committing himself if he calls.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t1445)
UTG (t3385)
UTG+1 (t2095)
MP1 (t4805)
MP2 (t1035)
Hero (t1545)
Button (t3610)
SB (t3390)

Preflop: Hero is CO with T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
3 folds, MP2 calls t50, Hero raises to t250, 3 folds, MP2 folds.

Final Pot: t375

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t375. 

Hand 50: I know it's results oriented, but...
Does anyone complete the SB in spots like this, in the first few blind levels, on an average sized stack? Obviously it would have worked out for me here, but I normally muck in this type of spot. 87 or 86, suited or not, I probably call, but a non-suited 2-gapper is not something I'd play unless I had a monster stack early.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t1320)
UTG+1 (t1535)
MP1 (t2295)
MP2 (t5110)
CO (t5830)
Button (t1135)
Hero (t1620)
BB (t7750)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
5 folds, Button calls t50, 1 fold, BB checks.

Flop: (t125) J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Button checks.

Turn: (t125) 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB bets t150, Button folds.

Final Pot: t275

Results in white below: 
No showdown. BB wins t275. 

Hand 58: My first "move" of the tournament
In most of my 20/180s, I seem to find myself somewhere around M = 10-15 towards the end of the first hour. As you can see, I'm playing tight early on, I only had about 6 hands so far where I even thought about putting chips in the pot. So here, I had a spot where I decided to try a move. BB was a big stack and I felt would make a loose call against me, but I'd also seen him raise preflop to bully with his stack size and fold to a reasonable reraise. I decided the best way to accomplish both goals here was to give him a chance to push me off the pot and still give myself room to push, figuring I'd usually be a coinflip if he called (which is fine with me on this stack size) and I'd have enough FE to make it worthwhile. FPS? Maybe. I needed a read to do this, but I like the move even in hindsight.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t1395)
UTG+1 (t2170)
MP1 (t2145)
MP2 (t3875)
CO (t5630)
Button (t1985)
Hero (t1495)
BB (t7900)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
6 folds, Hero completes, BB raises to t400, Hero raises to t1495, BB folds.

Final Pot: t2045

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t2045. 

Hand 59: Playing the FD another way
My default play in spots like this was always to just push when I raised. I've been thinking about how transparent that is, and how it actually reduces FE. Here, I felt that by limping in position preflop, a non-push semi-bluff raise would be a lot better than a push. Also, after this hand, you can see that I have now nearly doubled my chipstack near the end of the 1st hour without a showdown.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t1395)
UTG+1 (t2170)
MP1 (t2145)
MP2 (t3875)
MP3 (t5630)
CO (t1985)
Hero (t1895)
SB (t7500)
BB (t2420)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG calls t100, 4 folds, CO calls t100, Hero calls t100, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t500) 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, CO bets t200, Hero raises to t600, SB folds, BB folds, UTG folds, CO folds.

Final Pot: t1300

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t1300. 

Hand 68: To cbet or not to cbet?
Kind of a weird flop, and the big stack is my opponent. Really didn't know. If he called with a pair, he's got an overpair, a set, or a straight draw. If he called with an ace, he's got an overcard and a gutshot. If he's got low/middle connectors, he's got a straight draw of some sort. Still, I decided to cbet and it worked. No idea if it was a good move or not.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t2440)
UTG+1 (t2370)
MP1 (t3625)
MP2 (t5480)
CO (t1685)
Hero (t2345)
SB (t6355)
BB (t2270)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t300, SB calls t250, 1 fold.

Flop: (t700) 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t450, SB folds.

Final Pot: t1150

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t1150. 

Hand 70: I'm learning not to cbet. but was this too loose preflop?
A9o in HJ, 27xBB stack. Decided not to cbet the fairly scary flop and then Button overbet for more than half of his stack.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t2340)
BB (t2370)
UTG (t3625)
UTG+1 (t5480)
MP1 (t1835)
Hero (t2745)
CO (t6055)
Button (t2120)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t300, 1 fold, Button calls t300, 2 folds.

Flop: (t750) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1000, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t1750

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Button wins t1750. 

Hand 75: Standard call, luckbox is on
This was my first showdown, in hand 75, just after the 2nd hour started, and it was just calling a shortie push out of the BB. I discover that my luckbox is turned on here, and it remains that way for a while.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t2190)
MP2 (t4590)
MP3 (t1635)
CO (t3475)
Button (t5305)
SB (t2015)
Hero (t2445)
UTG (t6055)
UTG+1 (t350)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t350, 6 folds, Hero calls t200.

Flop: (t775) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t775) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t775) 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t775

Results in white below: 
Hero has Qd Ts (two pair, tens and nines).
UTG+1 has Ad Qh (two pair, nines and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t775. 

Hand 78: Standard
This is around the time I start to think that this table is playing tight.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t2040)
BB (t4590)
UTG (t1635)
UTG+1 (t3475)
MP1 (t5305)
MP2 (t2165)
Hero (t2795)
Button (t6055)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t450, 3 folds.

Final Pot: t675

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t675. 

Hand 83: Hero is lost
Yeah, I had no idea what to do here. I get a freeflop with J8o from the BB and make top pair on a paired (deuces) board, but it's a 4-way pot. I decide to check the flop and evaluate. Can I reasonable check/fold the flop once MP2 bets and Button calls? Do I give one of them credit for a better jack? I decided to call the flop and check/evaluate the turn, and obviously folded once MP2 pushed and button called. As I figured, one of them had a better jack. And one had some badly played aces.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG+1 (t1965)
MP1 (t4815)
MP2 (t1710)
CO (t3250)
Button (t5005)
SB (t2240)
Hero (t3020)
UTG (t6055)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
3 folds, MP2 calls t150, CO calls t150, Button calls t150, 1 fold, Hero checks.

Flop: (t675) 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (4 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t300, CO folds, Button calls t300, Hero calls t300.

Turn: (t1575) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t1260 (All-In), Button calls t1260, Hero folds.

River: (t4095) J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t4095

Results in white below: 
MP2 has Ac Ad (two pair, aces and jacks).
Button has Qc Jh (full house, jacks full of twos).
Outcome: Button wins t4095. 

Hand 86: Putting MP2 to the test
This was pretty similar to hand 43, but it was a different Villain. Anyways, I once again think I sized this bet quite effectively, and I'd seen MP2 limp/fold a few times so I knew he was capable of folding here.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t2415)
UTG (t4815)
UTG+1 (t3100)
MP1 (t7390)
MP2 (t2165)
Hero (t2495)
Button (t5830)
SB (t5170)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
3 folds, MP2 calls t150, Hero raises to t600, 3 folds, MP2 folds.

Final Pot: t975

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t975. 

Hand 88: Like I said, it's a tight table
Note hand number. Preflop raise in 86 takes it down. Here's 88.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t2190)
SB (t4665)
BB (t4035)
UTG (t2950)
UTG+1 (t7390)
MP1 (t2390)
Hero (t2870)
MP3 (t5830)
CO (t5095)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t450, 5 folds.

Final Pot: t675

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t675. 

Hand 89: Tight is right
Here's hand 89.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

CO (t2190)
Button (t4590)
SB (t3885)
BB (t2950)
UTG (t7390)
UTG+1 (t2390)
Hero (t3095)
MP2 (t5830)
MP3 (t5095)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t450, 6 folds.

Final Pot: t675

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t675. 

Hand 90: So tight it's choking the felt
And here's hand 90. Anyways, we are 90 hands in and my only showdown is calling a shortie push.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP3 (t2190)
CO (t4590)
Button (t3810)
SB (t2800)
BB (t7390)
UTG (t2390)
Hero (t3320)
MP1 (t5830)
MP2 (t5095)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t450, 7 folds.

Final Pot: t675

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t675. 

Hand 92: Defending my blind
Button had raised the last 3x in a row against my blind. Yeah, he's a big stack, but I needed to defend at least once. He seemed to bet the flop when he had something and checked when he missed. Once he checked the flop, I decided to take a stab on the turn, even with the K hitting the board. In hindsight, this turn bet seems like it might have been a bad idea on that board against a big stack.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t4590)
MP2 (t3810)
CO (t2725)
Button (t7165)
SB (t2240)
Hero (t3545)
UTG (t8245)
UTG+1 (t5095)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
5 folds, Button raises to t450, 1 fold, Hero calls t300.

Flop: (t975) 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

Turn: (t975) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t600, Button folds.

Final Pot: t1575

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t1575. 

Hand 94: I raised preflop 5x in a 9-hand stretch and ...
... all I have to show for it is 5 blinds, cause nobody called any of them.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t4590)
UTG+1 (t3810)
MP1 (t2725)
MP2 (t7240)
CO (t2165)
Hero (t3995)
SB (t7795)
BB (t5095)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t450, 2 folds.

Final Pot: t675

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t675. 

Hand 104: This makes it hard to double up
I might open/limp this, but on this table, I had to raise because it was too easy to steal blinds. But I was actually getting frustrated that nobody would give me action because I couldn't get myself out of the M=10-15 zone.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t4920)
BB (t9030)
UTG (t3560)
UTG+1 (t2325)
MP1 (t4025)
MP2 (t1565)
Hero (t3920)
CO (t8320)
Button (t4870)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t600, 4 folds.

Final Pot: t900

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t900. 

Hand 111: I mean, if nobody is going to stop me...
On this table, I pretty much have to raise this, right?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t4220)
UTG+1 (t5760)
MP1 (t2425)
MP2 (t3825)
CO (t1265)
Hero (t3820)
SB (t7520)
BB (t4970)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t600, 2 folds.

Final Pot: t900

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t900. 

Hand 112: Someone finally calls me
I raise the suited ace from CO and actually get a caller. I had NO idea what to do on this flop. SB's bet was fairly small, and I really didn't connect with that flop at all. I ran my bank for about 30 seconds debating whether or not to pump it up to 1500 on a bluff. SB was pretty tight. Right move is to just lay this down and move on, especially on a table where I'm stealing blinds so easily, right?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t4220)
UTG (t5760)
UTG+1 (t2425)
MP1 (t3825)
MP2 (t1265)
Hero (t4120)
Button (t7420)
SB (t4770)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t600, 1 fold, SB calls t500, 1 fold.

Flop: (t1400) 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB bets t375, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t1775

Results in white below: 
No showdown. SB wins t1775. 

Hand 120: A huge misclick
No misclicks in the actual play of the hand. Yeah, this was a gutsy play, but I didn't think MP1 would limp many aces. Cbet takes it down, and then I misclick "Show Cards" when I'm clicking back onto an IM window. I've been running over the table like crazy without good cards, and now I accidentally show everyone else that. Crap. But I win a nice pot here. I'm chatting with golfingguy5 on IM and I tell him, "Allright, I'll tighten up and get paid off now." The poker gods hear me and deliver...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t5120)
UTG+1 (t4985)
MP1 (t5310)
MP2 (t1975)
MP3 (t4200)
CO (t1340)
Hero (t2970)
SB (t7595)
BB (t5945)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
2 folds, MP1 calls t200, 3 folds, Hero raises to t800, 2 folds, MP1 calls t600.

Flop: (t1800) A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t1000, MP1 folds.

Final Pot: t2800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t2800. 

Note: I misclicked show cards and showed my bluff

Hand 122: And I get the cards to get paid off
My misclick probably helped this guy call me down with 77, but anyway, here's my first real showdown of the entire tournament (on hand 122) and I win the flip to finally double up and get a decent sized stack. Pretty standard preflop, right?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t4870)
BB (t4935)
UTG (t4460)
UTG+1 (t1925)
MP1 (t4675)
MP2 (t1290)
Hero (t4245)
CO (t7445)
Button (t5595)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t600, 2 folds, SB raises to t1400, 1 fold, Hero raises to t4220, SB calls t2820.

Flop: (t8615) 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t8615) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t8615) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t8615

Results in white below: 
SB has 7h 7d (two pair, nines and sevens).
Hero has Ac Qs (two pair, aces and nines).
Outcome: Hero wins t8615. 

Hand 123: The most interesting hand of the tournament, I think
Very next hand. I've talked to a bunch of people about this one. Everyone has agreed on what to do, but nobody has been real sure about it. Anyway, I won't discuss it much, I'd rather people give thoughts on this without knowing what happened. As far as reads, I'd seen CO reraise with AK before. He didn't seem to be overly tricky.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t625)
SB (t4710)
BB (t4435)
UTG (t1900)
UTG+1 (t1265)
Hero (t8865)
MP2 (t7420)
CO (t5570)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t600, 1 fold, CO calls t600, Button calls t600 (All-In), 2 folds.

Flop: (t1975) A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players, 1 all-in)
Hero bets t1200, CO raises to t4945, Hero calls t3745.

Turn: (t11865) Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t11865) J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t11865

Results in white below: 
Hero has Qh Ad (two pair, aces and queens).
CO has Kh As (one pair, aces).
Button has 6h 4h (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins t11865. 

Hand 127: Anyone call here?
We're not really on the bubble yet, we've got about 35 players left. On the bubble, I call this and figure BB will check it down. Here, I wasn't quite sure. The push was just big enough and BB's stack was big enough that I decided to pass and let him make the call rather than risk calling and having to fold if he isolated. I didn't have a good read on BB, hadn't played with him much.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t5975)
MP1 (t5185)
MP2 (t4035)
CO (t1500)
Button (t865)
Hero (t15210)
BB (t8045)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
2 folds, MP2 calls t200, 1 fold, Button raises to t840, 2 folds, MP2 calls t640.

Flop: (t1830) 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t1830) 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t1830) 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t1830

Results in white below: 
MP2 has Ac Tc (one pair, tens).
Button has 7s Ah (high card, ace).
Outcome: MP2 wins t1830. 

Hand 135: Scrapping with the chipleader
I get moved and I've got this guy luxor101, the tourney CL, 2 to my left. He seems pretty solid (rated an ace on tournament reporter, for the small degree of information that provides) and he's making me uncomfortable. However, I gotta see where he's at. Pretty standard cbet on that flop, I think.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t9845)
UTG+1 (t3015)
MP1 (t6490)
MP2 (t6503)
Hero (t15135)
CO (t9167)
Button (t19673)
SB (t2620)
BB (t8825)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t1200, 1 fold, Button calls t1200, 2 folds.

Flop: (t2600) 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t1500, Button folds.

Final Pot: t4100

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t4100. 

Hand 140: There shall be no completing against my BB
Anytime I have a big stack, I make moves like this, I don't need cards this good to do it either. Just want to send the message, usually gets me a few walks later. I got a ton in this tournament. Also, I didn't raise to 1425, it was 1400, but the converter seems to not understand antes.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t9945)
CO (t2690)
Button (t5765)
SB (t8378)
Hero (t17035)
UTG (t18348)
UTG+1 (t2295)
MP1 (t7700)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
6 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to t1425, SB folds.

Final Pot: t1800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t1800. 

Hand 141: Looks a lot like the last one
Button was a limp/folder, but since I raised over his completion the last hand, I wasn't sure how he'd react here. I become the tourney CL here.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t9920)
MP2 (t2665)
CO (t5740)
Button (t7953)
Hero (t17610)
BB (t18323)
UTG (t2270)
UTG+1 (t7675)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
5 folds, Button calls t400, Hero raises to t1325, 1 fold, Button folds.

Final Pot: t1900

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t1900. 

Hand 148: Premium pair, finally
I've been thinking a lot about how I played this. It was up against luxor101 again. He clearly didn't like me raising his blind, and this time he played back at me. I decided I didn't want to get too cute here. Does anyone just flat-call this and then check/raise any non-ace high flop? I dunno. This one felt pretty standard to me, near the bubble. I knew he wasn't calling when I pushed unless he had QQ-AA/AK. He was really mad after this, cursed me out in chat and whatnot.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t12095)
CO (t5530)
Button (t14468)
Hero (t18035)
BB (t17148)
UTG (t1495)
MP1 (t3385)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t1225, BB raises to t3625, Hero raises to t18035, BB folds.

Final Pot: t21785

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t21785. 

Hand 149: Anyone call?
Seemed like a standard fold to me. CO here is the chronic limp/folder, but I haven't seen him raise much and haven't seen him show down anything bad on a raise. But I had position here. Anyone call?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t12070)
MP2 (t5505)
CO (t14443)
Hero (t21785)
SB (t13523)
BB (t1470)
UTG (t3360)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
3 folds, CO raises to t1200, 2 folds, BB raises to t1445, CO calls t245.

Flop: (t3015) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t3015) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t3015) Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t3015

Results in white below: 
BB has Ks 7c (one pair, kings).
CO has Qs Ad (one pair, queens).
Outcome: BB wins t3015. 

Hand 150: Showing my cards (intentionally this time)
Standard hand. I decided to show my cards on this one, mostly as a message to luxor101 (Button here) that I wasn't someone he should mess with. Around this time, he starts telling me that he's going to get me later.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t12045)
MP1 (t5480)
MP2 (t12973)
Hero (t21760)
Button (t13298)
SB (t3265)
BB (t3335)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t1225, 3 folds.

Final Pot: t1375

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t1375. 

Hand 152: Another premium pair
Interesting spot. UTG raises and I've got the big hand in MP1. I repop it to 2700. Figured that would be enough to commit him and he'd have a hard time folding getting over 2:1. Was a little surprised when he folded.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t11595)
BB (t5430)
UTG (t8075)
UTG+1 (t12923)
Hero (t22485)
MP2 (t8429)
MP3 (t12848)
CO (t3015)
Button (t3910)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t1025, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2725, 6 folds, UTG folds.

Final Pot: t3925

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t3925. 

Hand 156: Drawing to a big pot
I thought about leading this flop, but decided the check/raise was better. I was more hoping that it would get checked around, as I really wanted to see that turn card, with my FD + gutshot. The turn made my flush draw and I was pretty confident that nobody else had a better made flush. At that point, with the draw-heavy board and the two high cards on, I figured plenty of hands would call if I just bet down the turn and river, and I got paid off pretty nicely. The 3000 on the river was just about half of what BB had left, which was intentional. I move into a pretty sizable chiplead here.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t11245)
CO (t4680)
Button (t11873)
Hero (t23560)
BB (t8279)
UTG (t17658)
UTG+1 (t6030)
MP1 (t5385)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG calls t600, 5 folds, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t1850) Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks.

Turn: (t1850) 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero bets t1200, BB calls t1200, UTG folds.

River: (t4250) 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t3000, BB calls t3000.

Final Pot: t10250

Results in white below: 
BB has Qh 9d (one pair, queens).
Hero has 5d 4d (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins t10250. 

Hand 164: Luckbox on turbo
I win another flip with AQ here. I thought it was a pretty standard call at the time, since I can easily afford to lose this pot and still have one of the largest stacks. Anyone disagree? With this win, I've got about 15k more than 2nd place.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t9945)
CO (t7280)
Button (t7544)
Hero (t27760)
BB (t7108)
UTG (t14273)
UTG+1 (t4730)
MP1 (t10070)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
2 folds, MP1 calls t600, 3 folds, Hero raises to t2000, 1 fold, MP1 raises to t10070, Hero calls t8020.

Flop: (t20390) 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t20390) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t20390) 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t20390

Results in white below: 
MP1 has 8d 8s (one pair, eights).
Hero has Qd Ah (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins t20390. 

Hand 165: Was that a cbet or a value bet?
Interesting flop here. I raise it up preflop and get a call from SB for a big chunk of his stack. I make MPTK on the flop plus runner runner nut FD/nut SD and fire out about half of what SB has left, pretty much committing myself to call if he pushes. Standard?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t9895)
MP2 (t7230)
CO (t7494)
Hero (t38730)
SB (t6458)
BB (t14223)
UTG (t4680)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t1500, SB calls t1200, 1 fold.

Flop: (t3000) T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t2500, SB folds.

Final Pot: t5500

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t5500. 

Hand 167: I wish I had more experience as the big stack
Is this standard as the big stack? We're on the bubble, a few people from getting ITM. As far as not cbetting the flop, I intentionally decided not to do it because I had cbet pretty much every flop and this guy seemed to be awake enough to notice it. When I actually made top pair on the turn, I bet and took it down. He was probably expecting me to bet the flop, so I hope my checking threw him off. I dunno. I probably overrate the value of this type of thinking.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t9795)
MP1 (t7130)
MP2 (t7394)
Hero (t41080)
Button (t13223)
SB (t3980)
BB (t23794)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t1800, 2 folds, BB calls t1200.

Flop: (t3300) 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t3300) Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t2200, BB folds.

Final Pot: t5500

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t5500. 

Hand 171: I got Shania'd
UTG here is luxor101. I saw him limp aces UTG a few orbits ago and then slowplay the flop, and now he limps UTG again. He totally scared me into playing weak/tight. I probably should have raised this preflop and definitely should have bet the turn. Anyway, small mistakes like this don't hurt that badly.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

CO (t9945)
Button (t6030)
SB (t5994)
Hero (t43330)
UTG (t14873)
MP1 (t3480)
MP2 (t22744)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG calls t600, 4 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t1800) 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks.

Turn: (t1800) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks.

River: (t1800) 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks.

Final Pot: t1800

Results in white below: 
SB has Kh 6c (high card, king).
Hero has 4s As (high card, ace).
UTG has 5h 5d (one pair, fives).
Outcome: UTG wins t1800. 

Hand 172: Keeping luxor101 under the heat
He kept saying how he'd get me, but I made myself keep the pressure on him until he actually did something about it. I don't think he ever did.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t9895)
CO (t5980)
Button (t5344)
Hero (t42680)
BB (t16373)
UTG (t3430)
MP1 (t22694)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t1850, 1 fold.

Final Pot: t2150

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t2150. 

Hand 178: Instacall the flop, right?
Maybe I should have just raised preflop with SB limping on his short stack against me. On the flop, when I actually connect with that trash and have the MP + gutshot + runner runner FD on the monster-stack, I have to call, right? Anyways, this is the first showdown I lost, I think.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

CO (t9945)
Button (t6030)
SB (t5794)
Hero (t43330)
UTG (t14673)
MP1 (t3880)
MP2 (t22744)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
5 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t1500) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB bets t4944 (All-In), Hero calls t4944.

Turn: (t11388) J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t11388) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t11388

Results in white below: 
SB has 6s 7s (two pair, sevens and sixes).
Hero has 5h 3d (one pair, fives).
Outcome: SB wins t11388. 

Hand 182: Standard bigstack steal?
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t9745)
UTG (t8930)
MP1 (t13238)
Hero (t36986)
CO (t13273)
Button (t2480)
SB (t21744)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t2450, 4 folds.

Final Pot: t2750

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t2750. 

Hand 183: Standard
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t8895)
BB (t8880)
UTG (t13188)
Hero (t38486)
MP2 (t13223)
CO (t2430)
Button (t21294)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t2250, 5 folds.

Final Pot: t2550

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t2550. 

Hand 186: uclabruinz told me it was a great call
I agree with him, even if I lost the hand. Basically getting 2:1 against a UTG pusher with a really wide range holding 75s from the SB on my monster stack. I called my emergency luckbox repairman at this point.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t16245)
CO (t7530)
Button (t11838)
Hero (t39086)
BB (t13073)
UTG (t2280)
MP1 (t16344)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t2230, 4 folds, Hero calls t1830, 1 fold.

Flop: (t4360) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t4360) Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t4360) A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t4360

Results in white below: 
UTG has 8d Ad (two pair, aces and queens).
Hero has 5s 7s (two pair, queens and sevens).
Outcome: UTG wins t4360. 

Hand 190: I just couldn't get myself to click call
I thought about calling this just for metagame reasons, but I finally got caught stealing. Probably shouldn't have even been bothering with JTo from MP1, but the table was tight and I was the monster stack. Villain has enough chips to worry me, and he just put 1/4 of his stack in on a small reraise. Yeah, I've got the odds to call, but I just didn't feel comfortable at all. I decided to pass, and I'm sad to admit that the fact that the bubble just popped on another table during this hand did cross my mind as part of my rationale to fold.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t16795)
BB (t7330)
UTG (t13188)
Hero (t36656)
MP2 (t11273)
CO (t6210)
Button (t14944)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t2450, 3 folds, SB raises to t4850, 1 fold, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t7550

Results in white below: 
No showdown. SB wins t7550.

seke2 · #2 04-10-2006, 03:22 PM

Man, is the first half of this tournament so completely uninteresting? Ouch. Oh well. Hope someone gets some value out of this, I got quite a bit from just reviewing my play.

Allright, here's the hands from when we got ITM until I got knocked out 3rd. Converter seems to have mangled the pot sizes, but at least its consistent mangling.

Hands I could use feedback on/might be interesting:
226, 242, 304, 307, 322

Hand 194: OESD enough?
UTG is luxor101, and I'm no longer terrifed of his UTG limps. I get a free flop from the BB and flop an OESD, but almost certainly someone picked up a piece of this flop. I thought about a bet/fold on the flop to try and get to the turn, but decided for a check/evaluate. luxor101 bet over 3/4 of the pot and I folded. Anyone play it different?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t20095)
MP3 (t8355)
CO (t14213)
Button (t11138)
Hero (t32806)
BB (t15965)
UTG (t12673)
UTG+1 (t5960)
MP1 (t14694)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
UTG calls t1200, 4 folds, CO calls t1200, Button calls t1200, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t6000) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (5 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets t4800, CO folds, Button folds, Hero folds, BB folds.

Final Pot: t10800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. UTG wins t10800. 

Hand 195: Preflop bet size variation
I'm weaning myself off the default 3xBB for every preflop raise, thought I did a nice job mixing it up randomly between 2.5-3.5 in this tournament.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG+1 (t20020)
MP1 (t8280)
MP2 (t12938)
CO (t9863)
Hero (t31531)
SB (t14690)
BB (t18073)
UTG (t14619)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t3075, 2 folds.

Final Pot: t3600

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t3600. 

Hand 196: Anyone get involved?
Thought about calling/isolating here with a good chance of having position, but UTG+1's raise of nearly half his stack concerned me. I was thinking about an isolation play, but opted not to. I got a good read that BB wasn't too smart here also. With 3 decent sized stacks in Button/SB/BB, I just didn't feel good about isolating.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t19945)
UTG+1 (t8205)
MP1 (t12863)
MP2 (t9788)
Hero (t33856)
Button (t14015)
SB (t16798)
BB (t14544)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t3600, 5 folds, BB raises to t8400, UTG+1 calls t4530 (All-In).

Flop: (t16980) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t16980) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t16980) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t16980

Results in white below: 
BB has Ah 5h (two pair, aces and eights).
UTG+1 has Ks Qd (two pair, queens and eights).
Outcome: BB wins t16980. 

Hand 204: Sometimes, you just can't help yourself
Everything was telling me not to cbet this flop and I did it anyway.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t22195)
UTG (t21628)
MP1 (t7388)
Hero (t31456)
CO (t24141)
Button (t26248)
SB (t23799)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t3000, 3 folds, BB calls t1800.

Flop: (t5250) A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t4500, BB raises to t19120, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t28870

Results in white below: 
No showdown. BB wins t28870. 

Hand 209: Feeling out the table and using the bubble
This is on the FT bubble, or close to it. I just got moved tables and wanted to see how they'd react to a button raise. Probably didn't need to do this.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t19324)
UTG (t12101)
MP (t28283)
CO (t44292)
Hero (t24031)
SB (t8995)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t3675, 2 folds.

Final Pot: t4050

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t4050. 

Hand 214: Using the information I just got
Found out BB was tight, and we're right on that FT bubble and there's a few small stacks at the other table, so I'm gonna attack this guy. If he pushed, I would have called getting 3:1.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t17149)
MP (t14426)
CO (t28358)
Button (t44367)
Hero (t24706)
BB (t8020)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t3675, 1 fold.

Final Pot: t4050

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t4050. 

Hand 220: The BB strikes back
I raise his BB again, this time he's desperate enough to push, and my luckbox is still on the fritz apparently.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t17149)
MP (t16676)
CO (t25508)
Button (t44967)
Hero (t26956)
BB (t5770)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
4 folds, Hero raises to t3600, BB raises to t5695, Hero calls t2095.

Flop: (t11690) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t11690) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t11690) 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t11690

Results in white below: 
Hero has 8h Th (one pair, tens).
BB has Ks 4c (one pair, kings).
Outcome: BB wins t11690. 

Hand 223: Yet another premium pair, still no action
Never did see a flop with any of my 3 KK hands in this one.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t17374)
SB (t17701)
BB (t25283)
UTG (t44742)
Hero (t21036)
CO (t10890)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t4075, 4 folds.

Final Pot: t4450

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t4450. 

Hand 226: I don't like how I played this
I'd seen this Villain (eventual winner of the tournament) make a lot of awful plays already, so I was willing to play my A8 hard agaisnt him. He'd played so many baby aces that I felt allright betting the flop hard too. If he pushes, over my flop bet, I guess I call. I don't really like how I played this one, but I don't know what a better line is.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t17149)
MP (t19526)
CO (t22658)
Button (t42117)
Hero (t24911)
BB (t10665)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
2 folds, CO calls t1600, 1 fold, Hero raises to t6400, 1 fold, CO calls t4800.

Flop: (t13175) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t9000, CO folds.

Final Pot: t22175

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t22175. 

FINAL TABLE STARTS HERE

Hand 237: More stealing
These guys were overly tight and stealing was really easy.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t18084)
MP2 (t29819)
CO (t31566)
Hero (t27736)
SB (t54317)
BB (t39985)
UTG (t49413)
UTG+1 (t19080)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t4275, 2 folds.

Final Pot: t4800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t4800. 

Hand 241: Flop-free accumulation
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t25584)
SB (t29519)
BB (t44246)
Hero (t30436)
MP1 (t53217)
MP2 (t37285)
CO (t49713)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
Hero raises to t4475, 6 folds.

Final Pot: t4925

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t4925. 

Hand 242: Anyone push to steal or call here?
I ran my clock for a while thinking about pushing here on a steal. UTG had shown down some awful hands and seemed like he was a bit of a donk, so I didn't give him a really tight range, but I ended up folding. Anyone push here? Anyone call for set value?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

CO (t25509)
Button (t28644)
SB (t42571)
Hero (t33286)
UTG (t53142)
MP1 (t37210)
MP2 (t49638)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t4875, 6 folds.

Final Pot: t5325

Results in white below: 
No showdown. UTG wins t5325. 

Hand 243: MP2K on a monotone board
Made the preflop raise, BB looks me up, and I cbet on an interesting flop. Anyone play this differently?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP2 (t25434)
CO (t28569)
Button (t41696)
Hero (t31611)
BB (t55992)
UTG (t37135)
MP1 (t49563)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
5 folds, Hero raises to t4700, BB calls t3100.

Flop: (t8250) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t7000, BB folds.

Final Pot: t15250

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t15250. 

Hand 246: Another ace-rag goes well
Nez477 told me he didn't think I had an ace when I bet this flop. I dunno. I was cbetting most of the flops whether I hit them or not because it was working so often.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t25209)
UTG (t28344)
MP1 (t41471)
Hero (t36611)
CO (t56117)
Button (t34510)
SB (t47738)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t4000, 3 folds, BB calls t2400.

Flop: (t6850) 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t6000, BB folds.

Final Pot: t12850

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t12850. 

Hand 247: I dunno what he had, but I think he was ahead
Decided not to call this, just didn't think I could be ahead of anything except for a weirdly played AK. He made some fishy weird plays later, so I have no idea what he had here, but I can't imagine I was ahead of what it was unless it was an OESD that I would have basically been flipping against.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t21134)
BB (t28269)
UTG (t41396)
Hero (t41861)
MP2 (t56042)
CO (t34435)
Button (t46863)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t4200, 4 folds, BB calls t2600.

Flop: (t7250) J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB bets t23994 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: t31244

Results in white below: 
No showdown. BB wins t31244. 

Hand 249: Anyone bet the flop?
Villain is a guy who I thought was pretty much a donk and made lots of bad plays preflop. Anyone lead the flop? Once he overbet, I folded pretty quick.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (7 handed) internettexasholdem.com

CO (t20184)
Button (t32844)
SB (t39646)
Hero (t37511)
UTG (t55892)
MP1 (t37210)
MP2 (t46713)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG calls t2000, 5 folds, Hero checks.

Flop: (t4600) 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t6000, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t10600

Results in white below: 
No showdown. UTG wins t10600. 

Hand 256: I actually thought about a MTT forum post as I pushed
Remembered a post last week where someone posted a very similar hand and everyone (including me) said it was a push, so I had to follow my own advice, and it worked nicely.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

CO (t30144)
Button (t68930)
Hero (t31811)
BB (t55892)
UTG (t37210)
MP (t46013)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
2 folds, CO raises to t8100, 1 fold, Hero raises to t31811, 1 fold, CO folds.

Final Pot: t40311

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t40311. 

Hand 264: How much gambol do I have?
Boy I thought about this a while. Maybe it was an easier call than I thought, but UTG pushes for 12xBB here, and I've got big slick. I can't tell how many MTT posters I've told that this is a call, but I really just figured I was taking a coinflip with a small overlay. Still, we always say that people in these 180s will do this with weaker aces so often that we have to be willing to call here. Well, I made the call, and I dominated him. Big win, got me the lead 5-handed.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t23944)
MP (t62130)
Hero (t42211)
Button (t60892)
SB (t31410)
BB (t49413)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t23844, 1 fold, Hero raises to t42111, 3 folds.

Flop: (t66355) 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t66355) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t66355) 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t66355

Results in white below: 
UTG has Th As (high card, ace).
Hero has Kh Ac (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins t66355. 

Hand 269: I steal from CO hardcore
uclabruinz and I were talking about how tight SB and BB were playing, so I made it my mission to raise from CO almost every single time. I probably raised more from CO than I did from the Button.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (5 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t58630)
Hero (t66155)
Button (t60892)
SB (t31410)
BB (t52913)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t5600, 3 folds.

Final Pot: t6000

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t6000. 

Hand 272: More stealing
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (5 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t58830)
Hero (t67355)
BB (t60592)
UTG (t33610)
MP (t49613)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t6100, 1 fold.

Final Pot: t6500

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t6500. 

Hand 277: Had to cbet to finish this steal
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (5 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t55330)
Hero (t67355)
BB (t55592)
UTG (t38610)
MP (t53113)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
3 folds, Hero raises to t5000, BB calls t3000.

Flop: (t8400) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t7500, BB folds.

Final Pot: t15900

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t15900. 

Hand 282: Tighty McFoldsalot
I was pretty relentless in attacking BB, he was so tight it hurt to watch (but I didn't mind).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (4 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t118535)
Hero (t70355)
BB (t35110)
UTG (t46000)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t6100, 1 fold.

Final Pot: t6400

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t6400. 

Hand 284: Why do I do that?
Sometimes, even when every single cbet you try is working, you still need to know when to stop. This flop was way too bad for me to even think about a cbet, and I still did it anyway. Ugh. I'm such a donk. Guess I found a leak I still need to work on.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (4 handed) internettexasholdem.com

BB (t118285)
Hero (t64505)
Button (t31360)
SB (t55850)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
Hero raises to t8000, 2 folds, BB calls t5000.

Flop: (t13450) A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t9000, BB raises to t18000, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t40450

Results in white below: 
No showdown. BB wins t40450. 

Hand 286: I play AQ g00t
Big hand here, pretty standard play, but I ran really good with AQ in this tournament.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (4 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t140685)
Hero (t44205)
BB (t31060)
UTG (t54050)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t13900, 1 fold, Hero raises to t44055, 1 fold, UTG calls t30155.

Flop: (t88410) Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t88410) 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t88410) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t88410

Results in white below: 
Hero has Ad Qd (two pair, queens and nines).
UTG has Js Ac (one pair, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins t88410. 

Hand 290: Railbirds, attack!
Some of my railbirds justifiably gave BB crap after this one. Didn't end up mattering, but lord knows why he bet there. Anyone isolate on UTG?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (4 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t140685)
Hero (t93360)
BB (t31060)
UTG (t4895)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t4745, 1 fold, Hero calls t3245, BB calls t1745.

Flop: (t10185) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t6000, Hero folds.

Turn: (t16185) 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t16185) 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t16185

Results in white below: 
BB has 6h 6s (two pair, eights and sixes).
UTG has Kc 9s (two pair, nines and eights).
Outcome: BB wins t10185. UTG wins t6000. 

Hand 295: Thou shalt not minraise
Button (supertight) minraised, which I hadn't seen him do before. I decided to at least call and see if I could flop a big hand and stack him, but this wasn't good enough for me. Anyone just fold to this, or is this important to keep control of the table and keep control over the short stack you are completely owning?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t156120)
Hero (t86365)
Button (t27515)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
Button raises to t6000, 1 fold, Hero calls t3000.

Flop: (t9300) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t3000, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t12300

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Button wins t12300. 

Hand 296: TPNK is plenty
One of the few times that shortie calls my preflop raise and I actually make top pair. Got those chips back from calling that minraise, anyway.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t154470)
Hero (t80215)
BB (t35315)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t9000, BB calls t6000.

Flop: (t15300) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t12000, BB folds.

Final Pot: t27300

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t27300. 

Hand 299, 302 - Stole from SB against shortie a few more times with T3 and K5

Hand 304: Freaking Riverstars!
I don't think I played this well. Converter is messing up the pot size. SB had called most of the time I tried to raise preflop when he limped, so I decided to just see a flop. On the flop, I make TPNK and put in a pretty big reraise, which he calls. The turn puts the board 4 to a straight and we've got 2 diamonds too. I decide just to call for pot control reasons, hoping he's got Jx or Qx. River pairs the board and I'm pretty sure that I'm about to pay off trip queens, which I do.

I can think of about 20 ways to play this better than I did, but I wasn't going to push this particular Villain off trips, so a river bluff was out of the question for me.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t151170)
Hero (t99265)
Button (t19565)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
1 fold, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t4800) J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB bets t3000, Hero raises to t9000, SB calls t6000.

Turn: (t22800) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB bets t6000, Hero calls t6000.

River: (t34800) Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB bets t6000, Hero calls t6000.

Final Pot: t46800

Results in white below: 
SB has 8h Qh (three of a kind, queens).
Hero has 6s Kc (two pair, kings and queens).
Outcome: SB wins t46800. 

Hand 305: Come back, luckbox!
Just couldn't get this shortie to go away.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t175470)
Hero (t75115)
BB (t19415)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t9000, BB raises to t19265, Hero calls t10265.

Flop: (t38680) 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t38680) 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t38680) T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t38680

Results in white below: 
Hero has Kh Js (one pair, jacks).
BB has Ac Qd (straight, queen high).
Outcome: BB wins t38680. 

Hand 307: Slowplay bottom 2 on a draw heavy board 3-handed?
Got into a pot against the CL when he called my raise after he limped into my blind and I flopped bottom two with QT on a the KQT, 2 suited board. I decided to just play it fast and made a nearly pot-sized bet. Anyone think about a slowplay here?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t177120)
Hero (t55550)
Button (t37330)

Preflop: Hero is BB with T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
1 fold, SB completes, Hero raises to t10000, SB calls t7000.

Flop: (t18800) K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t15000, SB folds.

Final Pot: t33800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t33800. 

Hand 308, 309: Stole blinds with 76s, KQs

Hand 310: For some variety
Decided to play this one a little different just to change gears, but the result was pretty much the same as the other hands, I took it down on the flop. Probably should have raised preflop, but I was trying to just show some different things here.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t163670)
Hero (t73950)
Button (t32380)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
1 fold, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t4800) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t4000, SB folds.

Final Pot: t8800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t8800. 

Hand 311: Shortie makes me fold
He finally plays back at me in a spot where I have to fold, oh well.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t160520)
Hero (t77250)
BB (t32230)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t7550, BB raises to t32230, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t39930

Results in white below: 
No showdown. BB wins t39930. 

Hand 313: Trying to sucker him in
I bet the flop exactly the same as the previous hand against the big stack, but he didn't take the bait. Was hoping he'd think I was just trying to swipe another one. Flop pot size is def wrong here too.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t162170)
Hero (t69550)
Button (t38280)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
1 fold, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t4800) 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t4000, SB folds.

Final Pot: t8800

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t8800. 

Hand 314: This is better for a cbet
Right, so, not the best board for a cbet, but I thought it was reasonable. Paired boards are often good to cbet/semi-bluff. I was probably ahead here anyway.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Button (t159020)
Hero (t72850)
BB (t38130)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t8000, BB calls t5000.

Flop: (t13300) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t15000, BB folds.

Final Pot: t28300

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t28300. 

Hand 316: Finally he folds preflop
I finally get the big stack to fold preflop when I raise over his completion.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t160670)
Hero (t81000)
Button (t28330)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
1 fold, SB completes, Hero raises to t12150, SB folds.

Final Pot: t13950

Results in white below: 
No showdown. Hero wins t13950. 

Hand 322: Busting out with QQ
We discussed this hand quite a bit in the daily sweat thread from 4/8. Basically, it revolved around the possibility that this was a rare +cEV but -$EV spot. Upon analysis, I think it was. Here's some of that analysis.

I ran ICM for my final decision (calling the push with QQ and running into KK, which in reality I did without thinking).

If I fold, ICM values of each stack:
Big stack: .4273
Me: .328
Shortie: .2437

If I call and win:
Big stack: .356
Me: .406
Shortie: .237

If I lose:
Out 3rd

equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 56.4449 % 55.24% 01.20% { QcQh }
Hand 2: 43.5551 % 42.35% 01.20% { 99+, AQs+, AKo }

.565 * (.406 * 2228.4) + .435 * (428.4) =
$EV Calling: 511.17 + 186.35 = 697.52

$EV Folding: .328 * 2228.4 = 730.9152

ICM says it was a fold, and that doesn't even take into account the fact that the short stack was terrible and I felt I was the best player at the table by a significant margin.

Wanted to see what the cutoff was for his range where this moves turns into +$EV

It's roughly 64%, which would be this range:

equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 63.8639 % 63.10% 00.77% { QcQh }
Hand 2: 36.1361 % 35.37% 00.77% { 88+, ATs+, KTs+, QJs, AJo+, KQo }

I'm just mostly mad because I didn't even take the time to think about it and just instacalled, when clearly, I should have had to at least give it some thought.

Also, the fact that I sucked out a flush on the turn only to have the river pair the board didn't help.

*********** # 322 **************
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t4000 (3 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB (t169670)
Hero (t77500)
Button (t22830)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
1 fold, SB completes, Hero raises to t15000, SB raises to t169670, Hero calls t62300 (All-In).

Flop: (t247170) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t247170) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t247170) 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t247170

Results in white below: 
SB has Kd Ks (full house, kings full of eights).
Hero has Qh Qc (flush, king high).
Outcome: SB wins t247170.

sngmachine · #3 04-10-2006, 03:42 PM

Good stuff, ya kinda hard to fold QQ in that position but wow what a decision heh... I love the details :-) very good read!

tubasteve · #4 04-10-2006, 04:26 PM

Hey seke, I'm replying to this in a separate window as I read along. Here are my thoughts on the hands worth mentioning.

Hand 6: Seems pretty standard, I would play the same.

Hand 17: I would probably call the first raise to try and accumulate chips early. A lot of people here might fold but you are clearly getting the correct implied odds, and you're going to need chips to make it deep.

Hand 39: I like a bet here, but a smaller one (1/3 pot or so). This looks weak and may get someone with Ax to try and hit on the turn. Checking is fine since you have the top set; if there were overs to your set I would make a standard c-bet and hope to drag someone along. I would also c-bet if the board was drawier.

Hand 50: I complete almost any two straightening cards in the SB in the early levels unless I am at or below my starting stack to try and flop two pair or a straight. That is a style thing, folding is obviously standard for most.

Hand 58: I would probably just go for the steal and call a push. Given your read I like this play; however this may be results oriented thinking on my part.

Hand 59: Looks good. I would never just push since I plan to call a push anyway. A normal raise gives us the best chance of winning the pot right now IMO.

Hand 68: I would probably c-bet since I've noticed people can fold at 75/150 when they whiff a flop. If the flop texture wasn't so low I might wait til the turn, but when you c-bet a flop that bad it signals strength IMO. This is 3rd level thinking so it might be a waste, but on that flop he knows its probably bad for you, and you know he knows, but if you bet anyway, and he knows you know he knows, he often has to put you on an overpair or two bigger cards than his. Was that confusing? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Hand 70: The hijack steal is fine if the players behind you are tight. They are going to need a real hand to look you up because of your position, where the blinds might defend your CO or button steals often.

Hand 83: I check/fold that flop based on the action. Key words: reverse implied odds.

Hand 90: Your comment about only showing down against the shortie push makes me realize how important it is to keep track and be aware of my shown down hands. I'll need to start paying more attention to this.

Hand 92: What do you do if villain bets the flop? [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Hand 94: Ah, but you really have 7.5 blinds to show for it. Increasing your M by 5 in 9 hands is nothing to frown about.

Hand 111: Yes, you do have to raise this.

Hand 112: I fold here based on that read. A raise would show a lot of strength, however, if the SB is a thinking player. 3rd level psychology again though, which is probably inappropriate in a 180/22.

Hand 120: Oh boy. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] That may have worked to your advantage, providing a nice angle for you to play with.

Hand 122: Standard, other than actually WINNING the flip. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Hand 123: Based on your image you have to call here. You have to think CO knows you are playing aggressive, and that he has seen you play your weak holdings aggressively. He trapped you nicely with the smooth call preflop, kudos to his play.

Hand 127: Style again. I don't think either calling or folding are more correct than the other. I would probably fold, although your stack makes a call reasonable. I would certainly kick myself for folding this time after rivering the nuts.

Hand 135: Unless he's trapping, button reraises any playable ace holding here. Good bet.

Hand 148: I think you can smooth call here and bet any flop whether it has an ace or not. If he is getting fed up with you stealing his blind, he doesn't need an ace here to reraise you preflop.

Hand 149: Yeah I fold here every time, especially given your manaical image.

Hand 150: I probably wouldn't show here; Howard Lederer says any time you show your opponents a hand you give them information to beat you, even if you are really trying to manipulate them. Mucking keeps you unpredictable and might steam luxor even more. When you show a good hand on a steal, smart players know you are trying to get more credit for your steals with lesser values.

Hand 152: If you have been at this table for a while I might smooth call to vary my play, plus we can get UTG to put more chips in on the flop. Since he is likely to have a big hand from UTG, reraisng seems like the better play since he probably has a big hand anyway.

Hand 156: Standard.

Hand 164: The limpraise is suspicious. I would probably fold here and preserve my big lead. Theres just too much chance you are dominated or are flipping. This call is very -$EV IMO since losing decimates your lead, even if you are +cEV against his range.

Hand 165: I would bet less here...do you really want to commit yourself if he pushes, since he seldom does so without a K??

Hand 167: I would muck here because you have been so active, and Q6 is a really bad hand to play postflop.

Hand 171: Again, you have been so active that I think it is time to shift gears. I could be wrong since it is the bubble period.

Hand 178: I would call. Without the straight draw outs I might muck this; against a combo fd or straight draw with overs we are behind.

Hand 186: I'm on the fence, but since you have chips to gamble with, and doubling him up is fairly harmless (to you as the big stack anyway), I can find a call here.

Hand 190: This is a turbofold for me. He's reraising your MP1 raise; this guy is probably strong.

Man, that was lot to go over. I'll look at the rest of it later, but for now I'm taking a nap, going to class, and going to work. Hope you find my comments helpful. If only I thought like this when I played. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Steve

Nez477 · #5 04-10-2006, 04:26 PM

Hey Dan, you played great the final two tables when I was watching, thanks for posting additional hands to discuss.

Hand 6: I'd probably play it the same way. If he keeps playing after the turn bet, I let it go unless I hit the straight obviously.

Hand 10: Standard

Hand 17: Standard, I call in that spot as well. Folding is fine too.

Hand 39: That is obviously a very great board for top set. My actions in this spot depend on whether or not you've been active with cbets. If you had, I'd bet out like you did. If you've been quiet, I might check behind and hope for an action turn. I often play my sets fast because I play my misses fast. Knowing your standard play, I might check behind here.

Hand 43: Standard.... 200 might work too, but I like 250. I agree that MP1 should be playing for his stack with that raise or folding.

Hand 50: I complete here all the time, but I complete too much and go broke in the blinds too often. I think completing is perfectly acceptable here as long as you don't try and get tricky with just one pair. It looks like maybe you would've won a small pot but folding here is fine.

Hand 58: I'm impressed! The fact that you'd seen him bully makes this play perfect. You played it in a way in which you have FE and if he does call, you are probably 50/50. I like it a lot. Like you said, you needed a read and you went with it. That's good poker.

Hand 59: I like it, but I think raising to 400 preflop will win you the exact same amount in this spot, and allow you to take down more pots where you don't flop a flush draw. I agree about the transparency of a push on the flop.

Hand 68: I don't like cbetting in this spot. The ONLY hand that folds IMO are KQ, KJ, QJ type hands. An overpair and most aces are going to come along for the ride in this spot, and possibly either reraise you. If the flop was 3-2-6, I'd like the cbet, but too many players at this level think A-x with a gutshot is a great place to be in.

Hand 70: Good hand.

Hand 75: Standard.

Hand 78: Standard.

Hand 83: What are you ahead of on the flop? I don't think you need to see a turn to reevaluate.

Hand 86: Standard.

Hand 88: Standard.

Hand 89: Table image changing.....

Hand 90: UTG+1 and the fact that you've raised 3 of the last 4 hands I might fold this. But raising is fine too.

Hand 92: My default play would be betting 600 on the flop. But with your read of his checking showing weakness, you need to use that to your advantage. In case others don't know, Dan plays usually one table at a time, and he concentrates more on other players actions more than any player I've seen. One of your strengths is going with your reads, and you did here, and it worked. Is it standard? Not exactly, but if you have a read, go with it.

Hand 94: Standard. Crazy tight table, don't see that too much in the 180s.

Hand 104: Loosen up dude, no steals for 10 straight hands??? [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Hand 111: Standard.

Hand 112: Sucks to fold to that tiny bet, but I think it's the right move. You've been too active to play back.

Hand 120: Can't believe how tight this table has been. I like the play though... pocket pairs are the normal EP limp, and your ace is either way ahead or way behind (to a set). Yes I know you don't have an ace, but at this table you might as well. So unless villian hit a set you will take this down almost every time here.

Hand 122: If you'd been tighter, maybe I'd play AQ differently, but I think SB's range is large here and I like the rereraise all-in.

Hand 123: We discussed it, and I think the villian would reraise all-in with A-8+ here based on your image. A very interesting hand though.

Hand 127: Correct fold.

Hand 135: Standard.

Hand 140: I think checking and seeing a flop has it's merit here too. I understand your need to send a message, but I sometimes find that I can win big pots in places like this when the SB gets committed to 2nd pair or something. Bleh, much ado about nothing, your play is fine, but checking is fine too.

Hand 141: Standard.

Hand 148: Pushing preflop is fine as you have been running over the table and NO one has been able to play back, and they will continue to be frustrated and perhaps play more marginal holdings against you. BUT.... luxor101 WILL cbet almost any flop here right, because of his frustration? Because of this I like smoothcalling and check-raising. It nets you more here. Pushing pre is probably safer, but I like smooth-calling and taking more off of him with a check-raise. Who knows... he might even get attached to a lesser hand and hand his chips to you.

Hand 149: I think this is close against an aggressive CO, but if he's been tighter (not stealing from CO and BU often), I'd fold here.

Hand 150: Showing here is unnecessary and probably counter-productive. Many opponents will see that and think "Ah, he's showing this time because it's the first time he's hand something worth showing" and might even loosen up more and play back at you more. Do you want this or do you want to keep stealing with them in the dark? It's a "What level of thinking are they on" kind of thing, but I just don't show.... ever really.

Hand 152: All of your opponents seem either afraid or mad at you. That's good. Very tight fold.

Hand 156: Wow, mkaes me wonder how much more the BB was willing to lose that hand. He gave up half his stack with 2nd pair. Good betting, good pot.

Hand 164: I think you're getting about 1.5 to 1 with the call.... it's close. I think 88 is at the bottom of his range. Before looking at results I thought it would be 10-10 or J-J. I don't have pokerstove currently on me, but I think you have 40% equity against 88+, AQ+.

Hand 165: Ya, pretty standard. Either he has a King or QJ or he doesn't. You have outs if he does call with a king, so that plus FE makes this an easy cbet/value bet.

Hand 167: Hmm.... probably overthinking it and villian just had nothing and was weak-tight. Obviously a bet on the flop or turn wins the hand.

Hand 171: You played this hand great, and I disagree with all of your comments on the hand. He limped UTG with aces right? And you say you should raise preflop? What is he limp-folding with UTG? Not much. So he calls and you play with a really weak holding OOP against a player that wants to play back at you. Betting on the flop/turn/river I think is a mistake as you either win a small pot or get pushed off of your hand. There was no reason to put another chip in this pot and you didn't. Good job. Just because you could've pushed the best hand out of the pot once you saw what he had doesn't mean it would've been a good idea to do so.

Hand 172: Standard. I think maybe you are trying too hard to send messages to a player who already knows where he stands though.

Hand 178: Standard once you checked behind preflop.

Hand 182: Man you ran over people in this tourney. I'd do the same, but I love stealing (as does 2+2 in general I think).

Hand 183: Standard.

Hand 186: Standard.

Hand 190: Folding is ok here, but I just lost a little respect for you. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] You are worrying about the bubble? Please. But seriously if you feel as if you'd lose more chips if you just hit one pair here, then fold I think. I might just call that small raise and hope to hit something big.

WHEW! Thank you for taking hours out of my work day!

Brad

Nez477 · #6 04-10-2006, 04:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Man, is the first half of this tournament so completely uninteresting? Ouch. Oh well. Hope someone gets some value out of this, I got quite a bit from just reviewing my play.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope it wasn't uninteresting... otherwise I just wasted half a day.

Brad

seke2 · #7 04-10-2006, 10:44 PM

Bump for the evening crowd, if anyone is interested.