$100K Tourney--No Dice

Well, Lucky Chances had a $100K first place guarantee tourney so I decided to see if I could win a seat and strike lightning with a big win. 

They had a $330 buy-in tourney on Friday, I bought into that and ended up busting out in 90th place.  Typical set up, I had AT soooted and villain had QT.  It was a limp fest pot then someone dink raised to 2BB and we all call--6-way action.

Flop(12BB) T 4 2 rainbow. 
Villain bets 2BB, donk raises to 6BB, I shove all-in for 20BB, villain folds, donk calls.
Turn(56BB): 3
River(56BB): Q

I show AT, donk shows QT, and that was the end of that tourney.

So I go and play the cash game for a while and put my name up on the board for a single table satellite.  The structure was more like a hyper turbo.  We start out with 12BB, blinds start at 1/2BB and double every 15 miunutes 1/2...2/4...4/8...8/16

So really a 10 person Sit n Go (SNG)

UNfortunately, only 1st place won a seat, 2nd place got their money back.

I wasted most of my time over the weekend trying to win a stupid seat.  I'd play a cash game, get called for the satellite, burn an hour playing, bust out, then spend an hour waiting to get back into the cash game....

Uggg.  I lost three (bubbled twice) and then got 2nd place twice.  So overall, I burnt about $400 chasing a $1080 ticket :(

This threw off my rhythym for the cash games so I never was able to really focus and crush the game.  Friday and Saturday ended up being down days for me.  Sunday morning was the day of the $100K Tourney and I got their at 7am so I could play a satellite.

I got down to heads up then made a stooopid mistake.  We were even in chips and I decided to get cute and min raise with AJ which is a HUGE mistake, AJ is not strong enough heads up in these types of tournies to min raise.  Villain calls and flops a straight.  I turn a J and bet, villain shoves I call and lose :(

So, the big game just wasn't meant to be.  So, I resolved to sit down and grind the day away and crush the game which I did :)

I made some great plays, moves, and reads and was able to capitalize on over aggressive younger players who thought they were the shitz.  You know the type, all decked out in FT or PS gear, hoodie, sunglasses, ipod, etc.

The red chips are $5, black is $20, and white are $100.

I ended the day over $2.5K up.  Subtracting out all my expenses and tourney buy-ins, I ended the trip about $1K up, so overall, the trip was a success, though not as much as i'd hope (I wanted to win that tourney :(  

I also had a huge series of expenses come up, payments to the IRS (ouch don't squeeze my nuts so hard Uncle Sam) as well as a payment to my backer, and rent since i'll be gone for 2 weeks. 

I plan to spend a week and a half with the family and try to make up for lost time.  During the last year I haven't been the best son/brother/cousin/nephew and sorta isolated myself since I was depressed. 

So I will try to reconnect and be a better person and all that.

After that, I plan to do a week in Vegas and if it goes well maybe spend another week there.

My lease is coming to an end and it makes more sense to relocate somewhere that has more poker than the Bay Area.  So, possible places are:  Vegas, LA, Atlantic City

I will research them all but have a feeling it will end up being Vegas.

Here is my latest graph. 

In the mean time, I will be playing online and reading through Harrington's Cash Game and Mathematics of Poker.

$40K 1st place guarantee tourney.

Woke up this morning feeling pretty good. The drive to Lucky Chances is about 30 minutes from my apartment. Got on the road an hour early, made it there with plenty of time to buy-in (ouch, let go my arm $550 ) and eat breakfast


Started with around 135 players but slowly crept up to 189 players. This tourney allowed multiple reentries up until the first break so if you busted out, you could go to the cage and buy another ticket. ABout 30 of the 'players' were really reentries , Funny how a couple of people bought in 4 or 5 times I think overall it reached around 200ish people/reentries...

For this tourney, I resided myself to playing super boring ABC TAG poker and for the first 2 hours of the tourney I was more or less card dead. I was slightly below chip average but no worries, as long as you are about at chip average, you have a decent shot at winning the tourney so I didn't panic.
(I'm not in the pic, the empty seat is mine)

First key hand that came up, I was in the BB and noticed that the SB had been ruthless about stealing my blinds. He is a thinking player and plays internet tournies. I have a great read on him and I"m sure he reads me as being a nit since i've done nothing but fold-fold-fold for 2 hours. We both are around 25 BB at this point.

Action checks around, he raises 3 x BB, and I call. I decide to make a stand with Ts5s and cash in on my nit image. Plus, I have a great read on him and feel comfortable I can outplay him.

When I call, he immediately shifts in his seat and his body language is rigid sorta like "Holy shtt now what"

Flop (6BB) Js 6s 3h.
He checks, I bet 6BB. He tanks and calls

Turn(18BB): 4c
He checks, I push all-in for around 20BB. He tanks and then says, "You got an overpair huh? Maybe AJ?" and I think he's going to fold but after a minute he calls.

River(58BB): 9s
Villain shows 77, I win with the flush

Finally, got something going. Villain was stronger than I thought. He had been making a lot of moves but I was sure he would lay down. During his tank he kept telling himself that he was beat, that I was a nit and that he should fold.... but then he calls expecting that he was crushed (never understand why so many people do this)

So, now I have some chips, an hour goes by and we are down to 75 players. Re-entry period has been over for a couple of hours and I'm cruising right along, playing ABC poker. I'm staying just a 'hair' above chip average and then this key hand comes up.

I have 22BB and get AK UTG. I raise 3 x BB (which was standard at our table). Villain in CO goes all in for 12BB, I call.

Villain has AJ
Board: A J 9 2 J,  Villain wins

Yuck. So, now i'm down to around 10BB but no worries, i'm staying calm, cool and collected.

We get down to 60 players and i'm on life support and thankfully the gods give me QQ. I shove all-in for about 9BB and get called by JJ. My Ladies hold up (I Loves the Ladies )
Down to 46. I can't help but stare at the Payout structure every few minutes

First place would be so juicy. Even just making the final table would make my week.

Unfortunately, i start to get card dead, raise in a couple of spots but then get 3betted out. I fold in those spots and villains show down QQ+.

I get down to 6BB and activate my shovebot to stay alive. Luckily, i'm to the right of a nit and his blinds have been keeping me alive. I get Ah7h in SB, shove, and he snap calls me. YUCK!!!

He turns over QQ and i'm thankful I at least have one over and am suited. But no worries, I spike an Ace right off the bat and double up while he slams his fist into the table and curses the dealer. I'm up 14BB

An hour passes and I raise another pot with AJ but then two nits 3bet and 4bet each other and I fold. Again, it is clash of the Titans AK vs JJ but JJ holds up. Unfortunately, my raises have eaten into my stack and i'm down around 4BB with 30 people to go. Payout is at 20 people, so close, yet so far.

I get 7c5c in my BB, action checks around to a super wild player who has been raising 3-4 times per orbit and the table has been letting him get away with it. His range is huge so I figure I'll be 40/60 vs his two cards. Also, their are antes now and since 25% of my stack is in the blind its an easy call with ATC

I call. He turns over QQ

Board: As 4c 2h Jc 8c

BOOM!!!! I get the back door runner runner flush and triple up to 12BB (there was some dead money in the pot)

I steal a couple of more blinds and get up to 18BB when this key hand happens.
Super wild villain raises again, I'm on the BTN with AhKh. I shove all-in he calls.

We flip our cards over and he has KK

Board: 3c 5h Js 3h Jh

BOOM!!!! I runner runner back door flush this guy down the toilet two times in a row LOL. I'm not too proud to suckout. Given that my pocket aces ran into quads two times in five minutes a few days ago, I figured that i've built up some suckout currency with the poker gods and they were just returning the favor.

Now, I'm back in this TOURNEY. 25 people to go. I play solid ABC and make it into the money. Not only that, but i'm above the chip average and make it to the final two tables!!!! 20 people to go (ten handed)

There are 20 of us, and i'm about 8th in chips, so doing very well. I was surprised by the amount of donks and nits that made it this far. So many players just really don't understand tourney play. There was an all-in and this one nit actually folded JJ LOL. He busts out in 20th place eventually getting blinded out.

Another guy was way too wild and just shoving too much. He was 9th in chips which brings us to our next key hand.

We both have about 16BB and he shoves all-in.

I look down at KK and thank the poker gods and call him. Everyone else folds.

I show KcKs, he shows Jh8h. Unfortunately for me, not only are the poker gods fickle, but they have an incredible sense of humor. Not too long ago I sucked out on QQ and KK so, one good turn deserves another.

Board: 2h 9h 5c Kh 6s

BOOM!!!! I go from good to bad in one hand. I manage to hang around for a few more spots but ended up busting out between 14-16th place. I tried to steal the blinds with Qc5c (had 3BB) and both blinds woke up with AK and AJ.

The board flopped A K K and that was the end of my tourney.

So, made $1290. The tourney took forever, started at 9:30am and I busted out around 7pm.

I can't help but think what could have been. Had my Kings have held up no doubt I would have made it to the final table in GREAT SHAPE. Especially since there were only a couple of people at the table who understood tourney play. *sigh*

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Uggggg... so close i could f-ing taste it.

here is my latest graph.

I'm back to cash games for a while. If I have a good week, then I might try to satellite into their $100K 1st place guarantee this Sunday ($1K buy-in which is definitely WAYYYY beyond my roll). In the mean time, i need to recouperate.

Day 12C, Getting Into the Rhythym

I've been running fairly well lately, but feel that i'm playing well also.  I'm a little fatigued grinding it out day in day out but it is worth it. 

I feel hopeful.  It is one thing to win one or two days in a row.  It is quite another to have several days worth of wins under your belt.  The wins haven't really been coming from luckboxing straights and flushes and flopping full houses.

The majority are coming from outplaying opponents and capitalizing from their mistakes.


A key hand that comes to mind was a straddle for a live $10. I'm in the CO with KTo. I had just won a decent pot with pocket pair and have been showing down strong hands, so my image is definitely on the nitty side. The straddler is an aggressive maniac type villain who loves to squeeze. Its 6 way action, gets to the maniac and he raises for $100. Everyone folds, I call. We both have about $800

Flop($260): 4h 9c 4d.

Maniac bets $100. I call.

Turn($460): Qs

Maniac bets $100, I raise to $300, Maniac folds.

I knew he was full of shit and I knew he respected my image. I knew he thought of me as a nit and I knew if I raised him he'd fold unless he luckboxed a 4 or had a decent Queen which was unlikely. I also knew he would fire two barrels regardless of what he had and that if I raised him on turn he's folding.

So, my wins have been a combination of playing good cards and using my image vs. the right opponents. I'm not winning because i'm flopping straights and flushes and full houses. The majority of my wins are coming from unglamourous pots--a little bit here, a little bit there. On occassion I cash in on my image (like a did above) by targeting the right villains and the right situations...

I do realize that any fish can have a good run. There is a chance that i'm not that good and i'm merely riding the wave of some great variance. It is my hope that time disproves that hypothesis and that when the dust settles, I will in fact be the winning player that deep down I know I am.

Day 10C: Finally Some Momentum

I titled this blog 10C, with the "C" denoting that this is my 3rd attempt at making this dream a reality.  The other two attempts ended up in me practically going busto (October post covers it along with my old graphs and commentary/explainations).  So instead of titling this Day 112, I choose to title it Day 10C, 10th day of my 3rd attempt.

It has been a very long and hard few months, and during this time my poker skills and emotional/spiritual maturity has grown significantly.

I realize there is a lot of the game that I have to learn, but for the time being I feel very good about where I sit in respect to my local competition. 

Today was an interesting day, started out with a few coolers.  Lost several hands in a row and quickly went down $400 in 1/2NL.

My first crucial mistake was that confused a player for another player.  There is this one super fish who is hyper aggressive and calls down with absolute air.  The pot started out as a limp fest, 5 handed.  I had AsKh on the  BTN and raised to $20.  The guy who I mistook for someone else calls.

effective stacks $200
Flop($50):  8d 3d 2c
Villain checks, I bet $40, villain calls.
Turn:($140): 3c,
Villain checks, I shove all-in, villain tanks and calls.
River: 7h

Villain turns over JJ and it is then that I realize that he isn't the person who I thought he was :(
We talked about it and it turns out people confuse him with that other guy all the time.  So, that was a $200 mistake on my part.

I reloaded, and ran into a set over set situation.  I flopped a set of 4s, got all against against villain's overpair, villain rivers overpair so meh, it happens that's poker.

After those losses I decided to take a break a reset, I have one $200 buy-in left (I only take 3 buy-ins to the casino).

As luck would have it, I run across a guy who I loaned money to a long time ago- $100.  So now I have $300 and I notice that the 2/5NL game is full of fish.  I recognize several players gambling it up on the table.

I know, I know, bankroll management is part of the reason i've been through so much pain and agony over the last few months.  But the game was just super juicy and it felt like I was getting a sign sooooo I sit down.


I play ABC TAG and quickly get up to $500.  Then I get into this key hand.
Effective stacks $500
I'm in the BB with 4d4h
An aggro LAG raises UTG to $25, six way action UTG+1, HJ, CO, BTN, SB call so I call.

Flop($150): Ad Td 3s
I check and it checks all the way around.
Turn($150): 4c

I check, UTG bets $100, UTG+1 folds, HJ calls, CO folds,  BTN calls,

I c/r all-in, everyone folds except BTN
River($1200 ish):3d
BTN shows KQdd flush
I win with full house :)

I managed to use my image fairly well and take down a few more pots for $100 here, $75 there, and over the course of the night I was able to get up around $1900 as shown in the chart.

Even though I had a good run at 2/5NL, i'm going to drop back down to 1/2NL tomorrow and focus on that game until I build my bankroll up to $10K.

Busting Out and Reflections

This journey and dream has been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life.  I've grown significantly as a poker player over the last few months and have had plenty of time to access all my mistakes.  I realized at the start of this venture that it was a risk but I don't think I properly understood what I was attempting to do. 

There is a difference between having a job and playing poker on the side and winning vs. solely being a poker 'pro'. 

The other problem I had was thinking that I was better than I was.  From the technical/proefficiency side, I believe i'm better than the average live player.  What was killing me was the non-technical aspects of poker.  Emotional control is key and I think that I let the pressure of this venture get to me.  I have a mountain of debt, and so, my mindset has been on accumulating as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time.  So, I was playing underrolled, taking shots, and getting into high variance situations where even though I was ahead equity wise, from a Risk of Ruin Standpoint I could not tolerate the risk.

And so, I ended up going busto several times, losing an entire day's profit (up to 25% of my bankroll) in one hand, over and over and over again.  And there are only so many times you can do that before you bust out.

So, then I had no choice but to retreat to online poker and grind out the micros.  This was perhaps the hardest and most humbling thing.  Playing for pennies as if your life depends on it because mine did.

To further complicate matters, my computer was having severe problems with Poker Tracker.  For some wierd reason, Poker Tracker made my computer crash and I had to delete it.  So, not only do I have to grind online but i have to do it without a HUD.

So, I grinded it out, put together another live roll, although meager, and took another shot.

Things started out good and then I let the pressure get to me.  I had one day where I lost a couple of buy-ins and then thought that I can make it back on the blackjack table.  Dear god was that the worst decision I ever made.  There is enough variance in poker without having to add to it with a fucking table game.  What on earth was I thinking?

Well, truth was I wasn't.  I was desperate and when you are desperate you make mistakes.  So, between that, a little bit of runbad, and some variance, there went my second attempt at making a run at this.

Busted again, had to retreat back to online micros.

I also had to take a step back and do some serious soul searching. 

The truth is that I did not have what it took to be a poker pro.  The evidence was undeniable.  I was losing.  I was tilting, I was taking shots, I was gambling with fucking blackjack...

So I started over.  I completely deconstructed my game and built it back up from the ground floor.  Grabbed "Poker and the Art of Zen" as well as "Harrington's on Cash Games" and a host of articles on the web. 

During this time, I was grinding it out again on the micros.  And I can say unequivocally that playing cash games online is not for me.  There are plenty of people out there killing the game online, but for me, it is ardous.  The screen makes my eyes hurt, it is so boring, and it is hard for me to focus.  Even when my life hinges on every little decision I make, its soooo hard to focus. 

So, I decided to cash out and try again for a third time. 

I revamped my game.  Internally, I've also made changes.  I've hopefully gotten rid of some ego and overconfidence that was the problem.  I also do a lot of meditation during the day and before I go to bed.

Lastly, I've talked to my backer and we have decided to reset this whole venture starting November 1st.  She has been very supportive throughout this whole ordeal so hopefully I can do right by her and show her that her confidence wasn't misplaced.