Clueless Wonder

I probably should have written this post yesterday morning while it was still fresh in my mind. However, I’ve been busy and not really wanting to take the time. I guess it has to do with not having the great memory of some people. Most of the time after I’ve played all day I have a tough time remembering enough details about a particular hand or momment to put down on digital paper.

So anyway, this past Saturday I was doing what I typically do which is play poker and watch football. I decided that I wanted to go take another shot at a decent score. With the only money that I still had online at FTP and my Neteller account dry I decided to try out Click2Pay. They offer about the same features as Neteller, to include an ATM card for easy withdrawals. Right now Click2Pay works with FullTilt, UltimateBet, and Bodog. So the only site that I ever play on that doesn’t accept it is Stars.

Once I put some money in there, I threw some on Bodog to try out some of their MTTs. I had played in a few in the past but not enough to get a really good feel for the site. What I’ve found is that there is plenty of play available. I believe that they and UB have the best structures to be found. Early on, it is much more passive than some of the MTTs on Stars or FTP. I think that is due to the fact that there is just not as much pressure to chip up early.

So I play in a $4 tournament without rebuys that had a field just a shade over 200 people. By playing mostly ABC poker (at least compared to my normal game) I found myself at the final table having gotten my money in bad only once that I can think of. No hand histories or bad beat stories to be found here. Mostly just unremarkable poker. I had won some big pots early while holding the nuts and was in the chip lead for most of the tournament after the first hour. At the final table people were still very passive compared to what I’m used to and so I just used my stack to punish them. I ended up taking the whole thing down for a tidy sum of $220. Not too bad for a $4 buyin that didn’t take 16 friggin hours to finish like the smaller buyin ones on stars.

On Sunday, I proceeded to attempt to satellite my way into both the large buyin tournaments on Bodog and FTP. I accomplished both on my 2nd try, winning a $8 36-seat SnG on FTP and a $22 5-seat SNG on Bodog. At this point I was pretty happy just with that outcome since I was essentially freerolling with a total of $100k in 1st place prize money on the line between the two tournaments.

I won’t go into any detail in the 250k on FTP. I finished in 400th out of the almost 1800 people in it after I lost most of my chips with QQ against A9. I’ve been having that happen a lot lately but it just means that I’m playing well enough to win the whole thing if I hit as the favorite most of the time. I also outlasted johnnybax, who was seated to my right for about the first 1 1/2 hours.

As I stated earlier about Bodog, the structure is really great. It allows you to be really patient if you’re not getting cards but also mix it up a bit, take some stabs, etc… Using my typical agressive early style, I proceeded to methodically chip up at nearly a constant rate to where i was in the top 30 or so for the entire half of the tournament until well after the bubble had burst. So anyway I’m actually loving it as people drop at the final table as each spot is another $1k in my pocket until 3rd place which jumps up to $9k. And that’s where I finally dropped out when I made the mistake of pushing with K high into A9 on a 993 board :) So anyway I now have yet another high water mark for cashing in a poker tournament. I’m happy with the way that I’ve been playing and can’t wait to hit AC up again soon.

And now I’m going to finish up my report of the 10k Guarantee on FullTilt on Monday night….

So close to the bubble and having an avg stack but with a smallish M, what is your play? Mine is to loosen up and take a ton of stabs with marginal hands. If you face real pressure then you might be up against a monster. But at this stage the majority of people left at least have some kind of a clue what they are doing. Sure there are still some maniacs and luckboxes left but hopefully you have at least some read on your table. And most people that have some kind of clue are smart enough to lay down marginal hands at this stage against aggression, even if they suspect a bluff.

So I steal some pots, get paid off on a few where I really did get some decent hands, and am able to stay right around the average stack the entire way to the final table. There wasn’t a single hand that sticks out as memorable as I did catch some nice big pairs but just kept above water with no action on them.

At the final table, the play was pretty standard. There were 2 rocks, a couple short stacks, 2 solid players, and a maniac. Once I got a read on the players I didn’t know I stared chopping away at pots and stealing when I could. We got down to 6 players when I made a mistake, even though mathematically it ended up being correct. I tried to steal from CO+1 with QJs. A short stack pushed and I had a decision to make. I was getting about 2.1-1 on my money and to call was only 1/4th of my stack. Losing would only take me down to a little below average and winning would move me into the chip lead. I called hoping that he was playing Ax or a small pair. He turned over ATos so both my cards were live and it was about a 60-40 proposition. So mathematically it was the correct play. However, we still had I believe 2 short stacks at the final table with 6 players remaining. I easily could and should have waited for a better spot.

So for the next orbit or two i sit tight and then pull off a big bluff on the maniac. He had shown a willingness to bet ANY time it was checked to him in position. I had defended my blinds against him a few times but missed and was not willing to go to war. I figured that I had set him up for a bluff at this point. So I called a raise with 79 from the SB. He bet half the pot with an Ace-rag flop after I check to him and I called. I could have made a move there, but I felt I was ok to wait for the turn as this was the first time I had check-called him. The A on the turn sealed the deal in my mind. Could he have an A? Sure. But he had been involved in a ton of pots and if I could take the pot, it would increase my stack by about 50%. So I check, he does his automatic bet, and I push. He folded almost instantly and I showed just to try and induce some tilt and get him to call me next time I had a real hand.

Now I was in business and went to the chip lead without much problem. We lost two more players and now the money was starting to get serious. I ended up losing a big pot when I got a call I wanted from a stack that wasn’t really desperate after I re-raised him all-in when I got KK on the button. He took a long time and called with A7 and spiked the A on the turn after flopping the 7. I still had chips left but it could have been a prime opportunity to tilt and dump my chips off. I forget how the 3rd and 4th place people went out but it was now heads-up with the maniac. He had almost a 2-1 chip lead but I knew that if I could catch a hand or two and get even I could outplay him. The opportunity came on the 2nd hand when I limped from the button with an A and hit it on the flop and he had 2nd pair. I just called his flop and turn bets and he folded to my river push. After that it was mostly just picking some spots until he bluffed at a pot and I called him down with 2nd pair. That gave me a 7-1 chip lead. Two hands later I limp again from the button with KJ (against a maniac it’s nice to keep the pot small in position because you know that they will bet into you) and the flop comes J62. He pushes with 64 and my top pair held up for the win.

The final payout was $3500 for my biggest single cash ever and also the largest field that I’ve ever placed first in. Overall, I was pleased with my play. It just goes to show though that it takes skill AND luck to win a larger MTT. If I hadn’t sucked out on the bubble, I never would have been able to make the rest of my brilliant moves and donkey plays.

Oh and fuck Bill Frist!