50 Rebuy (Live)

50 Rebuy , 101 runners, PL HE

This tourney is very important, I had 2 good finishes before the other nights poor performance , I was hoping to make final table .Anyway, I am drew a table consisting of 3/4 strong players and 2/3 loose "gamblers."
I already know I am not gonna be involved in many pots here , I will wait till after rebuy to get involved (notice I get involved when they likely tighten up), anyway first hr and 1/2 there isnt too much to tell, I picked up A 10 os and passed to a raise, had 10 10 in sb early on and just over doubled up when I hit top set, and turned a full boat. But at the break I had non too impressive $6800, blinds would be $100/$200 when i get back though which isnt harmful to my stack....yet.

So , I come back from the break in good spirits , and begin raising a few pot, I find some very good hands too tho, 66 and hit a set, I felt I played them ok, but not great, I bet $1000 into pot of $3000 I beleive , got 2 callers and bet the turn harder $3000, board was 3 4 6 9.Eh, nice pot all same, then flopped a straight when I limped in late ish with 7d9d,really badly nice. So now I am hovering around $10,000-$12,000. Then it begins, I go on a really long dry spell of hands. Blinds get up to $300/$600 before I know it and I am now playing a short stack game kinda, I can raise a pot but if someone comes over top I am in really big trouble if i dont have a real hand.

Then I decide screw it im gonna raise this pot without even looking at my cards, I have around $7500 with blinds at $600/$1200 or something like that. I am in late and raise the pot up to around $4400 which commits me, the guy in sb who is something of a "pro" thinks for around 4o seconds and grudingly passes, I look at my cards laugh and show 82 os, He goes "nice balls, I had AJ",I am happy i steal blinds but its funny, even when I dont look i still get rags lol. Then I proceed to raise pre flop in late with him in blinds with hands like 33,A5,K8 and him and the guy to his right say " Im calling him blind next time" , I pick up Q Q...Would you beleive it? Finally a real hand, hmmm now waht to do , they know I been raising with very marginal or even weak holdings, should I limp? I decide doing my standard raise should do it, when the guy in sb announces all in , i call in a flash and he has J J. Maybe I would have got action anway, either way nice double up needed.

Now we are down to around 4 tables and I am playing an ok stack, another hand comes along that wasnt big but was encouraging for me, the guy on button raises the pot pre flop when the dealer says its $3800 and he didnt look too happy and said "not $3200" ....He doesnt want a caller, before I even look on my cards I decide to myself this guy isnt strong and if I have a King or Ace im putting him all in for the extra $900, I findKJos, and do so ,he calls obviously and is actually slight fav holding A 4os, but I trip Jacks and take him out.

Anyway, people die , people get moved and now we are down to 2 tables, thats 20 people from the original 100 so not bad , but I want that final table place. I dont get too active for an hour or so, and watch as we are shortly down to final 14 or so , playing 7 handed on both tables. I am one of the short stacks when we are down to 13 as I am sittin on a meagre $30,000 or so with blinds at $3000/$6000 , I was up to $55000 for about half hr our so , but when I raised pre flop from SB with 460s and got the bb playing back at me with QQ, what can u do but fold?
Anyway, somehow I make it to the final table , when a fellow short stack is all in with 99 vs KJ os and a King on turn and River send him out. So now i got a 15 min recess before the final table and im on $23000, lol ....$600,000 in play, and i draw the seat in BB for final table with antes $4000/$8000.Eh eh eh, I was happy to make final table.


Final table - Utg raises to $24000, I look down and see A s 10 s, I call obviously ( i was likely to call with anything here) and find him with QQ. I expect to walk out with my 300 pounds when I spike an Ace! Sit back down ! Then I am on $50,000 or so when I raise from the button with Ax , cool back in it.
As the dealer button moves on , I notice there are a few short stacks around now, I pick up KK in mid, nicest i seen yet and decide to rais an additional $13,000. A tramp moves in for like $14000 , so less then the bet and the chip leader calls as does a tramp in bb for like $2000 of the $13k raise. Flop - A c 10c 7d...He fires out $30k and i pass and show, he flips over 10s7s??? out of position too , nice flop eh? The short stacks turn over AQ and 56, the chip leader wins but i would have runnered nut flush :( . Happens.
I move all in hand after after a early pos raiser with AKos and he calls the change with 55, I am looking out again when the board is 10 Q 6 , 7 and river is a Jack! Phew, got ok stack now , like $65000 ish. Anyway, few guys die and we are down to 5 handed, I raise with As9s, in mid , bb thinks for ages and passes and shows ATos.....close one. Could have been out there really. 4 way, and they all had big hands JJ,QQ,KK,AKos over and over. And now after folding continously my 37os,29s, and 28os I find I have only $45,000 in chips with blinds $6k/$12k. I am in BB and have 47os when there is a raise and re raise, fucksake ! Anyway, I decide next hands im moving in with anything without looking,I accidentally string bet :( and have to wait for the flop to move in my extra $10,000 or so chips, he decides to call a shitty $10k with K6 os on a flop of Q 8 3, I look down and find 10h5h uh oh Turn 8 river 3, and im gone. But I take a nice 1110 quid for my efforts.

I was really happy with that 4th place,It was more so good cos when I started on final table I had so little, closest guy to me had still over $60,000 so to come in 4th is remarkable really. I had QQ ,KK,AKos in 7hrs play having to pass KK so did well really. Could have played one or 2 hands better but all in all a successfull mtt.
We'll see how I do next time , may be doing a gutshot tourney soon but think I am becoming way more of a natural "live " player as opposed to online poker guy.
Anyway , getting tired and probably rambling....to conclude- in poker tourneys, one thing perhaps better then quality of hands is discipline and timing, you get these right and u can make a make a final table or 2 like me :)....Tonights tourney result is proof of that, anyway im off, read back in about a week and you ll see how i faired in either 5o rebuy or 100 freezeout at gutshot.

Ciso

20 Rebuy II (live)

20 Pot Limit Hold Em 87 runners

I entered this tournament (same structure as previous) with 2 of my friends hoping one of us would make final table, but not really focused on how I would play. I was drew a table of unknowns bar John-Paul who was seated at number 9 and me at seat number 2, it was his first live competitive tourney and I was trying to give him some direction. Juan, was seated on table to my right and the tourney starts...Straight away I notice there is going to be alot of rebuying on my table as often there is in these low buy in events, but the difference from today and my previous 2 tourneys is that today I wasn't playing tight and focusing on my opponents or even my own game.

Anyway, starting stack is 2000 as usual, and blinds 50/100. I play alot of hands in first hour and 1/2 like 45s,56s,A9os before playing some real hands like AQos (3 times)and pocket 8s once. Anyway after 2 rebuys some bad calls and an hr and a half of play my stack is at $8,800 after the top up. Which isn't too bad at all, when the following hand comes up that I played appallingly.I am dealt 3 3 in late, and after 2 limpers decide to take a flop cheaply and catch my set , flop falls Ks 8d 4s, they all check round to me and I reach for some chips and bet out around $1100 into the pot of around $1600 to see what the players are up to....they all fold round to the guy in my right ( young , pretty loose guy who likes suited cards and overvalues Ax) , turn comes Ac, he checks (here is my error) I remembered last week he called my bet with A5d last week when flop was Jxx( 2 diamonds) turned an ace and called me down....Today I checked when I beleive I should have pushed , I felt he either had flush draw on flop or was overcalling an 8 or even a small pp like 6s etc. River comes 2s which isnt a nice card really , but then he checks ....Hmmm I had him on flush draw so I should check behind him right?? So what do i do? You guessed it I tap him betting out $4500 and he quickly calls with 10s9s, Nice play ciso! Didnt take my time , didnt follow my initial gut and bluffed off around $5000 in chips with an underpair in an unraised pot.

That pot left me with around $2400 with blinds at $300/$600 and me getting moved to another table...Drawing Juans table. He's doing well though sitting on a very sound $14000 or so, not sure what to make of my table, looks pretty solid, no maniacs. Which is good . I am there 15 mins and don't pick up one hand worthy of playing when I get moved yet again. I am dealt AKos and move in after an Ep limper, the bb calls me and the limper passes , my callers shows 8 8, I am not too bothered as to the outcome for some reason but double up anyway when I spike a lucky Ace on the river. $5500 in chips (blinds $400/$800 now). Then soon after I am in Sb, they all pass round to me whenI am dealt Ac8c, I riase the pot which is $1200 more, the short stack in bb just calls my raise and flop comes K J 2, I decide not to get cute and check it to him , who instantly goes all in , I pass and show an A just so he knows my raise was legitimate , he flips over a King, Nice luck mate!!

Then I am down to around $3100 in chips and say "I'm all in " when i find KdJd in mid, when the guy in bb calls me again with 7c9c, (hoping to kill me properly this time unlike his 88) , I am not too confident for some reason and rightly so when the flop falls 10c 8c 2s, turn 7d, river 7h. And I am outta there! 46/87. Pretty poor tourney, just when I thought I was getting some focus and consistency from my last 2 tourneys I go play like a muppet, wasn't observant enough,wasn't making plays based on odds, wasn't "reading " people as well as I normally would and was Selective enough with my hands. Basically need to wise up ciso for your next tourney mape!

I think the fact that I played the tourney with other people made me less focused but thats not excuse, next time im gonna get "in the zone" and play better. Anyway, just so you know John Paul busted out 25 mins or so before me coming in around 55th/87 not too bad for first time but clearly wasn't on his A game tonight, he busted out when his A60s all in on button was called by both blinds who held A2os and QQ.
Juan did better then us coming in around 26th which is quite good, some level of consistency, he picked up some nice hands after rebuy but busted out quite unluckily him and the sb were in pot with him holding K3d, flop fell K K 5. They both ended up all in Juan having K3, the other guy K4, and his opponent drew a miracle 4 on the turn giving him the full house , ouch! Any card combination on turn or river is gonna split the pot providing it ain't 4 or 3, really unlucky there.

Anyway, just to conclude - to do well in these tourneys you need to have a good degree of concentration, patience and focus while playing , you lose any of these attributes and you are in trouble I knew this all already , but tonight just enforced it.

Eh eh eh, adds some nice pressure for my next tournament- choke choke lol.

20 Rebuy Tournament (Live)

90 runners, 20 rebuy PotLimit Hold Em

My strategy for this tourney was to play tight during rebuy and open up my game after hopefully getting a nice stack in process. The table I drew was a few faces I recognised from previous tourneys and one who was on final table of the 50 rebuy tournament.
Straight away I noticed they were all passive pre flop and loose, I didn't decide to open many pots in the first hour or so unless I had the goods, I knew they are unbluffable and no reason for me to stick in my stack with nothing when there is good chance of being called.
However when rebuy stage finished I built my stack to a very solid $12,000 in chips with antes at $200/$400 making me chip leader on my table, I had seen AJ, Q9os and KK in that hour that had helped my stack grow. One particular hand I liked was when I was dealt 4d5d,I am in late and 2 people limp so I decide to take a cheap flop. Flop falls 3s 7d Jc, first guy out of blinds fires out $700 into pot of $1800 , one guy calls as do I (the original better didn't seem strong) , figuring I may be able to makemy straight but also think they are weak and can take this one, turn comes Q d, giving me my gutshot draw with a baby flush draw, I fire out $2500 and they both pass. Good strong play that was, I love getting some momentum going and bluffing with 5 hi is good feeling too! Nah, just kiddin - It was a semi bluff , i mean i had outs on the turn , a river Diamond or 6 gives me the winner there.But I know if I have a nice stack later I can bully my table effectively.....

.....Then they broke my table up :(, and I was moved to another table which was full of good stacks , I had 28,000 when I got moved ( built up from agressive pre flop play) and wasn't sure of the players. I raised a pot in mid with A5os, and the bb stared , folded and showed A10suited and I mucked that pot didn't make me happy though, what it could mean is when I do get a nice hand will I get paid off from this guy? So I opted to raise more often pre flop if they are gonna pass to me, then my hands dried up somewhat as in 73,42,Q2,59,etc.
One limper in mid and I find AhTh, I have position at the moment and a solid starting hand, but I opt to just call this time, wanting to see a flop and see where I am at....2 more limpers and the flop falls QsJsAc, I flopped top pair and the blinds and the limper check, I perhaps passively decide I want acheap showdown and check behind him, the late pos guy raises the minimum- $1200, the original limper calls and I without giving it too much thought just call ( should have folded here or re raised!) I didn't beleive his minimum bet was a sign of strength, hes a young lad like me who wanted to take it down cheaply on the flop my guess hes playing a very weak ace and doesn't want to commit too much into that board. Turn comes another J, the guy before me moves in I instantaneously pass and so does the other guy after 20 seconds or so of deliberation. My reason for wanting to play that pot slow was the fact the board was so dangerous , especially with 3 limpers QJ-K 10, JK,J 10 , AJ all had me beat on the turn. I never like playing out big pots in tourneys - unless I am pretty confident in my hand, this time I wasn't.

Anyway blinds were getting big, I again got moved which was annoying since I found it hard to get reads on people. The table seems pretty tight, but cos of my stack has dimineshed a bit I am committed if i raise. Plus like the previous table there is around 4 big stacks.

3hrs in or so when I was moved blinds were now at $600/$1200 and I have been anteed away to around $17000 in chips, the last hr or 2 I haven't been able to get anything going, no hands , never a chance to raise cos someone had already opened and on the table my stack wasnt enough to push them off a hand anyway. We were down to 3 tables or around 26 people, I am in the SB and find QKos, after an early position raiser up to 7000 , I take a peak at his stack and notice he has well over $40,000- I took a look at him and he seemed confident , I desperately need to win a pot and double up if possible but this isn't the right spot I tell myself, I pass and he shows AdKd. Nice to see you still got some discipline Ciso!

We are down to 2 tables now, one of 9 the other of 8 when I look down and find As7h utg, I have $13,500 in chips with blinds $1500/$3000 and I decide I gotta make a move and raise it to $10.5k which is the maximum at the time, the Sb just calls and when the flop comes J 4 2 and I move in he calls for odds if nothing else and turns up AQos. Turn 2. river Q. and I am out, 17th/90 not bad was hoping for another final table appearance but the cards didn't go my way in the last 2/3hrs. Leavin the casino I was a little annoyed I mean I don't like blaming it on "bad cards", and I am skilled enough I think to do well in a tourney without good hands, but I couldn't quite get my game going the last few hrs like I said, I could'nt open a pot cos someone already had, I didn't feel quite as safe as usual raising with trash in late cos I wasn't sure if the guys on my new table were "gamblers" or players who will pass marginal hands. I guess the table moving was the biggest factor that annoyed me.But thats the way it goes Mape.
That A70s was my only all in in the 4hrs I played which is of some comfort when I had over $30,000 at one point- I will do another tourney in a couple of days and go into it with the same idea, playing for that final table - I definitely think I am on form at the moment , I d say I am playing at my C+ game ...Just need to get it to B now :).

Heads Up Cash Games (online)

Played a good 2hrs or so of heads up cash games facing 3 opponents today , only small limits (0.25p - 0.50p Blinds) with me sitting in there each time with around 40 pounds.
First guy i faced i won his 15.00 quid- 2nd guy I lost around 9.00 quid to....and final guy i won 74.00 pounds off.

My heads up strategy doesn't differ too much on who I play, I will often raise from the button with suited connectors or a hi card to around 1.5-1.9o varying on how I feel at the time. The reason I do these raises for 4 reasons -
1) Increases size of pot that I can win.
2) Suited connectors add for deception an my hi card is likely to be ahead.
3) Position.
4) I can take it down right there.

The first guy I played I just grinded him down, but I knew he liked to bet out river with nothing so I was happy to check 2nd pair or Ace hi and call him down when he bluffed off his money on the river.
The 2nd guy I played was good, he would raise the button often and wasn't afraid to play out big pots , I lost to him when I re raised him all in with my 55 after getting him down and he called with Ac2c and turned a flush.
The final guy was a london based player, I had played with him for just over an hour and was constantly changing gears which confused him I think , 10 mins Id go without raising pre flop and acting passive then I'd go 20 with constant agression. After an hour and 15 mins he and I decided to leave, it was getting late and he thought I had a "curse over him" , after all he rebought 3 times and he said he was having a good night of it till I came along :).

Heres a few hands I will share with you while playing the final guy -

----HAND 42------
Game #1086117993: Hold'em NL (£0.25/£0.50) - 2005/10/18 - 05:03:38 (GMT)
Table "London477" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Neab (£107.58 in chips)
Seat 2: mwcheval (£43.47 in chips)
Neab: posts small blind £0.25
mwcheval: posts big blind £0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Neab [Kh 9d]
Neab: raises to £1.50
mwcheval: calls £1
----- FLOP ----- [Ah Jd 7s]
mwcheval: checks
Neab: checks
----- TURN ----- [Ah Jd 7s][5s]
mwcheval: bets £0.50
Neab: calls £0.50
----- RIVER ----- [Ah Jd 7s 5s][Jc]
mwcheval: bets £1.50
Neab: raises to £6.50
mwcheval: folds
Returned uncalled bets £5 to Neab
Neab: doesn't show hand
Neab collected £6.75 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £7 Main pot £6.75 Rake £0.25
Board [Ah Jd 7s 5s Jc]
Seat 1: Neab (small blind) collected £6.75
Seat 2: mwcheval (big blind) folded on the River

Lets go over how I played the hand, I raise to 1.50 pre flop from the button with K9os, not a band hand heads up- I much prefer to raise with it then limp in this case.Flop falls AJx rainbow - He hasn't check raised me once in this session , I know he would check a 7 here but an Ace or a Jack and he would be In my opinion. So I check behind him confident I have the winning hand.
Turn drops -5s, he fires out 0.50p , a very weak bet into a pot of around 3.00 , I could re raise and he would pass a 5 but I am not sure he has a 5, personally I think he has 46,68, or a flush draw. Basically a drawing hand, he isn't agressive enough to bet out the 5 here especially with the ace on the flop. I decided to just call and hope that scare card doesn't fall on the river. Fortunately it doesn't and a Jack comes off. He is first to act and decides to fire out 1.50 figuring he missed his draw and may be able to steal the pot off me. Some may argue he could have hit the J here, but i didnt beleive it , if he thought his J was good on the turn why not raise more say1.50 or 2.00 pounds? At best he is holding a 7 here, personally I think he has nothing - but to be on the safe side I raise it up to 6.50 to ensure he wont overcall with a 5 and it would be a very tough call with a 7. He quickly passes and I scoop up a 6.75 pot. You notice how position and a solid read on a guy helps when playing heads up? I would no way of won that pot had I just called pre flop and there is very little to suggest he would be tempted to bluff out on the river or the turn had I not made the pot all the bigger, and position gave me a significant edge on this hand especially on the river.

Here is an interesting hand-

Game #1086065733: Hold'em NL (£0.25/£0.50) - 2005/10/18 - 04:42:46 (GMT)
Table "London477" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Neab (£95.80 in chips)
Seat 2: mwcheval (£37.95 in chips)
Neab: posts small blind £0.25
mwcheval: posts big blind £0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Neab [Ks 3c]
Neab: calls £0.25
mwcheval: checks
----- FLOP ----- [7c 9d Kh]
mwcheval: bets £1
Neab: raises to £2.50
mwcheval: calls £1.50
----- TURN ----- [7c 9d Kh][5c]
mwcheval: checks
Neab: checks
----- RIVER ----- [7c 9d Kh 5c][Kd]
mwcheval: bets £2
Neab: calls £2
----- SHOW DOWN -----
mwcheval: shows [Ah 8h] (A Pair of Kings, Ace high)
Neab: shows [Ks 3c] (Three of a kind, Kings, Nine high)
Neab collected £9.50 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £10 Main pot £9.50 Rake £0.50
Board [7c 9d Kh 5c Kd]
Seat 1: Neab (small blind) showed [Ks 3c] and won (£9.50) with Three of a kind, Kings, Nine high
Seat 2: mwcheval (big blind) lost

Ok, Lets take a look - I limp from the button with k3os, no raise this time. I will find out in a second the strength of Mwchevals hand, he checks. Flop falls K 9 7 , and he fires out a pot bet - I got to re raise to see where I am and do by raising up to 2.50, which is 1.50 more to him (good odds if he is drawing). Turn falls 5, which I hate since I know if he was drawing to that straight hes just made it. So i check behind him , hoping to get a cheap showdown. When the river falls another K....Interesting, he fires out 2.00 into the pot of around 7.50, givin me 4-1 or so on my money, question is whether to call or re raise. I think most would re raise here in a heads up situation but I chose not to and heres why-
1- If he was straight drawing hes likely to have hit it on the turn thus I am behind and if I re raise and comes over the top what do I do??
2- If he is bluffing, I am not winning anymore money off him unless he does actually have better.
3- Some would argue he hit the 9 or 7 on flop, saw me check the turn, and thought his hand was good. I dont agree, If he had called the re raise on the flop, hes hoping to check it down- betting the river doesn't do himself any favors hes only getting called by a better hand or he is getting re raised by me holding the K.

Turns out he held Ah8h, he probably thought he could steal it on the flop - got re raised and thought maybe he could improve on a later street either backdoor straight or backdoor flush (neither too impressive imo ) especially out of position but hey maybe I got him on tilt? Either way, I liked the way I played this hand and just thought I'd share the way I play a few hands in heads up situations and the reasons for doing so.
I'd appreciate any criticism or questions you'd like to ask just post under comments.

50 Rebuy Tournament

£50 rebuy, 75 runners . £11,200 pool.PL Holdem.

This tourney is hr and half of rebuys with blinds starting at 50/100 and going up to 100/200 by end of break. Starting stack is 2,000.
40 mins or so , i havent played a hand, and pick up 10 10. A loose, wild young chinese guy raises in early to around 450, and i move all in for my extra 1200 or so. He calls rather unhappily saying " Ok , i give you 1,000 " in process. He flips over AJos, and i win the race taking me to around 3500 or so.
30 mins pass, and again i havent played many hands, folding KJos,ATos and A7s to raises before i act. Then I get AdQd, the same scenario- the chinese guy raises to around 1000 this time with blinds being 100/200. I move in and he calls bit quicker this time which is worrying. But its okay, he flips over 7 7. This time he wins , and i rebuy . I dont do anything silly get my stack up to around 2,800 just before add on , and then i add on leaving me with 4,800 at end of first break. Which is neither good nor horrific. I think in the break that i need to be at around 7,500 withing 40 mins but no pressure lol. My record lately in rebuys is very poor considering i set high targets for myself-4 attempts , 0 cashes :( .

I return from the break in good spirits , and within 10 mins pick up AKos, I opt to limp utg - hoping for a raise ( AKos is beauty for me) and get taht raise from the wild asian lad whom i played with a few times at this casino.He's very chatty and often moaning, he bets the pot whichs is around 2900 i think, and i move in. He says "do i look scared?" and calls with A A . No wonder you ain't scared mate you are holding AA!!! I am getting on my coat and ready to leave turning back to look at the flop, QhTh3s. I have AdKh,he has AsAc. Turn 4h, now i need a Jack or Heart to win, river falls 6h. I can't believe it and sit down raking in a 10,000 pot and still glowing from my outdraw. Just to let you know how much of an outdraw it was, i was 10% to win that pot.15 mins pass, and i pick up AA in sb, 2 limpers . I opt to raise to 2,000 which is just shy of the pot, probably around 4/5 of the pot. An experienced but loose man in mid calls leaving himself 1200 ( odd really ) and when the flop falls Q103, i put him in - he calls anyway with 77.No help on turn or river and I am up to around 16,500.
I am one of the chip leaders now on the table and playing quite tight but agressive when i am playing.I pick uo 7d9d, and raise to 3000 i think with blinds at 600/1200. A short stack is all in on sb , and the bb calls the extra 1800. Flop falls 3d 4 d 7s. He bets out 6,000. He has plenty in reserve- I announce all in with my top pair and flush draw - and he thinks and passes .The other guy turns over AQos, and when i make my flush on turn he is drawing dead.My 2nd death tonight and another nice pot, taking me over 22,000 now. I pick up 77 in late, raise to 2900, bb calls and flop falls A J 2. He checks, i bet 2000 and he min raises - I opt to pass and lose my first pot in long while lol.
2 or 3 short stacks on table and field is decreasing faster, I pick up A10 s in sb, and move in against the short stack who has only 1300 left, he says "bullying eh?" and knows he has to call- turning over Qs4s. Flop falls 4 7 8 ( 2 spades) putting me well behind, turn 6, river 9. I make my straight and add to my body count , not a huge pot but nice to kill off another opponent.

Soon after the table gets broken up and we are down to the final 2 tables. I am sitting on around 30,000 in chips and only seen one big pair. So all is well.I immediately get to work raising pots with K6os in mid, A5os in late to a limper who thinks for a millenia and passes ,and 29s in late to noyone in the pot. They obviously dont want to be the next guy out and mixing with one of the chip leaders on the table is dangerous - plus i think my youthful look makes them think i am less likely to bluff. After around an hour or so of grinding out pots and a number of eliminations we are down to 11 players, 2 tables one of 5 the other of 6 playing hand for hand. I am dealt JJ , and an early pos guy raises the pot to 10,500. I think for a minute or so and ask for chip count , he has 19,000 more which would leave me 5,500 or so with blinds at 1500/3000 if i were to lose the pot in an all in. I know the guy well on the table, he's not afraid to gamble- I seen him all in with hands like ATos and TT.Not monster hands, I decide to narrow down his hands - I think for him to raise the pot indicates he aint passing his hand which to me indicates strength - Hes not cunning enough to set a play and limp with AA or KK - i believe he would raise the pot with these. I decide that theres a 25% chance I have much stronger in that he has smaller pair or very weak Ace (which is v unlikely) , 50% chance that we are racing to AKos,AQos etc. And 25% chance that he has higher pair(QQ-AA) making me huge underdog .I decided to fold, not to cheerfully i might i add. Soon after I pick up KcQc, and utg is all in for the bb, i complete the bb and the BB checks. Flop falls 8c9c4s, I check, he raises 10,000. I think to myself, i have 2 overs , a backdoor straight draw and a flush draw - I probably unwisely ask the dealer " if i lose this pot and so does the short stack, do i get 10th place ?" He says yes, and i opt to move all in. He makes a convicted good with 78os, I knew he had top pair or the 8 and hoped he did'nt have a K or Q.Turn comes a 3c , giving me the winning hand.


Final table - 65,000 in chips with blinds going up to 2000,4000.Returning from the break I take a look at the stacks and notice I am in pretty sound shape.450,000 chips in play which means average is 45,000. Anyway 5 hands into final table and i get dealt KJos in early, I elect to raise up to 12,000 , the dealer moves in for 21,000 meaning 9k back on me. I notice I am getting around 5-1 on my money and call, I am pleased to see he has AQos, knowing im only 40% underdog , but unfortunately lose . Now I am sittin on around 42,000.Blinds move up to 3k/6k and I am getting short stacked, one or 2 have died and I am now among the short stacks. I pick up a pot when i move in with KJos, and they all pass. Then again with J2 when in bb and I make mid pair on turn against a limper. And move in a 3rd time with AKos from the sb, when the chip leader limps in late. He passes . I eliminate the shortest stack when I push him in from the sb with my QKos , he knows he has to call and does so with 46 os and I win another pot. Then I rest some old demons by eliminating the guy who I laid my JJ to , when I make a cracking call with A8os when he is all in for 20,000 - 1/3 of my stack he had 580s .


Down to 5 handed I steal a few blinds and talk amounts of cutting a deal, I am in 2nd position with 99,000 when they agree and ask me whether I would accept a £1800 5 way split. I realise that the blinds are going to go up to 6k/12k next hand and that one lost pot would result in my exit. Payouts would be £4.3k,£2.2k,£1.2k,£800,£560 were we not to deal - I decide that taking the 1800 is the safe option - I came 2nd in chips and had only 1/4 of chips in play and it would only be worthwhile if i came 1st in my opinion which is risky, i could even come 5th and only walk away with £560.


So generally a good tourney, played my heart out. Got fortunate early on but showed that I didnt need luck when I put pressure on my final tables and am very pleased about coming in 2nd overall. I got some nice compliments from my fellow opponents and hopefully will make another final table soon.

10K GTD

£25 +£2 Buy in.
363 runners.

Decided to give this tourney a shot tonight, its not a particularly strong field. But with blinds increasing every 15 mins and starting stack only 1500 , doesn't leave room to maneouvre 2hrs or so in. ( If you havent picked up and nhs).

first break 1hr in-in top 10 stacks, doubled up with Jd7d when called a small raise and flopped trips. Then had AhQh, someone in late raised to 500 (10 XBB) i felt he had JJ( instinct i guess mainly from the raise but also the players betting patterns), and decided id take a race (something id never normally like to do) but i wanted to win this tournament and gain as many chips as possible-so i moved in. He thought for ages, and called with ...JJ. I was well chuffed i was right , even if i lost.
Flop 8 h 9h Ks. turn Qs river 8d. I won the pot and up to 6500 chips or so.
Late hand i made a bad play, J9os on button in multiway pot, i opt to call for the 100. Flop 3c5c9s. Someone in mid bet pot roughly - he had about 1200 left after that and decided to put him in, he called with KK.He took risk just limping into family pot with Kk but it paid off i guess.
So at the break , I am at 4840 29/176. Which isnt bad at all considering I havent seen any premium hands yet.


Built up to around 9,000 raising in mid with 3c4c (tight table ,deceptive) , flop QJ3, i bet out both sb and bb call. turn 3, i check short stack moved in i call he has JK.He should have re raised on flop or pre flop if he thought he ahead imo, instead he called letting me catch up.
Then made an atrocious call, blinds 100/200 i raise in mid with Kqos to 500 Sb moves all in for 1200 more. I hit the call button, even when my head is telling me im way behind and he has KK.1200 more lost unecessarily.
Back up now to around 7900, A9os on button one limper utg, i raise to 600 bb calls and does the limper.flop 345 all hearts, bb bets tiny , called then i move all in, bb passes 77 , the other AQ.

2nd break - 6759 36/63.
Had 99 raised in early, big stack moved in i passed. blind took me down to around 4,500 but climbed back up last few hands stealing with A6, 89 , then got no action with QQ unfortunately.
Made the money spot earning myself a measly 35 pounds, short stacked to boot. So I move in in late after everyone folds with Q8os getting called by both button and bb who happen to have AJs, and JJ. I hit two pair while AJs hits an ace tripling me up. Lucky boy.
Then i move in yet again this time on button with A8os, had about 6,000 in chips with blinds 400/800 and got called by 99. He turned trips and sent me packing. Came 35/363 which bad i guess cos i made the money but next tourney i really gotta be making final table at least. I always like to set bar high for myself otherwise why play?
All in all , a pretty average tournament - didn't catch too many hands forcing me to make risky plays- i was rarely in a position except for very early on to bully the table which is something I usually excel at, happens though.....Thats poker eh.

Introduction

Hi , my name is narciso baldo. I play poker , No Limit Hold Em primarily and have done so for a year or so.I am university student studying Accounting and Finance and come from Peterborough, England.Anyway on to the poker, I play the 5-10 cash games on whill and the guarantueed pools.

I play on the Cryptologic sites - WillHill(CisoBaldo) but also Poker stars (Neab) and PokerRoom (Ciso).Anyway, i started this blog to keep a record of my achievements but also so i can keep track of all events (poker related).


I play both online and live, played around 15 live tournaments , making 1325 pounds on one. One of them tournaments being the WPT Paris in July , i won a seat online first time with PokerRoom, busting out halfway thro Day 2....Really sick feeling lol.I first got into poker for there bonuses though (being a broke teenager) when i stumbled across this game, playin $.5- $1 Fixed Limit Cash Games, then built a roll (i wont delve in to my winnings) - played cash games primarily before i decided to read SuperSystem and Harrington on Hold Em.After these I found very good success at tournament levels , winning several and making numerous final tables before this summer when i won the $45k gtd on stars.


Now, im playing around 15hrs-25hrs a week mixing in live tournaments and cash games with a tournament here and there online.For anyone interested,I'll be keeping you posted on tournaments i enter and how i faired with information and analysis of key hands and poker theory and strategy.
Anyway , thanks for reading, come back again soon and see ya at the table!