Been on a crazy losing streak lately… May 9, 2008

…and I’ve meant to blog it I just never got around to doing so.  I had a satellite of the lifetime where everything aligned and I turned a 15 pt sng into a 2500 pt satellite chance on Saturday night.  Since that tournament, it’s gone downhill.  I’ve come in 3rd in a couple sngs and that’s it.  It’s gotten to the point where I’ve changed sites for a bit.  I’ll give ft a rest until my satellite tomorrow evening.

I’ve been playing on ps, mostly .10 sngs/mtts and freerolls.  I’ve played in 2 360 person turbo omaha hi pl sngs and cashed in one for .30 and made it close to the $ in the other one.  I’ve played in 2 360 person turbo nl sngs and didn’t cash in either.  I’ve also tried a couple freerolls…one for 10 points which was a 50-table sng where the winner of the tournament gets a seat in the million dollar takedown on 5/25.  I ended up finishing in 72nd place.  The other freeroll was a wsop round 1 freeroll and I finished in 791 out of about 3000 entrants.  I played in a .10 turbo mtt and came in 772 out of 2888 players…pfffft, just missed the $.

So my bad run continues but it’s continuing in smaller buy in doses.  I’m hoping to work through this over the next day before my next satellite.  I really want to win my way into the ftops event #9.  

Got a chance to play live today… May 5, 2008

Hubby and I decided to head down to the local race track which has a poker room.  The only way they can have poker in our area is if it is charity based which this poker room is.  This turned us off at first but after figuring it out, the rake on their tournaments is actually the same as the ones we play at Foxwoods…which is a $100 mtt is actually $80 to the prize pool and $20 to the house.

Anyway, we decided to play in their 7 pm $100 mtt.  There were 58 players to start, top 6 get paid, 5k in starting chips, and 20 minute levels.  I started on the button and didn’t play a hand until I was UTG and had QQ.  I raised 3 1/2x the bb and it was folded around to the sb who flat called.  The bb then re-raises 1 1/2 times more.  I decide to just call as he’s doing the happy dance and I’m thinking Aces but need to observe a bit more.  The sb also calls the raise.  Flop comes AKT with two clubs (I have a club) and it’s checked around to me and I check as well as I smell a rat.  The turn comes with a ten and the sb checks, the bb bets a small amount and I decide to call to see the river…the sb then moves all in (YIKES), the bb calls (more YIKES) and I fold.  I was right…the bb did have AA in his hand lol and the sb had…ready for this…8T off.

Didn’t play another hand for a bit as I was seeing a lot of junk hands and every hand was being raised preflop.  I got Ah6h in late position and limped with a few other players.  Flop comes AKx and it’s checked around to me and I bet 3/4 of pot.  One caller going with me to the turn which is a T…he checks and I bet big again and he calls.  River is a J and he moves all in…pfffft, I have to fold to the four straight on board.   When the break hit I only had 1800 in chips left and hubby had about 10K in chips.

After the break I don’t see any hands…actually saw 62 off and then 73 off 4 hands in a row, bleh.  I get moved to a new table with 1 1K chip.  First hand I’m dealt JJ and a person raises and then a person moves all in and then someone calls all before it gets to me lol.  I toss in my last chip and the original raiser folds 99 face up.  Flop comes all low cards and I quadruple up.  Blinds are going up and there are 18 of us left…I’m in bb with a 1/3 of my chips in the middle and go all in with 33 and get called by TT and I’m out in 18th.  Hubby was still in and had about 20K in chips.

He makes the final table and with 9 left they start talking a chop…the chop is a no go though.  With 7 left they decide to burst the bubble by taking 100 off the top for the bubble.  Then the bubble bursts and then someone goes out in 6th and they decide to chop for $800+ each 5 ways.  I’m very happy for him as his game has been struggling for a while and it’s nice to see him play well and get rewarded for it.

Saturday afternoon Poker…lazy day May 4, 2008

Although I should be spending the day cleaning or doing something equally productive, I decided to spend the afternoon playing poker on fulltilt.

$5 omaha h/l deepstack mtt…finished 32nd out of 99 players.

$6 token frenzy mtt…finished 89th out of 168 after my AA got cracked by 22.

$1 nlhe 6-handed mtt…finished 16 out of 409 for $3.48

$2 nlhe 1 rebuy/1 add-on mtt…didn’t rebuy but added on for a $4.25 total investment…finished 3rd out of 134 players for $69 and change.  This is a good tournament for me.  I’ve always done well with rebuys but the problem is so many people rebuy that there are monster stacks running around.  Limiting the rebuy/add-on to one makes it so you actually have to care about your chip stack.

$2 pl omaha hi stt…finished in 9th place lol.

$2 stud h/l stt…finished in 5th place.

$3 KO nlhe 90 player ds sng…got 2 .50 ko’s and finished in 6th place for $14.50 in total.

Friday night poker…a complete fiasco! May 3, 2008

Decided to spend my day/evening playing poker.  Decided to start out with some stts to get things flowing. 

$6 nlhe turbo stt…got my money in twice with best hand and neither time did the hand hold up…went out in 5th.

$1 nlhe turbo stt…trying to get the bugs worked out before the 28k guarantee…go out in 5th again.

Played in the 28K guarantee…see my blog about it.

$3 ko mtt and went out 104 out of 341 players with just 1 KO.

$2 stud hi stt and went out in 6th place.

$6 turbo pl omaha h/l stt and went out in 6th place.

$2 18 player omaha h/l sng and went out in 6th place.

Decided to move over to pokerstars to see if I would fare better over there…

210 pt 2 table qualifier for Sunday 100K…went out in 8th and they gave 6 seats.

$3 turbo nlhe stt…went out in 8th place.

$3 pl omaha h/l turbo stt…went out in 6th place.

$3 pl omaha h/l turbo stt…went out in 6th place.

$1.50 + .25 nl omaha h/l 2 table sng…went out in 16th place.

This is the point where I decided that it was not my night and at this point most likely was not playing my best game and called it quits.  Again, I refuse to go back on my promise not to blog the ugly.  It wouldn’t seem right to skip over an entire aspect of the game.

 

 

28K guarantee on fulltilt… May 3, 2008

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I had won a $26 token in a 2-table $8 tier one sng.  I saved it until I was rested and focused to play.  When I started playing last night I decided to keep a log going while playing.  I’ll share it and my thoughts with you here.   $24 + 2 to enter, guarantee not met, 1019 players, paying 180 places.

15/30 blinds, start with 3000 in chips…fold: 9c5c, 27o, Kc5c, 7s4s, As5s, 2c7c, 4c5c, Q3o…AK off, call a double raise and see flop and  have to fold…fold 65 off.

20/40 blinds…2700 in chips…AQ off, called double raise and see flop and have to fold…fold: Kh3h, 35 off, 69 off, Kc4c, 76 off…AQ off see flop and have to fold…As7s, call a double raise from button and flop comes A79, raiser bets and I double raise and he calls, turn comes with a K and a second diamond and he bets to set me in and I call and he has a diamond draw that doesn’t materialize and I double up…Fold: Q4 off.

blinds 25/50…4880 in chips…fold: 46 off, 3h2h…JJ raise 7x the bb and get two callers and it comes Ace high and they check to me and I bet just under 1/2 the pot and one calls and one folds, turn comes with a 2 and he moves all in and I have to fold…fold: 65 off, 5d7d…KQ off in bb, I check and it comes AQ7 and the sb bets min, I re-raise and button comes over the top of both of us and I fold…Kh9h in sb, see flop and have to fold.

blinds now 30/60 QT off…3855 in chips…fold: 5d8d, 92 off, Q4 off, A3 off, 8d5d, 96 off…A4 off and see flop in bb and have to fold…99 in sb and call a double raise and flop comes 772 and I bet out 1/2 pot and take it down….fold: QT off.

blinds 40/80…4095 in chips…fold: 82 off, A3 off, J9 off, 8T off, Kh2h, 95 off…79 off in bb and fold to a double raise and woulda hit straight bleh (yah yah no results poker lol!)…fold: 53 off in sb, Kc2c, KdTd. 

blinds 50/100…3975 in chips…fold: 4T off, A3 off, T3 off, 54 off, J7 off, J6 off in bb have to fold on flop, AJ off in sb and fold to raise and call, 77 on button and fold to raise and calls due to who the raiser was and woulda hit a fh…fold: Qh4h, K8 off, J4 off, Q3 off…break time!

60/120 blinds and 3825 in chips…fold: A7 off, 8h5h, K6 off in bb and fold to double raise, fold: K3 off in sb, Ks7s, 57 off, 96 off…AK off limp in with it and miss flop and it’s checked, turn is checked and river is bet and I call with 2 lil pair on board, one other caller who has Q2 off and has fh lol…fold: J7 off, Q8 off, K8 off, T5 off in bb and fold to raise.

blinds 80/160 and 2845 in chips…92 off in sb and fold to raise…fold: Qc7c, 78 off, T9 off, 5cTc, A4 off, 28 off, J8 off…AsKs in bb, call a raise and miss the flop and have to fold to pot size bet…fold J7 off in sb.

blinds 100/200 and 2605 in chips…fold: A8 off, QT off, 86 off, 69 off, 8c6c, 4T off, J6 off, Q7 off, T6 off, A6 off, 74 off, 87 off.  (wow not  a playable hand that level)

120/240 blinds w/ 25 ante…2280 in chips…got moved to another table…fold: Qd5d, J9 off in
bb…AhKh in sb and move all in for last 1800 chips and double up vs TT…fold: KJ off, J4 off,
K6 off, K7 off…88 have to fold for huge raise.

moved to new table with 4030 in chips…fold: 65 off, T4 off in bb, Ah9h in sb and bleed off some chips…fold: 7s8s, KT off, Q7 off, J2 off, Q4 off…AsKs utg and I raise pot which is almost 1/2 my stack, one person raises, another raises and I call, we all have AK soooted and we split pot…QQ raise and win blinds in bb…fold: J4 off in sb, 4c9c, 66 fold to raise and a call and woulda flopped set…fold: 29 off, 3h9h, A9 off.

200/400 blinds with 50 ante and 3355 in chips (missed reporting a blind change)…fold: AT off utg, 7d6d in bb, Js9s in sb, J2 off, J2 off, J2 off, Td9d, J9 off, J2 off, 78 off, Q6 off in bb, 5T off in sb and there is an all in and a call before me, almost called but chose not to, the flop comes TTx lol, break time again.

250/500 blinds with 50 ante, 68 from money bleh, First hand after break…have AK off and
am first in on button, move in and bb calls with TT and I don’t improve and I’m out in 248 place, sigh.

There were some key hands that I could have played that may have made a difference.  Stunned that I folded the 79 off in the bb to just a double raise, especially when others called.  I normally don’t respect double raises from the bb lol.  That would have been a key triple up.  I’m also stunned at folding the 77 and the 66 in late position/on the button to a 3x and a 4x the blind raise.  I could afford the chips and I was looking for one thing only on flop…a set or else I would have gotten out.

All in all a great learning experience that in reality only cost me $8.70

Hmmm…Pokerstars sng stats May 2, 2008

So I’ve really been into breaking apart my play lately and I decided to continue on with my stats.  I’ve been looking at my Pokerstars stats hoping that I can find the right games for my play.  I struggle more on ps than I do ft and I wish I knew why.  I’ll start with 2-table sngs…

I used to play a lot of $1.50 + .25 2-table sngs (both nlhe and omaha).  Out of 189 games, I finished itm 57 times with 7 firsts, 21 seconds, 16 thirds, and 13 fourth place finishes.  I’m cashing in these about 30% of the time…not sure how I feel about that statistic.  I’m especially not estatic with only having 7 firsts out of 57 cashes…this tells me I really need to work on my heads up game or I’m a very unlucky person, I’d say the first scenario is the correct one.

Recently (okay maybe not so recent at this point lol) they added more $1 non turbo options.  They offer $1 18 player sngs and I’ve played in 12 of them.  I’ve finished itm in 6 of the twelve with 2 firsts, 1 second, 1 third, and 2 fourths.  Something of interest to note is that I’ve never finished in 13th-18th place in these.  It makes me wonder if for my style of game, the $1 sngs are more profitable for me than the $1.50 ones?   Not a great statistic with only 12 games under my belt but I’m cashing in these 50% of the time.

I’ve played in 22 of the 16 player sngs (this would be stud, horse, razz games) and have cashed in 7 of those with 1 first, 3 seconds, 1 third, and 2 fourths.  Not enough games played to get a realistic statistic but I’m currently cashing in these about 32% of the time.

I’ve played in 6 of the $5 18 player sngs with only 2 cashes, a 3rd and a 4th.  Not going to invest a lot of time in those!

In the $6 turbo 18 player sngs, I’ve played in 16 with 5 cashes, 2 first, 1 second, and 2 thirds.  Another game I don’t think I plan on investing more time in.  Even with the few cashes I’ve had I realize this is not where my strength lies.  I think the only reason I do okay at the smaller staked ones is the level of play may be lower.

Overall, I’ve played in 245 2-table sngs on ps with a total of 77 cashes so I cash about 31% of the time.  Still not sure how I feel about where my percentages lie on this site.  Hmmm…maybe I’ll move on to stts and see if they are any better???

$1 9 player stts…played in 10 total and only had 1 cash, a first place finish.  I had 3 fourths, 3 fifths, and 3 seventh place finishes.  EH?

$1 6 player stts (this is all pl 5-card draw and limit 2-7 triple draw)…played in 94 total with 42 cashes…19 firsts and 23 seconds.  Also interesting to note is I’ve not gone out first in these ever…I always went out 5th or higher.  Even though it isn’t enough games to get great stats on, I’m cashing about 45% of the time.  I used to play these all the time and for some reason stopped playing them. 

$2 6 player stts (this is turbo pl 5-card draw)…played in 17 total with 9 cashes..3 firsts, 2 seconds, and 4 thirds.

$5 6 player stts (pl-draw again)…only played in 6 of these with one measly 2nd place cash.  I found the higher limit of these harder to beat.  I do much better with the $1 and $2 ones.

$3 10 player stts (nlhe, omaha)…surprisingly enough, I’ve played less of these than I thought I had…78 total and I would have sworn it was more than that.  I cashed in 26 of those with 7 firsts, 9 seconds, and 10 thirds.  So I’m cashing in these about 33% of the time.  Again, I would have thought I’d cashed in more of them but I’d also thought I’d played in more of them lol.

$5 9 player stts (nlhe, omaha)…55 games played in total with 26 cashes…4 firsts, 7 seconds, and 15 thirds.  Cashing in these about 47% of the time…an awful lot of third place finishes?  Am I somehow just managing to squeak into the $$$?  Interesting to note, same as all the other non-turbo games…never went out first in one of these.

$3 turbo 8 player stts on ps…33 total with 11 cashes, 3 first, 4 second,  and 4 thirds.

$5/$10 stakes (probably mostly $6 ones)…18 player sng ps…22 total with 7 cashes, 2 first, 1 2nd, 3 3rds,  and 1 4th.

Overall, I just did stats for 805 sngs on ps and cashed in 158 of them (okay, this may be off as it’s late and I’m tired lol…I’ll need to check my figures tomorrow) so I’m only cashing on ps about 20% of the time in sngs.   Eh, this figure seems off…that’s what I get from going overboard on the stats lol.

Wow, lots of sng stats to digest and that isn’t all of them.  I just looked at the games I play most.

 

Online poker stats part 1… May 1, 2008

As I’ve written lately, I’ve been struggling with my online game.  I decided to spend some time going through my journals and the online stat sites trying to get a bigger picture of how I actually fair online.  I’ll start with some of my fulltilt sng stats…

Out of 85 $1 9 player stts (nlhe only), I cashed 52% of the time and never finished in 8th or 9th place.  I had 9 first place finishes, 18 second place finishes, and 17 third place finishes. 

Out of 175 $2 9 player stts (nlhe or omaha games), I cashed 45% of the time and never finished in 9th place.  I had 16 first place finishes, 22 second place finishes, and 41 third place finishes.  Also, the majority of the rest of my finishes in $2 stts were for fourth place (aka bubble girl)…33 times.

Out of 182 $5 to $10 9 player stts (this is mostly $6 nl turbo and omaha hi turbo games), I cashed 39% of the time.  I had 26 first place finishes, 21 second place finishes, and 24 third place finishes.  The majority of the rest of my finishes were again for fourth place finishes…28 in total.  (29 of these stts were for $5 stts and 4 of them were for $10 stts and the only account for 16 of the 71 cashes…the other 55 cashes were  from $6 turbos).  Breaking these down, it looks like I cash 35% of the time in $6 turbos, 50% of the time in $5 ones, and 25% of the time in $10 stts.

All in all for 9 player stts on fulltilt, I’ve played in 469 games and have cashed in 199 of them, roughly 42% of the time with 51 firsts, 65 seconds, and 83 thirds.  I also have 75 bubbles and 59 fifths…and the finishes go down from there.

In 8 person $1 stts (so horse, razz, stud games), I’ve played a total of 20 games with 13 cashes…4 firsts, 4 seconds, and 5 thirds.  Really not enough play to give a good percentage but with the few games I’ve played I’ve been cashing 65% of the time.  Not a realistic percentage though without a bunch more games under my belt.

In 8 person $2 stts (again…horse, razz, stud games), I’ve played a total of 17 games with 7 cashes…1 first, 2 seconds, and 4 thirds.  Again, not enough games to get a realistic percentage but cashing about 41% of the time.

In 8 person $5 stts (horse, razz, stud) I’ve only played 6 games in total with 3 cashes…1 first and 2 thirds for a very unrealistic 50% cash ratio.

Overall, I’ve played in 43 8 person stts with a total of 23 cashes so I am cashing about 53% of the time but still not enough games to get a realistic figure.

Well, that’s about all my brain can handle for the evening.  I’ve gotten a decent picture of how I am fairing in stts on fulltilt and I think I’m going to work on finding the right and best game for me.