Small Time UB rounders Poker Blog

Stop me when this is sounding like deva vu. Sitting in my 1+0 rebuy O8b tournament trying to repeat as champion and at the first break I have played 6/44 hands and I have made 20 chips in the hour of play. I am sitting in 25/36th place. Somewhat better than last week so I decided to add on because I won my buy in earlier so why not use it.

Waiting for the tournament to start I did something on UB that I haven't done before. I sat at 2 tables with buyins of $2 and within 30 min I had over $10 on each table. Not bad for 30 min work and I think it may be time to move up to tougher competition. Time to get back to the tournament and hopefully I will have the same luck as last week.

PS No luck this week I went out in 30th with a marginal play on my part but I don't feel too badly about it since I won a lot of money before hand. I have a bunch of hands saved up to post later on so hopefully I will get them done in a timely fashion. Time for bed.

This afternoon I entered one of those 2500 person bonus dollar freerolls on UB. To make a long story short you can play solidly for 3+ hours and make 1 mistake and it can cost you everything. I finished 12/2500 because I got caught bluffing to a guy who called me all the way with a flush draw. I guess I wasn't meant to go to 2 final tables in one weekend. Atleast I can say I went out in a blaze of glory with "THE HAMMER" suited :).

I gotta stop playing these 1+0 o8b PL multi rebuys. Nothing like watching everyone go all in for an hour just to play 5/41 hands (3 BB and 1 SB) just to be in 42/42 place at the break. It will be a miracle if I place because I am next to the chip leader who plays every hand but I have seen stranger things. Wish me luck.

PS. I made it to break #2 in 6/11th place. Top 10 pay and what a turn of events. I was almost out early but patience paid off and the chip leader doubled me up quite a few times. Only 1 spot till the money and I have a decent stack. Go team :)

PPS. 42/42 going into break #2 and I end up winning :). Technically we split the top prize but it still counts as a win in my books. What a comeback and what a rush. For my $2 buy in I got a $43 return for over a 20-1 return on my money. After 4 hours of tournament poker I am ready for bed.

Gotta love 1+0 multi's.
I am sitting with over 8k just before the break and I pick up jj in the big blind. Wanting no confrontation I make it 5k to go putting the small blind all in which put all their money in before with a k10 and managed to beat trip queens on the previous hand. They put their tournament at risk with KQ and hit a K on the turn and I am crippled (56% fav preflop and 70% on the flop).

I won the next 3 hands after break putting me back to 8k and I pick up QQ on the 4th hand. I make it 3k to go this time and sure enough the same fucking person calls with AQ (I am a monster favorite as they only have 3 outs or less) and they hit an ace on the flop and takes me out. In 3 hands this person was a huge dog (20-1 on the first hand with k10 and a huge dog to me on the other 2 hands). I finish 21 spots from the money losing always with the best hand. 

Near the money you got to play like each hand is your last and each time I got beat with marginal hands at best. I still stick by my play and if lady luck was on my side I would have been near the chip leaders but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I don't feel bad going out of tournaments with great hands but I do get frustrated when I lose to the same person who beat me with hands that should never be played for your tournament life. Next time I will finish in the top 10 but that is little solice now.

Well this post was suppose to be out yesturday but blogger crashed my post just as I was finishing it so I lost it all. Here is round 2 of the Omaha hi/lo hand of the day.
 
This Omaha hi/lo lesson is brought to you by the letter S for sucktown.
Tip #1 Never ever bet the low in a multiway pot if that is all you have (unless you are playing against me). Keep in mind this blog is geared towards the true grinders of poker and is meant as a guide to solid, boring, money making poker :)
 
***** Hand History for Game 761696XXX
*****Table ................. (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Seat 1:   Kharisma        ($30.62)
Seat 10: XXXXXXXX ($22.70)
 
**Dealt to XXXXXXXX [  A 3 J 4 ]> 

I get dealt this marginal hand on the button (most hands in o8b are marginal till you see a flop) and with 3 to the low and a suited Ace I call the .50 cent bet. Both blinds call and check and we are playing 4 handed.
 
** Dealing Flop ** [ A, 9, 2 ] 
 
The first player Kharisma checked and player 2 made it .50 cents to go. I re-raised in this situation because I this flop gave me a little bit of everything. The flop landed me top pair, top low draw, back door flush draw and an inside straight draw. To my surprize all 3 players called my re-raise and there was $10 in the pot.
 
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6 ] 
 
Well the most likely draw paid off so I have the nut low and I have top pair with a reasonable kicker. Not a bad combo. Then something that I didn't expect happened.
 
Kharisma bets [$9.5].

Most players would have had their money in without any hesitation. With both other players folding to me, time must be taken to reflect on what has happened to make the right decision. In the time given to you before you have to call or fold you have to figure out why the player in first position made a pot sized bet with a card that didn't really bring anything to the table. Some of the posibilities included having trips or two pair. If we look at the betting on the flop the first player was just cold calling my raise meaning that he was probally on a draw and is quite unlikely slow playing any big high hand. A draw you say? I think we found out what the 6 did. The 6 brought a low onto the board so I was fairly certain this was raise to try to buy the pot with just a low. The problem with this play is that we have had the pot raised already on the flop that everyone called. Trying to bluff a multiway pot is really a pointless indevor especially with a low on the board. Coming to the conclusion that he had 34 as well, this brought another set of problems.
 
If I call I have the chance of taking 1/4 of the pot and with someone betting $10 on the turn he is more than likely gonna go all in on the river regardless what it is. I have to determine right now if I am best both ways. This is where experience comes into play. I would not recommend this call if you had ANYTHING less than top pair with a good kicker and even then it is a marginal call. On the other side of the coin, folding a made low hand is really a tough play that I don't think many people would make. Weighing my options I was 50/50 on making the call but I also had a nut diamond draw as well. The extra 9 outs was enough to turn a borderline call into a call that can and should be made because it is in your favor. 

XXXXXXXX calls [$9.5].
 
** Dealing River ** [ 2 ] 
 
Before the turn I was fairly certain I might even be best with top pair and the 2 wasn't that bad of a card. If the other person had 2 lower pair, this 2 could be the card I needed. You knew the other player was going all in regardless of what hit and the 2 gave me 2 pair with aces and twos so it really was an easy call on the river.
 
Kharisma bets [$15]. 
XXXXXXXX is all-In.
 
Kharisma shows [ 7, 3, 4, 6 ] two pairs, sixes and twos.
Kharisma shows  6,4,3,2,A for low. 
  
XXXXXXXX shows [ A, 3, J, 4 ] two pairs, aces and twos. 
XXXXXXXX shows  6,4,3,2,A for low. 
  
Pheer the mad goonery. Trying to buy the pot on 4th street with just a low cost this player money. If he would have checked I would have happily checked behind him and I would have taken far less of his money.
 
XXXXXXXX wins $23.95 from  the main pot  with two pairs, aces and twos. 
XXXXXXXX wins Lo ($11.97) from  the main pot  with 6,4,3,2,A.
Kharisma         wins Lo ($11.98) from  the main pot  with 6,4,3,2,A.
 
Taking 3/4 of a nice pot is always a good feeling especially when you had to think and work for it. This lesson was trying to show that betting with just a low usually costs you money and even if you have the nut low you have to be careful sometimes about getting 1/4 youself so don't rush your chips into the pot right away.
 
Next post coming soon with another O8b hand from last night going over a hand where I got a bit lucky :)

 

It is 1:37 am in the morning and I just finished a quick 30 minute Omaha hi/lo session with Rich aka "The bad beat" (We aren't working together because that is cheating and it is more fun to bitch about the goons with a friend at the table) and after a modest gain it is time to go over a few hands that caught my attention from the day.
 
(P.S thanks to the few who actually read the blog and emailed me (link on the side) and I will try to incorporate your suggestions and comments. Also if you have a poker question about a hand or maybe wish to join this humble blog (famous words from iggy) shoot me an email and I will see what I can do.
 
First hand of the day comes from a NL Sit n Go tournament. 
 
I managed to make it down to the last four players and I really do feel this is the most poorly played section of any sit n go. 95% of holdem players in my opinion play this time in the tournament not to loose instead of playing to win. Playing not to lose may get you to place, but in a $5+1 sit n go placing 3rd only nets you 4$. If you calculate your EV (expected value at this point) you will find playing passive at this point really does cost you a lot of money in the long run. How does one play properly yet safely when the tournament is on the bubble?
 
Dealt to XXXXXXXX (J 10)
 
When playing 4-handed the values of hands go up dramatically and now position is the ultimate factor when deciding to raise,fold or call. In a 10 player game the hand above is a fold to most tight-aggresive players in early position. In 4-handed poker unless you are facing an all-in raise this is a hand you should play and probally raise with. I was sitting in 2nd position and the blinds were 200-400 and I was left with a stack of about 1400 putting me 3rd/4. The first player called my bet making the pot 1000 to go with the blinds included. Going all-in here is not recommended here for two reasons. The first reason is even though I think I have a strong hand, someone coming in the pot in first position late in a tournament gets respect and may have your hand beat and even dominated. The second reason is that by stacking off here, assuming the blinds fold the first person has to call 1000 more chips for a pot that is 2400, giving him 2.4:1 on his money and he would probally call you because of those odds with almost any decent hand. Had I been in first position going all-in would be a good move to try and steal the blinds and with the correct table image this should get you free blinds. Since I was in 2nd position with 2 people acting behind me I flat called and the small blind folded and the big blind checked.
 
Flop ( J 10 6)
 
Hot damn I nailed the flop with two pair and all I can think about is getting my money into the middle. The person in first position checked and I quickly moved all my chips in hoping to get a call from someone with a weak draw or top pair. The big blind folded and the first player paused and called.
 
Showdown
(J 10) vs (K 10)
 
With all my chips in the middle and now 3400 in the pot, I was ready to double up and all but assure myself a place in the final three to play for the top prize. At this point I was a 5.5-1 favorite to double up but unfortunely the turn brought a queen and the river brought a nine giving him a runner runner straight and knocking me out. So much for a 5.5-1 favorite :).
 
The point of this hand was to show that position pointed me in the correct direction to just call because I was dominated pre-flop and that when you hit your hand do not screw around and hit the pot with everything. Don't check raise or bet only the minimum because that will just get you into trouble and give people better odds to call you with draws or low pairs. I had my money in when I was a huge favorite and that is all you can ever do. Runner runner defeats can be crushing but there is a slight comfort knowing you played the hand masterfully and it was lady luck who defeated you. Always remember if you made that same move again you will win 5x more than you will lose and in the long run and will be a winning player.
 
Tommorow I will post an O8b hand from tonight that caught my interest but until then good night and of course good luck.
 
 

Sorry for the lack of posts but I think I am the only reader anyways :) (Prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong (email:pinmonkey99@hotmail.com with subject blogger). I had an interesting night including sitting at a table with a world series champion and of course my hand of the week.

My hand of the week is another omaha hi/lo hand but I want to show a hand where drawing is correct.

Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 6: MaxPetey ( $16.08 )
Seat 10: boobdilly ( $49.55 )
Seat 2: XXXXXXXX ( $24.5 )

** Dealing down cards **

Dealt to XXXXXXXX [ J 9 T A ]

Not a bad hand in mid position and I was fairly sure no one would raise so I called the fifty cents. Five other people called which made my call that much better :)

** Dealing Flop ** [ Q, 2, K ]

This is a monster flop for my hand. I have the nut flush draw and I have the 3 other high cards to make a straight. The table goon was boobdilly because he bet the pot after every flop.

boobdilly bets [$3.35].

Since I don't really have to worry about him having much I make an easy call. The 3rd player Maxpetey goes all in and I was sure I was up against 2 pair and probally trips. Calling when you know your behind is almost always a bad idea, but I had a lot of outs and a gauranteed call by boobdilly. The $9 raise was called by boobdilly and if I called I was getting 3-1 on my money. At this point I can hit any club (9 outs), any Ace, Jack, Ten or 9 (12 more outs). I also have a backdoor flush draw but we can't count that yet. With an estimated 21 outs, my odds of winning the pot were close to 2-1 and I was getting the correct pot odds to call at the very least.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 6 ]

This turn was bitter sweet. This turn added to my outs giving me a spade draw (Add 9 outs), but to win outright I had to subtract the outs that made a low. Take away the 6 low spades and the 3 aces that could make a low, and I still have 21 outs remaining. Boobdilly bet 6$ into me and folding now would be a bad play.

** Dealing River ** [ 9 ]

I hit my river which wasn't that surprizing and go all in for my remaining $2. I get called and.......

boobdilly shows [ 6, 7, K, Q ] two pairs, kings and queens.
MaxPetey doesn't show [ 4, Q, J, Q ] three of a kind, queens.

XXXXXXXX shows [ J, 9, T, A ] a straight, nine to king.

I was correct that I was up against trips from the beginning but with the correct pot odds and the number of outs I had made the correct play by drawing.


XXXXXXXX wins $16.34 from side pot #1 with a straight, nine to king.
XXXXXXXX wins $47.74 from the main pot with a straight, nine to king.
There was no qualifying low hand.

I was playing at my favorite place UB and I seen Phil Hellmuth at a .25/.50 cent NL holdem table. I just couldn't resist playing a few hands with a world champion.

Hand #2064123-914 at Dusseldorf (No Limit Hold'em)

XXXXXXXX is at seat 6 with $24.25.
PhilHellmuth is at seat 9 with $36.95.

PhilHellmuth posts the big blind of $.50.

XXXXXXXX: A K

What a hand to get when Phil was in the blind. To my surprize everyone folded to me so I had to play this even if it meant losing some $$. I raised to 4 bucks thinking Phil always plays back to blind stealers. Somewhat disapointed Phil folded and I won the pot without confrontation.

Hand #2064123-914 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
XXXXXXXX wins $2.25.

To most people this is nothing but I can honestly say I have taken some of Phil Hellmuth's $$ even if it is only .50 cents. How many of you can say that? :) I didn't think so. Till next time...