Continuing from WT: A question about online poker

[WayAbvPar]

I don't play freerolls any longer, mostly because I can't take them seriously. Even the $1-$3 multis are hard-pressed to keep me playing my best poker- I can play there for 4 hours, make the final table, and win $100, or I can go play a couple of SnGs or a ring game and make at least that much in 1/2 the time.

I would caution against playing differently just because it is a freeroll- it lets bad habits seep into your game.

[UD_Delt]

WayAbvPar:

This link is for you given your avatar:

http://cardsspeak.servebeer.com/

The Big Lebowski broken down into poker analogies...

Brilliant.

[WayAbvPar]

Heh- that was fun! I gotta watch TBL when I get home now =)

My fav-

The Dude: Walter, I love you, but sooner or later, you're going to have to realize the fact that you're a god damn moron.


This one goes to Phil Hellmuth. Nuff said.

ROFL!

[Mediocre]

Delt hit it on the head as far as how freerolls go.

My friends were standing around me though, chanting "WORST POKER PLAYER EVER."

[Madman]

Finally won a SnG again. I think I am playing a bit tighter lately and I have noticed it has helped me a bit. I still make some bad bets, but they feel right at the time. Some were actually good bets that got busted on the river, and some were just dumb bets.  I am also getting used to playing short stacked because of a few of those bad bets and because I have been playing tighter I have been able to stay in the games. Although I still have trouble getting into the money when I end up short stacked early in the game, but I usually end up like 4th or 5th.

Here are my stats from the tourney:

You finished in 1st place (eliminated at hand #390308064).

110 hands played and saw flop:
 - 15 times out of 30 while in small blind      (50%)
 - 16 times out of 29 while in big blind      (55%)
 - 13 times out of 51 in other positions      (25%)
 - a total of 44 times out of 110      (40%)

 Pots won at showdown - 15 out of 19      (78%)
 Pots won without showdown - 23

About 60 of those hands were played between the final 3 people. Fortunately I didn't have to play this tourney short stacked because of this hand:

Code:

*********** # 9 **************
POKERSTARS GAME #390230677: TOURNAMENT #1421646, HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL I (10/20) - 2004/04/16 - 15:55:21 (ET)
Table '1421646 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (2150 in chips) 
Seat 2: Sweetness23 (1450 in chips) 
Seat 3: Defensor (1420 in chips) 
Seat 5: ch1naboy (1850 in chips) 
Seat 6: D.W. Jarrett (2200 in chips) 
Seat 7: WIZARD37 (1440 in chips) 
Seat 8: BNYLVR (2990 in chips) 
Sweetness23: posts small blind 10
Defensor: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Th Ts]
ch1naboy: folds 
D.W. Jarrett: raises 20 to 40
WIZARD37: folds 
BNYLVR said, "ty"
BNYLVR: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 60 to 100
Sweetness23: calls 90
Defensor: folds 
D.W. Jarrett: raises 60 to 160
TheMadMadman: calls 60
Sweetness23: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [3s Tc 4h]
Sweetness23: checks 
D.W. Jarrett: bets 100
TheMadMadman: raises 400 to 500
Sweetness23: folds 
D.W. Jarrett: calls 400
*** TURN *** [3s Tc 4h] [5c]
D.W. Jarrett: checks 
TheMadMadman: bets 500
D.W. Jarrett: calls 500
*** RIVER *** [3s Tc 4h 5c] [Jh]
D.W. Jarrett: checks 
TheMadMadman: bets 990 and is all-in
D.W. Jarrett: calls 990
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [Th Ts] (three of a kind, Tens)
D.W. Jarrett: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)
TheMadMadman collected 4480 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4480 | Rake 0 
Board [3s Tc 4h 5c Jh]
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (button) showed [Th Ts] and won (4480) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 2: Sweetness23 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Defensor (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ch1naboy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: D.W. Jarrett showed [Ah Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: WIZARD37 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: BNYLVR folded before Flop (didn't bet)

When DW first raised I figured he had something like Ax or KQ, but when he reraised my raise, I figured he had a good pocket pair. Although I wasn't expecting the AA because I would have raised more if I had AA. If anything other than the T had come down on the flop, I would have folded on the first bet. What I can't figure out is why he chased me all the way to the showdown. I suppose he just figured I was in on a pocket pair and was betting heavy to try and buy the pot.

After that I pretty much stayed in first or second in chips even when I got busted by this hand:

Code:

*********** # 48 **************
PokerStars Game #390270669: Tournament #1421646, Hold'em No Limit - Level V 
(75/150) - 2004/04/16 - 16:26:59 (ET)
Table '1421646 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (5410 in chips) 
Seat 3: Defensor (2070 in chips) 
Seat 7: WIZARD37 (1850 in chips) 
Seat 8: BNYLVR (4170 in chips) 
BNYLVR: posts small blind 75
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kc 2s]
Defensor: calls 150
WIZARD37: folds 
BNYLVR: calls 75
TheMadMadman: checks 
*** FLOP *** [As Ks 5d]
BNYLVR: checks 
TheMadMadman: checks 
Defensor: bets 300
BNYLVR: calls 300
TheMadMadman: calls 300
*** TURN *** [As Ks 5d] [Kh]
BNYLVR: checks 
TheMadMadman: checks 
Defensor: checks 
*** RIVER *** [As Ks 5d Kh] [Tc]
BNYLVR: checks 
TheMadMadman: bets 1500
Defensor: folds 
BNYLVR: calls 1500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [Kc 2s] (three of a kind, Kings)
BNYLVR: shows [Qs Jc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
BNYLVR collected 4350 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4350 | Rake 0 
Board [As Ks 5d Kh Tc]
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Kc 2s] and lost with three of a kind, 
Kings
Seat 3: Defensor folded on the River
Seat 7: WIZARD37 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: BNYLVR (small blind) showed [Qs Jc] and won (4350) with a straight, Ten to Ace

I made a mistake here, I checked on the turn after I picked up my 3 of a kind. I was looking for a bet so I could raise, but instead I should have just bet out hard. My next mistake came because I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been and didn't realize a possible straight came down on the river. Three hands later WIZARD37 went out and the chip total looked like this:

Seat 1: TheMadMadman (3760 in chips)
Seat 3: Defensor (1395 in chips)
Seat 8: BNYLVR (8345 in chips)

From there on BNYLVR went steadily down, and Defensor and I pretty much went steadily up. Finally, I managed to break BNYLVR on this hand:

Code:

*********** # 101 **************
PokerStars Game #390303128: Tournament #1421646, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII 
(100/200) - 2004/04/16 - 16:52:34 (ET)
Table '1421646 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (6465 in chips) 
Seat 3: Defensor (5265 in chips) 
Seat 8: BNYLVR (1770 in chips) 
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 25
Defensor: posts the ante 25
BNYLVR: posts the ante 25
Defensor: posts small blind 100
BNYLVR: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [As Kc]
TheMadMadman: raises 600 to 800
Defensor: folds 
BNYLVR: raises 945 to 1745 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 945
*** FLOP *** [6h 6c Ks]
*** TURN *** [6h 6c Ks] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [6h 6c Ks Ac] [Tc]
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BNYLVR: shows [Ad Qd] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
TheMadMadman: shows [As Kc] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
BNYLVR said, "nh"
TheMadMadman collected 3665 from  pot
Defensor said, "gg"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3665 | Rake 0 
Board [6h 6c Ks Ac Tc]
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (button) showed [As Kc] and won (3665) with two pair, Aces 
and Kings
Seat 3: Defensor (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: BNYLVR (big blind) showed [Ad Qd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sixes

I suppose that play was perhaps a bit risky, but it certainly felt like the right thing to do at the time and it paid off. The best thing about it was just after that hand this was said: BNYLVR [observer] said, "you play tight not good". My response was: TheMadMadman said, "heh...tight can be good"

About 9 hands later I managed to pull a KK as the big blind and Defensor went all in on a KT suited. That was all she wrote. That tourney was probably my best played tourney since I started playing them.

[Rasix]

Did my first real live sit n go at my bachelor's party. I didn't win, we ended up only doing top 2 in cash after one guy had to leave early and cash out after he was up a lot (didn't feel like making it an issue that he BOUGHT in and there wasn't a cash out).  

What bothered me is that my friend won playing horrid poker.  And he was trying to give others poker advice like, "it's not how you play the flop, it's what cards you get afterwards".  He basically saw every flop.  Anytime he had anything, he'd go to the river. In a flop I raised 5x the big blind he called with 7 3o and flopped a straight. At least my cousin who finished second would actually fold cards once in a while(you can tell he played some).   Now my friend who I only get to see a couple time a year it seems now will get to hold this over my head.  

I just hope this guy doesn't buy in to an online casino.  I introduced this guy to Everquest and he's been hooked on MMORPGs since (4-5 hours a night for at least 5 years now).  I don't want to be responsible for fucking up his life twice.

It was really odd playing with people who don't play.  They see a shit ton of flops.  It was like playing on a .5/1 table where everyone river runs but there's not a betting limit. I found myself playing hole cards I'd never touch regularly.

Anyhow (god I'm long winded on poker), time to get married, enjoy my honeymoon and hope when I start playing again I stop getting fucking cold decked.

[Margalis]

My random comments:

Dealt to TheMadMadman [Th Ts]
ch1naboy: folds
D.W. Jarrett: raises 20 to 40
WIZARD37: folds
BNYLVR said, "ty"
BNYLVR: folds
TheMadMadman: raises 60 to 100
Sweetness23: calls 90
Defensor: folds
D.W. Jarrett: raises 60 to 160
TheMadMadman: calls 60
Sweetness23: calls 60

This was a horrible play by DW! He should have raised way more than 60. I would probably raise by 200-300 or so here.

*** FLOP *** [3s Tc 4h]
Sweetness23: checks
D.W. Jarrett: bets 100
TheMadMadman: raises 400 to 500
Sweetness23: folds
D.W. Jarrett: calls 400

This was also a bad play by DW. A bet of 100?

*** FLOP *** [As Ks 5d]
BNYLVR: checks
TheMadMadman: checks
Defensor: bets 300
BNYLVR: calls 300
TheMadMadman: calls 300

This is an automatic fold to me. You have second pair with the worst possible kicker, there are few ways your hand can improve, and the higher pair corresponds to the card that everyone plays. So many people will play a wide variety of Aces, when an Ace comes on the flop chances are pretty damn good someone has one.

*** TURN *** [As Ks 5d] [Kh]
BNYLVR: checks
TheMadMadman: checks
Defensor: checks

I would bet here for sure. A check-raise seems unlikely to work. You both called the original bet, so chances are pretty good one of you has a king. Defensor  is unlikely to bet here. I tend to avoid fancy plays unless I know my opponents reasonably well. You hit the best possible card for you, bet.

*** RIVER *** [As Ks 5d Kh] [Tc]
BNYLVR: checks
TheMadMadman: bets 1500
Defensor: folds
BNYLVR: calls 1500

You broke my rule of river betting: don't make a bet where the only way they will call is if they have you beat. What hand will call you here?

I probably would bet here, but I would make a small value bet. Both players checked the turn. To me that says they may have been on draws....but he did check the river. I would be wary of a trap here. On the turn you got a card that helped you a lot and you didn't bet...on the river you got a card that could hurt you and you bet huge. I might have thought he was on a spade draw, but if so he missed and won't call your river bet. I think it was reasonable to believe you had the best hand, so make a bet you think they will call with a worse hand, not a bet they can only call with a better hand.

Code:

*********** # 101 **************
PokerStars Game #390303128: Tournament #1421646, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII 
(100/200) - 2004/04/16 - 16:52:34 (ET)
Table '1421646 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (6465 in chips) 
Seat 3: Defensor (5265 in chips) 
Seat 8: BNYLVR (1770 in chips) 
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 25
Defensor: posts the ante 25
BNYLVR: posts the ante 25
Defensor: posts small blind 100
BNYLVR: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [As Kc]
TheMadMadman: raises 600 to 800
Defensor: folds 
BNYLVR: raises 945 to 1745 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 945
*** FLOP *** [6h 6c Ks]
*** TURN *** [6h 6c Ks] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [6h 6c Ks Ac] [Tc]
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BNYLVR: shows [Ad Qd] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
TheMadMadman: shows [As Kc] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
BNYLVR said, "nh"
TheMadMadman collected 3665 from  pot
Defensor said, "gg"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3665 | Rake 0 
Board [6h 6c Ks Ac Tc]
Seat 1: TheMadMadman (button) showed [As Kc] and won (3665) with two pair, Aces 
and Kings
Seat 3: Defensor (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: BNYLVR (big blind) showed [Ad Qd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sixes

I suppose that play was perhaps a bit risky, but it certainly felt like the right thing to do at the time and it paid off.

That was the right play. I like that size raise. If everyone folds that's fine. If BNYLVR just calls you can apply pressure again on the flop. It also invites BN to come over the top with a variety of hands that are even at best. BNYVLR is likely to go all-in on mid-size pocket pair and lot of Aces. You are only badly beaten by two hands. Chances are good that if he goes all in you will be about even at worst.

If he just calls, I would bet the flop no matter what it came down as. Give him a chance to fold. With that much of his money invested, if you check the flop he might bluff raise all-in anyway, so might as well give him the chance to fold.

The most you could lose was 1745, and you had a good chance of winning the pre-flop pot, getting called then winning post-flop on a bluff, or showing down the best hand.

The only real risk was that Defensor would reraise, in which case you can throw your hand away.

BN...not sure about his play. His raise all-in was essentially a call, because there was no way you would fold anything but a pure bluff to him. You were comitted at that point. I don't want to be calling off all my money with AQ. I might bet it all off, but not call it all off. In this case his bet was essentially a call. It depends on how often others were raising. If they were raising a lot I would have gone all-in. If not so much I would have thrown it away, and maybe gone all-in on a worse hand. I'd rather put my money in first with say A9 than call off my money with AQ. If you truly were playing tight (which BN seemed to think) he probably should have folded. When a tight player raises in front of you and baits you to go all in AQ isn't a great hand.

[Madman]

I pretty much agree with you comments Margalis. If DW had raised more than 60 pre-flop, chances are I would have folded. It was still pretty early in the game and although I was up a little bit, I wouldn't have risked a good sized bet. It wouldn't have mattered what he threw down after the flop because I was gonna ride the set of 10's. There is nothing he could have done to scare me off right after the flop came down. I did get a little worried when I saw the possible straight, but figured he wouldn't have reraised preflop on A2. I was a little more worried when the J hit the turn. After all that might have been his pocket pair, but I still decided to go for it. I had been betting heavy already, so I felt I should keep betting heavy.

The next hand, I know I screwed it up. The call on the flop was a gut call, I didn't feel that anyone had an A in the hole because by that time 9 out of 10 A's got raised preflop. I completely agree that I should have bet big when I got the set of K's, although I am not sure it would have done any good because I think BN would have probably have called most bets, he just seemed to play that way. As for the river, I admit to not paying attention. I totally missed the fact that there was a possible straight on the board. I basically jumped the gun, if I had looked at the board closer then I most likely would have checked. At that point I was really thinking about my three of a kind and that was it.

As for the last hand I posted, I thought I played it pretty well too. At that point we were down to 3 people left and I had the big stack. You are right, my thinking was if I lose it then I am not hurting all that much. If I lose it then I just play tighter until I get something great in the hole. But I felt pretty confident with the AKo, so I decided to call him. When the flop came down, I couldn't help but smile because I knew I had him beat. I was kind of surprised when he reraised me preflop. You are right - at that point, I had to call him because I had a bit invested in the pot. If he had just called preflop, then I certainly would have bet the house with that flop. I would have been sitting on two pair with an A kicker.

I think I was playing that game pretty tight. I was folding a lot of hands that I used to play. I am going to look over the hand history a little closer eventually, just to see how tight I played. There were various hands that I was playing aggressively, but overall I think it was pretty tight (especially for me). I seem to remember folding things like Axo on semi-small preflop  raises, as well as folding various K/Qxs stuff and middle suited connectors. Like I said it was probably my best played tourney ever.

Thanks for the comments. They are always welcome, especially since I think I am getting better and better at playing. I think it is partially because I am playing more and therefore seeing more, but it is also partially due to the various comments here.

[El Gallo]

yeah with AK on the board and 2 people putting 300 in on it, I think you have to fold K2.  Maybe one was on a spade draw, but is hard to imagine a scenario where at least one of them didn't have an ace or a king with a better kicker, leaving you without much in the way of outs unless a 2 hit.  Then again, I am a pussy =)

[Madman]

Btw, I hate you bastards. All of you A) got me started playing online poker and B) made me get and register Poker Tracker.

I got it a little while ago and I am still getting used to it, but I can certainly see how it can help me play better. I originally bought into Poker Stars for $100, I won around $250 fairly quickly on normal tables and then ended up losing around $200 or so on those tables. I ended up taking a break for a while and when I came back I have been exclusively playing in SnG tourneys. I know I can win money faster on normal tables, but I can also lose money faster there too. I think the SnG's are better for honing skills since you can see a lot more hands for a lot less money. I am have lost a total of $37 since I started playing the tourneys, but I feel that I am a better player overall. I mostly play in in the 5+.50 or 10+1 SnG's, although I have played in a few 15+1 tourneys.

I am thinking about starting a new database once I either lose my original buy in or double it (and get my original buy-in out) because I realize now that my play when I first started was fairly erratic. I think that after I either lose or double my buy-in, I will consider myself a respectable player and I would like to get pure stats starting from that period. I am sure I will still make mistakes even then, but you can't completely avoid mistakes. I would still keep the old database and import all hands into that as well as the new one, just to see how much my erratic play at first affects my stats. Of course I am pretty lazy so I probably won't do that at all.

I like looking over the stats and noticing which hands have played well for me and which hands I lose on. It is pretty interesting to see things like I have had 96o a total of 22 times, but of the 6 times I have had it on the big blind I have won 4 times. Once I folded to a preflop raise and once I folded after checking all the way to the river. Or the fact that KK is the hand I have won the most money on, followed by AKo, QQ and then that 96o. AA doesn't do much for me because I have only been called on it once of the 7 times I have had it. The one time it got called, I was short stacked and could only raise 45 chips on my big blind and I ended up losing that hand to a flush. These kind of stats are very interesting.

On another note, today I was dealt KK three straight times. The first time I won pretty big after someone went all in on a pretty ragged flop and the turn produced a the lowest pair on the board. I almost didn't call him, but figured I still had him beat. The second time nobody called my preflop raise. The last time I ended up losing to someone who slowplayed AA, I should have been worried when he checked and then called my 300 chip bet after the flop, and again when he checked and then called my 300 on the turn. I did stay smart enough to check the river though, so although I lost more than I should have it could have been a lot worse.

Alright, I am gonna stop babbling now.

[Madman]

Hmmm...I seem to have lost some data in the Poker Tracker. I had 7 AA hands yesterday and today I only have 5. I am missing the two hands I ended up losing. It is the one I lost to the flush. I think I am missing another hand too.

I have saved all my hand histories and tournament histories and tried to import them all again, but it didn't import anything since it said everything was there. Has anyone else had this problem?

[UD_Delt]

First make sure you're looking at the first tab otherwise you'll only be looking at session stats. Second, make sure you don't have any filters turned on. Third, make sure it is defaulted to your username. Fourth, if you play on multiple systems (Party, Stars, UB, etc...) make sure your aliases are still setup.

And finally, it is an open SQL database so if you have a way to do so you could try manually querying the DB to see if your hands are still in there.

Other than that nothing is coming to me right now that would explain hands dissappearing.

[Madman]

First make sure you're looking at the first tab otherwise you'll only be looking at session stats. Second, make sure you don't have any filters turned on. Third, make sure it is defaulted to your username. Fourth, if you play on multiple systems (Party, Stars, UB, etc...) make sure your aliases are still setup.

And finally, it is an open SQL database so if you have a way to do so you could try manually querying the DB to see if your hands are still in there.

Other than that nothing is coming to me right now that would explain hands dissappearing.

First, I am looking at the first tab with the 'show all hands regardless of blinds' applied. Second, I don't have any filters on. Third, it is defaulted to my name. And fourth I don't play anywhere but Poker Stars.

I don't think I have a way to pull it up through a SQL database, I don't even have Microsoft Office set up on this computer.

Maybe I will create a new database and import all my histories into that to see what happens and compare the two.

I am not all that upset about it, it just kind caught me by surprise. I am now wondering if there are other hands that disappeared.

[WayAbvPar]

Btw, I hate you bastards. All of you A) got me started playing online poker and B) made me get and register Poker Tracker.

I am still learning how to really use Pokertracker to its utmost, but it has already paid off...I have histories with A LOT of the folks I play with now, and have started noticing a pattern in how some of them play.

The combo of online poker and Pokertracker might just bump you into a higher tax bracket, so I can see why you are pissed =)

Edit- I just had a thought- most (or all) of us have accounts at Stars. Anyone interested in getting together for a cheap SnG some time? We could set up a time, and then all jump into the first EMPTY NLHE SnG (probably just a one table, to make sure there are as few outsiders as possible). We do it at 2+2, and it seems to work pretty well (although you have to be right on top of things or the table will fill up).

I am available weekday nights other than Monday from 6 PM PDT to about 11 PDT. Post times you are available, and we'll see if we can get some sort of event set up. Think of the shittalking possibilities!

[Madman]

Haha, you know I was thinking a couple of days ago that I am not sure if I would want to play with everyone here or not. I mean after all I have shared quite a few hand histories and my thought processes about certain hands. So maybe you all have an unfair insight into me. But then again it would be fun to play for bragging rights.

I work midnight shifts, but I am pretty much available between like 6PM-10PM CDT (4pm-8pm PDT), although I can usually make that longer on Friday and Saturday night since I don't work those nights. I would also need at least a day notice, maybe two, so that I could adjust my sleep schedule a little bit.

As for Poker Tracker, I only have about 2,200 hands in there from tourneys. And only about 300 or so from ring games (I haven't played them since I switched over to SnG's). I can see how it can be very useful, although I have only played about 5 or 6 people more than once. For now it is good to see that I have tightened up my game a bit (my VIP total is around 35% now I believe), and am I learning which hands are the best ones, and which ones pay out the best for me. Soon I will deal with other players histories and stuff, but for now I am still exploring it a bit.

[UD_Delt]

I'm down for hopping into a cheap ($5.50 or $11) Sit&Go with you all. I can be available any weeknight after about 6:00 EST and up till around midnight.

I can make times other than that with a day or two notice.

[Margalis]

A Stars SnG would be cool, I am usually free late, like 9 PM EST onward.

[Abagadro]

I'd play, but don't play on Stars. If you wanted to get a Party one going. I'm up for it.

[UD_Delt]

I now have accounts on most of the majors and I'm not opposed to opening other accounts on other systems assuming I can bonus whore on those sites. So I can do party or stars for the S&G.

Speaking of bonus whoring that's something else we could work out with each other. Try and refer each other to any sites that offer good bonuses so we can all cash in a little extra money.

I'm currently members of the following:

Poker Stars
Party Poker
GamingClub Poker - Prima network
Ultimate Bet

If anyone has a bonus referral to any other sites feel free to PM me and I'll sign up through you since I currently have no active bonuses to work off. Alternately, if anyone wants to join any of those to PM me and I'll set up an affiliate code.

[WayAbvPar]

So- I was feeling my oats and decided to move up to the $3/$6 tables (when you keep your bankroll as low as I keep mine, this is a big move). My first hand I had AJ, and lost to AK when KJ came on the flop (of course). I drug a small pot, so was only down a few bucks for a while.

Then this hand came up-

POKERSTARS GAME #399076703:  HOLD'EM LIMIT ($3/$6) - 2004/04/21 - 23:27:03 (ET)
Table 'Nihal' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Lever11 ($48 in chips)
Seat 3: 1cigarfan ($99 in chips)
Seat 5: wayabvpar ($112 in chips)
Seat 6: CWayne ($63 in chips)
Seat 7: tomnshell ($150 in chips)
Seat 8: Anchorman ($139 in chips)
Seat 10: doctorevill ($100 in chips)
abel will be allowed to play after the button
1cigarfan: posts small blind $1
Fox 002: is sitting out
wayabvpar: posts big blind $3
doctorevill: posts big blind $3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to wayabvpar [Js 8d]
CWayne: folds
tomnshell: folds
Anchorman: calls $3
doctorevill: checks
Lever11: folds
1cigarfan: calls $2
wayabvpar: checks
*** FLOP *** [8h Jc Jd]
1cigarfan: checks
wayabvpar: checks
Anchorman: checks
doctorevill: checks
*** TURN *** [8h Jc Jd] [Td]
1cigarfan: checks
wayabvpar: checks
Anchorman: checks
doctorevill: bets $6
1cigarfan: folds
wayabvpar: calls $6
Anchorman: calls $6
*** RIVER *** [8h Jc Jd Td] [7c]
wayabvpar: bets $6
Anchorman: raises $6 to $12
doctorevill: calls $12
wayabvpar: raises $6 to $18
Anchorman: raises $6 to $24
Betting is capped
doctorevill: calls $12
wayabvpar: calls $6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Anchorman: shows [Tc Jh] (a full house, Jacks full of Tens)
doctorevill: mucks hand
wayabvpar: mucks hand
Anchorman collected $99 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $102 | Rake $3
Board [8h Jc Jd Td 7c]
Seat 1: Lever11 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: 1cigarfan (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: wayabvpar (big blind) mucked [Js 8d] - a full house, Jacks full of Eights
Seat 6: CWayne folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: tomnshell folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Anchorman showed [Tc Jh] and won ($99) with a full house, Jacks full of Tens
Seat 10: doctorevill mucked [9s 5c] - a straight, Seven to Jack

Owwie.

Any thoughts on how I played this? I will explain my thought process later.

[Madman]

I am not sure you can do anything about that hand Way, except get spooked with all the raising and get out. If you had bet on the flop, anchorman would have stayed in anyway. He would probably be guessing you were holding a set of J's too. Possibly a big enough bet would have told everyone you flopped the boat, but then you would have only picked up the blind bets. That is the only thing I can think of.

Here are my two favorite hands of the day, both in the same SnG.

Code:

*********** # 12 **************

PokerStars Game #399634983: Tournament #1461480, Hold'em No Limit - Level II 
(15/30) - 2004/04/22 - 11:04:40 (ET)
Table '1461480 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Fab D (1310 in chips) 
Seat 2: TheRedman23 (1130 in chips) 
Seat 3: Poisa (1435 in chips) 
Seat 4: jeffcan (1280 in chips) 
Seat 5: arkobin (1430 in chips) 
Seat 6: dunn44 (1410 in chips) 
Seat 7: oreoooo (2380 in chips) 
Seat 8: TheMadMadman (1735 in chips) 
Seat 9: Roppie (1390 in chips) 
jeffcan: posts small blind 15
arkobin: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Qc 8d]
dunn44: calls 30
oreoooo: calls 30
TheMadMadman: calls 30
Roppie: calls 30
Fab D: folds 
TheRedman23: calls 30
Poisa: folds 
jeffcan: calls 15
arkobin: checks 
*** FLOP *** [8s 9h 8h]
jeffcan: checks 
arkobin: checks 
dunn44: checks 
oreoooo: bets 60
TheMadMadman: raises 60 to 120
Roppie: folds 
TheRedman23: calls 120
jeffcan: calls 120
arkobin: raises 480 to 600
dunn44: folds 
oreoooo: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 480 to 1080
TheRedman23: folds 
jeffcan: folds 
arkobin: raises 320 to 1400 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 320
*** TURN *** [8s 9h 8h] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8s 9h 8h Qs] [6d]
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
arkobin: shows [6h 8c] (a full house, Eights full of Sixes)
TheMadMadman: shows [Qc 8d] (a full house, Eights full of Queens)
arkobin said, "lol"
TheMadMadman collected 3310 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3310 | Rake 0 
Board [8s 9h 8h Qs 6d]
Seat 1: Fab D folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: TheRedman23 folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Poisa (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: jeffcan (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: arkobin (big blind) showed [6h 8c] and lost with a full house, Eights 
full of Sixes
Seat 6: dunn44 folded on the Flop
Seat 7: oreoooo folded on the Flop
Seat 8: TheMadMadman showed [Qc 8d] and won (3310) with a full house, Eights 
full of Queens
Seat 9: Roppie folded on the Flop

I was kind of shocked when he stuck after the big raise. I really wasn't expecting him to have an 8, but I knew I was pretty set with the Q kicker. I loved it when we both flipped up after the flop and he showed a 6 kicker. I really loved it when the Q came down on the turn.

Two hands later I get this:

Code:

*********** # 14 **************
PokerStars Game #399636691: Tournament #1461480, Hold'em No Limit - Level II 
(15/30) - 2004/04/22 - 11:07:23 (ET)
Table '1461480 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Fab D (1310 in chips) 
Seat 2: TheRedman23 (980 in chips) 
Seat 3: Poisa (1555 in chips) 
Seat 4: jeffcan (1100 in chips) 
Seat 6: dunn44 (1350 in chips) 
Seat 7: oreoooo (2260 in chips) 
Seat 8: TheMadMadman (3585 in chips) 
Seat 9: Roppie (1360 in chips) 
oreoooo: posts small blind 15
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kd Kc]
Roppie: folds 
Fab D: folds 
TheRedman23: calls 30
Poisa: raises 660 to 690
jeffcan: folds 
dunn44: folds 
oreoooo: raises 1570 to 2260 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: raises 1325 to 3585 and is all-in
TheRedman23: folds 
Poisa: calls 865 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [8d 7c 6d]
*** TURN *** [8d 7c 6d] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [8d 7c 6d Jd] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
oreoooo: shows [Qs Qc] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
TheMadMadman: shows [Kd Kc] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
TheMadMadman collected 1410 from side pot
Poisa: shows [Kh Ah] (a pair of Jacks)
TheMadMadman collected 4695 from main pot
Roppie said, "ow damn"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6105 Main pot 4695. Side pot 1410. | Rake 0 
Board [8d 7c 6d Jd Js]
Seat 1: Fab D folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: TheRedman23 folded before Flop
Seat 3: Poisa showed [Kh Ah] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 4: jeffcan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: dunn44 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: oreoooo (small blind) showed [Qs Qc] and lost with two pair, Queens and 
Jacks
Seat 8: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Kd Kc] and won (6105) with two pair, 
Kings and Jacks
Seat 9: Roppie folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Man do I love Kings in the hole! I just can't seem to lose with them. According to Poker Tracker, I win 80% of the time with them and I have won more in SnG's with KK than any other hand. Just to prove that I can't lose with KK, here is a hand from later in the day from a different SnG.

Code:

*********** # 33 **************
PokerStars Game #399891699: Tournament #1462379, Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2004/04/22 - 15:27:37 (ET)
Table '1462379 1' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: appraiser88 (1130 in chips) 
Seat 3: TheMadMadman (1090 in chips) 
Seat 4: Stickano (1065 in chips) 
Seat 6: bananas (3315 in chips) 
Seat 7: Aimie (3175 in chips) 
Seat 8: casex (1305 in chips) 
Seat 9: bfjim (2420 in chips) 
bananas: posts small blind 25
Aimie: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kd Ks]
casex: folds 
bfjim: folds 
appraiser88: calls 50
TheMadMadman: raises 300 to 350
Stickano: calls 350
bananas: raises 2965 to 3315 and is all-in
Aimie: folds 
appraiser88: folds 
TheMadMadman: calls 740 and is all-in
Stickano: folds 
*** FLOP *** [5s Qh Ad]
*** TURN *** [5s Qh Ad] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [5s Qh Ad Js] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bananas: shows [Tc Ts] (three of a kind, Tens)
TheMadMadman: shows [Kd Ks] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
TheMadMadman collected 2630 from  pot
TheMadMadman said, "unreal"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2630 | Rake 0 
Board [5s Qh Ad Js Td]
Seat 1: appraiser88 folded before Flop
Seat 3: TheMadMadman showed [Kd Ks] and won (2630) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 4: Stickano (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: bananas (small blind) showed [Tc Ts] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 7: Aimie (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: casex folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: bfjim folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I am getting much better at getting into the money, but I still have trouble coming in first. I usually end up going all in on a pretty good hand (usually preflop or right after the flop) and end up getting beat by a slightly better hand. That is kind of frustrating, but I suppose it will get better. Plus I am happy to be in the money in the first place.

[Madman]

***** THIS POST IS VERY LONG AND CONTAINS SEVERAL HAND HISTORIES!!! *****

Well, UD_Delt got to see me play tonight. He came in during a showdown at a $15+1 Turbo SnG. I won that tourney, which helped my bankroll alot. Of course it's not too hard to get in the money when you are the chip leader (or second in chips for a few brief hands) from the 3rd hand on. I went up and down and up before I hit a really good run of hands starting at the 22nd hand:

Code:

*********** # 22 **************
PokerStars Game #402444634: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV 
(50/100) - 2004/04/24 - 01:37:16 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: hackman63 (985 in chips) 
Seat 2: dmartinez (1585 in chips) 
Seat 3: Nolan1 (2255 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (2755 in chips) 
Seat 5: Card Thief (1730 in chips) 
Seat 6: billie lee (760 in chips) 
Seat 7: james9994 (1320 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (2110 in chips) 
billie lee: posts small blind 50
james9994: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Ad Ah]
j.jaworski: folds 
hackman63: raises 885 to 985 and is all-in
dmartinez: folds 
Nolan1: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 885 to 1870
Card Thief: folds 
billie lee: folds 
james9994: folds 
*** FLOP *** [4h Qc 2d]
Card Thief said, "nice"
*** TURN *** [4h Qc 2d] [Kh]
TheMadMadman said, "ty"
*** RIVER *** [4h Qc 2d Kh] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hackman63: shows [9s Ks] (a pair of Kings)
TheMadMadman: shows [Ad Ah] (a pair of Aces)
TheMadMadman collected 2120 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2120 | Rake 0 
Board [4h Qc 2d Kh 5s]
Seat 1: hackman63 showed [9s Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: dmartinez folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Nolan1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: TheMadMadman showed [Ad Ah] and won (2120) with a pair of Aces
Seat 5: Card Thief (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: billie lee (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: james9994 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: j.jaworski folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I am not sure why he was going all in on K9s, but I was willing to take it. Two hands later I get this:

Code:

*********** # 24 **************
PokerStars Game #402446741: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level V 
(75/150) - 2004/04/24 - 01:38:46 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: dmartinez (1585 in chips) 
Seat 3: Nolan1 (2255 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (3790 in chips) 
Seat 5: Card Thief (1730 in chips) 
Seat 6: billie lee (710 in chips) 
Seat 7: james9994 (1420 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (2010 in chips) 
j.jaworski: posts small blind 75
dmartinez: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [9d 9s]
Nolan1: calls 150
TheMadMadman: raises 450 to 600
Card Thief: folds 
billie lee: folds 
james9994: folds 
j.jaworski: folds 
dmartinez: calls 450
Nolan1: calls 450
*** FLOP *** [8d 3s 3h]
dmartinez: checks 
Nolan1: checks 
TheMadMadman: bets 600
dmartinez: raises 385 to 985 and is all-in
Nolan1: folds 
TheMadMadman: calls 385
*** TURN *** [8d 3s 3h] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [8d 3s 3h Tc] [Ts]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dmartinez: shows [Jd Ac] (two pair, Tens and Threes)
TheMadMadman: shows [9d 9s] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
TheMadMadman collected 3845 from  pot
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3845 | Rake 0 
Board [8d 3s 3h Tc Ts]
Seat 2: dmartinez (big blind) showed [Jd Ac] and lost with two pair, Tens and 
Threes
Seat 3: Nolan1 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: TheMadMadman showed [9d 9s] and won (3845) with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 5: Card Thief folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: billie lee folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: james9994 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: j.jaworski (small blind) folded before Flop

I can possibly see dmartinez staying for the flop, I can't figure out why he would raise me after the flop. Again I was happy to take his money. Three hands later and this comes up:

Code:

*********** # 27 **************
PokerStars Game #402449498: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level V 
(75/150) - 2004/04/24 - 01:40:46 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 3: Nolan1 (1580 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (6050 in chips) 
Seat 5: Card Thief (1580 in chips) 
Seat 6: billie lee (1645 in chips) 
Seat 7: james9994 (710 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (1935 in chips) 
Card Thief: posts small blind 75
billie lee: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Ad 9c]
james9994: folds 
j.jaworski: folds 
Nolan1: folds 
TheMadMadman: calls 150
Card Thief: calls 75
billie lee: checks 
*** FLOP *** [9h 4d 2c]
Card Thief: bets 150
billie lee: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 450 to 600
Card Thief: calls 450
*** TURN *** [9h 4d 2c] [4h]
Card Thief: bets 150
TheMadMadman: calls 150
*** RIVER *** [9h 4d 2c 4h] [7s]
Card Thief: bets 600
TheMadMadman: calls 600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Card Thief: shows [Ts 9s] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
TheMadMadman: shows [Ad 9c] (two pair, Nines and Fours - Ace kicker)
TheMadMadman collected 3150 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3150 | Rake 0 
Board [9h 4d 2c 4h 7s]
Seat 3: Nolan1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (button) showed [Ad 9c] and won (3150) with two pair, Nines 
and Fours
Seat 5: Card Thief (small blind) showed [Ts 9s] and lost with two pair, Nines 
and Fours
Seat 6: billie lee (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: james9994 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: j.jaworski folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Again I can't quit figure out the thinking behind Card Thief's betting. I wasn't really paying attention to how much he had left, otherwise I would have taken him out. As it was, he ended up with 80 chips left and went out on the next hand. Four hands later and I get another killer hand:

Code:

*********** # 31 **************
PokerStars Game #402452480: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level V 
(75/150) - 2004/04/24 - 01:42:57 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: Nolan1 (1730 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (7700 in chips) 
Seat 6: billie lee (1420 in chips) 
Seat 7: james9994 (1240 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (1410 in chips) 
Nolan1: posts small blind 75
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Ac Jc]
billie lee: folds 
james9994: folds 
j.jaworski: folds 
Nolan1: calls 75
TheMadMadman: raises 450 to 600
Nolan1: calls 450
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ah 5d]
Nolan1: checks 
TheMadMadman: bets 1200
Nolan1: calls 1130 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Jh Ah 5d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ah 5d 6s] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Nolan1: shows [Qc Ad] (a pair of Aces)
TheMadMadman: shows [Ac Jc] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
TheMadMadman collected 3460 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3460 | Rake 0 
Board [Jh Ah 5d 6s 2h]
Seat 3: Nolan1 (small blind) showed [Qc Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Ac Jc] and won (3460) with two pair, 
Aces and Jacks
Seat 6: billie lee folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: james9994 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: j.jaworski (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

After this hand I am sitting with 9430 in chips and none of the other 3 people at the table have more than 1500. Needless to say I was pretty comfortable from that point on and I just had to play smart. Three hands later I kick another person off the table with this:

Code:

*********** # 34 **************
PokerStars Game #402454698: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI 
(100/200) - 2004/04/24 - 01:44:32 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (9430 in chips) 
Seat 6: billie lee (1320 in chips) 
Seat 7: james9994 (640 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (2110 in chips) 
j.jaworski: posts small blind 100
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Ac Tc]
billie lee: raises 400 to 600
james9994: folds 
j.jaworski: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 8830 to 9430 and is all-in
billie lee: calls 720 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5h Kc 7h]
*** TURN *** [5h Kc 7h] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kc 7h 6c] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [Ac Tc] (a pair of Aces)
billie lee: shows [Ah 3c] (a pair of Aces - lower kicker)
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
TheMadMadman collected 2740 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2740 | Rake 0 
Board [5h Kc 7h 6c Ad]
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Ac Tc] and won (2740) with a pair of 
Aces
Seat 6: billie lee showed [Ah 3c] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: james9994 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: j.jaworski (small blind) folded before Flop

Now I am at almost 11k in chips, more than 8k over the second highest player at the table. After that it took about 25 more hands before I could get everyone else out. James went out on the 51st hand and I just under 10k in chips. I went down to a little under 8k on a couple of bad hands, one I made a big preflop raise on AQs, the flop came down 2 clubs and a spade, I bet big on it and j.j raised me 2k and went all in. I decided to fold out right then and there. The next hand I had A4o and j.j had a pair of 2's in the hole, he bet the minimum every round and I stuck with him and nothing came up for me.  I probably should have raised at some point, but  that might have costs me more money. I made most of those losses back the next couple of hands by betting aggressively with pairs. Then this hand came up:

Code:

*********** # 57 **************
PokerStars Game #402467132: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII 
(100/200) - 2004/04/24 - 01:53:18 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (9695 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (3805 in chips) 
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 25
j.jaworski: posts the ante 25
TheMadMadman: posts small blind 100
j.jaworski: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kh 3c]
TheMadMadman said, "sup delt"
TheMadMadman: calls 100
j.jaworski: checks 
*** FLOP *** [2s Js 5d]
j.jaworski: checks 
TheMadMadman: checks 
*** TURN *** [2s Js 5d] [4d]
UD_Delt [observer] said, "Not much. I see you're doing well."
j.jaworski: bets 200
TheMadMadman: calls 200
*** RIVER *** [2s Js 5d 4d] [Kd]
j.jaworski: bets 800
TheMadMadman said, "yeah good cards"
TheMadMadman: raises 8470 to 9270 and is all-in
j.jaworski: calls 2580 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [Kh 3c] (a pair of Kings)
j.jaworski: shows [4c Jh] (two pair, Jacks and Fours)
j.jaworski collected 7610 from  pot
TheMadMadman said, "bah...gh"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7610 | Rake 0 
Board [2s Js 5d 4d Kd]
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (button) (small blind) showed [Kh 3c] and lost with a pair 
of Kings
Seat 8: j.jaworski (big blind) showed [4c Jh] and won (7610) with two pair, 
Jacks and Fours

I got beat there, but I thought it was a pretty good bet. I had the high pair on the board, plus I was trying to bluff him into thinking I had the flush. He made a good call and beat me. For the first time in a long time during that game I was actually behind someone. I ended up getting ahead of him on the very next hand though.  It all ended on the 60th hand:

Code:

*********** # 60 **************
PokerStars Game #402469192: Tournament #1473123, Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII 
(200/400) - 2004/04/24 - 01:54:48 (ET)
Table '1473123 1' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (7540 in chips) 
Seat 8: j.jaworski (5960 in chips) 
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 25
j.jaworski: posts the ante 25
j.jaworski: posts small blind 200
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [9h 8h]
j.jaworski: calls 200
TheMadMadman: checks 
*** FLOP *** [Qh 6s 4h]
TheMadMadman: checks 
j.jaworski: bets 400
TheMadMadman: raises 400 to 800
j.jaworski: raises 4735 to 5535 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 4735
*** TURN *** [Qh 6s 4h] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 6s 4h 7d] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [9h 8h] (a flush, Queen high)
j.jaworski: shows [6h 5s] (two pair, Sevens and Sixes)
TheMadMadman collected 11920 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11920 | Rake 0 
Board [Qh 6s 4h 7d 7h]
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [9h 8h] and won (11920) with a flush, 
Queen high
Seat 8: j.jaworski (button) (small blind) showed [6h 5s] and lost with two pair, 
Sevens and Sixes

I am kind of surprised he went all in on a pair of 6's after I raised him. Of course I called his all in with just the flush draw, so I am not sure who made the bad move there. Thankfully the river actually came down in my favor this time. I am really learning that the river on Poker Stars is a fickle bitch and she generally doesn't like me.

I am just going to start a new post to describe the next tourney. UD_Delt and I played in that one and there are a couple of hands I want to share from it, but this post is already quite long. Here are the stats from this tourney:

60 hands played and saw flop:
 - 8 times out of 14 while in small blind      (57%)
 - 10 times out of 16 while in big blind      (62%)
 - 10 times out of 30 in other positions      (33%)
 - a total of 28 times out of 60      (46%)

 Pots won at showdown - 9 out of 12      (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 12

I still tend to see alot of flops, although I think I am getting much better. Plus I think those stats are a bit inflated because once I get into a 3 or 4 way, I tend to see the flop a lot more than I do for a full table. Often I will pay for junk in a 3 way as the small blind, especially if I am up in chips.

According to Poker Tracker my VIP is 36.58%  (1,238 out of 3,384 hands) , my Saw Flop all Hands is 39.21% (1,327 out of 3,384 hands) and my Saw Flop not A Blind is 27.70% (534 out of 1,928 hands). I have gone to the SD 31.73% (421 out of 1,327 hands) and I have Won $ at SD 47.98% (202 out of 421 hands) and I win $ when I see the flop 39.04% (518 out of 1,327 hands). I am pretty passive pre-flop but very aggressive after the flop, my total aggression is 0.73, so I end up just over passive overall. I really like looking at all these Poker Tracker stats, and I think it is helping me play better.

Alright that is enough babble for this post, see below for my greatest hand of the night.

[Madman]

***** WARNING! ANOTHER LONG POST WITH SEVERAL HAND HISTORIES! *****

Alright now for the tourney that UD_Delt and I played together. I had a lot of trouble at the beginning of the tourney. I couldn't get a good flop when I saw it and if it helped me it ended up helping someone else more.  And naturally I ended up folding a couple of hands preflop that would have ended up winning. I ended up down quite early in the tourney, then I got this hand:

Code:

*********** # 11 **************
PokerStars Game #402490413: Tournament #1473348, Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2004/04/24 - 02:10:58 (ET)
Table '1473348 1' Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: NITROX101 (1730 in chips) 
Seat 2: UD_Delt (1425 in chips) 
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (4020 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (1120 in chips) 
Seat 5: Tertracay (760 in chips) 
Seat 7: LOVINLF (1865 in chips) 
Seat 8: rl49003 (1420 in chips) 
Seat 9: arwyayen (1160 in chips) 
R-R-M-2: posts small blind 15
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [6h Kh]
Tertracay: folds 
LOVINLF: raises 30 to 60
rl49003: folds 
arwyayen: folds 
NITROX101: calls 60
UD_Delt: folds 
R-R-M-2: folds 
TheMadMadman: calls 30
*** FLOP *** [Qs Ks Kc]
TheMadMadman: checks 
LOVINLF: checks 
NITROX101: checks 
*** TURN *** [Qs Ks Kc] [Ts]
TheMadMadman: bets 90
LOVINLF: raises 90 to 180
NITROX101: folds 
arwyayen is disconnected 
TheMadMadman: folds 
LOVINLF collected 375 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 375 | Rake 0 
Board [Qs Ks Kc Ts]
Seat 1: NITROX101 folded on the Turn
Seat 2: UD_Delt (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: Tertracay folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: LOVINLF collected (375)
Seat 8: rl49003 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: arwyayen folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I really really wanted him to show his cards or at least tell me what he had. But he never did, but I had him pegged on the straight, although it could have been the flush. I probably should have bet right after the flop although that probably would have cost me more, since I am sure he would have stayed in even if I had gone all-in. UD_Delt said later that he had the other king on that hand, but I didn't know that until well after the hand.

UD_Delt got beat on a bad hand a few hands later and took over the low chip position and ended up going out with one other person a few hands after that to someone who flopped a straight. I will leave it up to him to post his hands if he wants. A couple hands after he went out, I was in last position again. LOVINLF went out at the 21st hand and 5 people (including myself) were left. I only had 760 chips when LOVINLF went out and was down by 500 chips from the next person. Thankfully, NITROX101 had a complete lapse of judgement and lost his 1260 chips on the 22nd hand. Now it's down to 4 people, I still have 760 chips and am I down by about 1200 chips from the next person. Then comes the 23rd hand:

Code:

*********** # 23 **************
PokerStars Game #402509282: Tournament #1473348, Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2004/04/24 - 02:26:05 (ET)
Table '1473348 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (7860 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (760 in chips) 
Seat 5: Tertracay (1925 in chips) 
Seat 8: rl49003 (2955 in chips) 
TheMadMadman: posts small blind 25
Tertracay: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [9d Ah]
UD_Delt [observer] said, "nice first hand of a $11 S&G and we've got one man out."
rl49003: calls 50
R-R-M-2: folds 
TheMadMadman said, "haha that happened to me earlier"
TheMadMadman: calls 25
Tertracay: checks 
*** FLOP *** [3h As 9s]
TheMadMadman: bets 710 and is all-in
Tertracay: calls 710
rl49003: folds 
*** TURN *** [3h As 9s] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [3h As 9s Ac] [4h]
UD_Delt [observer] said, "nice"
TheMadMadman said, "of course I went out 2 hands earlier"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [9d Ah] (a full house, Aces full of Nines)
Tertracay: shows [Ad 2c] (three of a kind, Aces)
TheMadMadman collected 1570 from  pot
TheMadMadman said, "err 2 hands later"
TheMadMadman said, "thanks del"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1570 | Rake 0 
Board [3h As 9s Ac 4h]
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (small blind) showed [9d Ah] and won (1570) with a full house, Aces full of Nines
Seat 5: Tertracay (big blind) showed [Ad 2c] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 8: rl49003 folded on the Flop

That hand certainly helped me out. I moved into the 3rd position with just over 1500 in chips and felt a little more comfortable. Tertracay went out on the 37th hand when his pocket Q's got busted by an A on the river. Meanwhile, I slid down to around 1200, went back up to around 1900, dropped back down to around 1000 and clawed back to about 1300 when this hand came up (which was my favorite hand of the night):

Code:

*********** # 44 **************
PokerStars Game #402522837: Tournament #1473348, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2004/04/24 - 02:37:48 (ET)
Table '1473348 1' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (8310 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (1320 in chips) 
Seat 8: rl49003 (3870 in chips) 
R-R-M-2: posts small blind 75
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Td 7d]
rl49003: raises 150 to 300
R-R-M-2: calls 225
TheMadMadman: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [7h 7s 7c]
R-R-M-2: bets 150
TheMadMadman: raises 300 to 450
rl49003: raises 300 to 750
R-R-M-2: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 270 to 1020 and is all-in
rl49003: calls 270
TheMadMadman said, "oops"
UD_Delt [observer] said, "nice!"
*** TURN *** [7h 7s 7c] [9c]
TheMadMadman said, "thanks"
*** RIVER *** [7h 7s 7c 9c] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [Td 7d] (four of a kind, Sevens)
rl49003: shows [Th Ts] (a full house, Sevens full of Tens)
TheMadMadman collected 3090 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3090 | Rake 0 
Board [7h 7s 7c 9c Qs]
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Td 7d] and won (3090) with four of a kind, Sevens
Seat 8: rl49003 (button) showed [Th Ts] and lost with a full house, Sevens full of Tens

I almost freaked out when I saw that flop. I had almost folded preflop and the only reason I stayed in was because it was a weak raise,  I was suited and I was already in for the big blind. I didn't want to go all in right off the bat but when rl reraised me I knew I had him. It is probably a good thing that nobody could see my face, I am not sure I would have been able to hold in the giant shit eating grin when I saw the flop. After that hand I kind of hovered between 2500-3500 chips, I would go down a little then get someone to fold out after putting in some extra money into the pot. 51 hands later I managed to break  rl with this:

Code:

*********** # 95 **************
PokerStars Game #402545704: Tournament #1473348, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2004/04/24 - 02:58:37 (ET)
Table '1473348 1' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (7335 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (3765 in chips) 
Seat 8: rl49003 (2400 in chips) 
R-R-M-2: posts the ante 25
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 25
rl49003: posts the ante 25
R-R-M-2: posts small blind 100
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [8c 8d]
rl49003: calls 200
R-R-M-2: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 600 to 800
rl49003: raises 1575 to 2375 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 1575
*** FLOP *** [2h 6c 6h]
*** TURN *** [2h 6c 6h] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [2h 6c 6h Qd] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [8c 8d] (two pair, Eights and Sixes)
rl49003: shows [Ts Ks] (a pair of Sixes)
TheMadMadman said, "gg"
TheMadMadman collected 4925 from  pot
rl49003 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4925 | Rake 0 
Board [2h 6c 6h Qd Jc]
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [8c 8d] and won (4925) with two pair, Eights and Sixes
Seat 8: rl49003 (button) showed [Ts Ks] and lost with a pair of Sixes

Now I was only about 1k chips behind R-R, but got busted 3 hands by this hand:

Code:

*********** # 98 **************
PokerStars Game #402547743: Tournament #1473348, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2004/04/24 - 03:00:03 (ET)
Table '1473348 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (7660 in chips) 
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (5840 in chips) 
R-R-M-2: posts the ante 25
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 25
R-R-M-2: posts small blind 100
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 200
TheMadMadman said, "hah...I wanted to see the Kc come up"
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [5d 4h]
R-R-M-2: calls 100
TheMadMadman: checks 
*** FLOP *** [4c Jc Ac]
TheMadMadman: checks 
R-R-M-2: bets 200
TheMadMadman: calls 200
*** TURN *** [4c Jc Ac] [Th]
TheMadMadman: checks 
R-R-M-2 is disconnected 
R-R-M-2 is connected 
R-R-M-2: checks 
*** RIVER *** [4c Jc Ac Th] [4s]
TheMadMadman: bets 400
R-R-M-2: raises 400 to 800
TheMadMadman: raises 4615 to 5415 and is all-in
R-R-M-2: calls 4615
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [5d 4h] (three of a kind, Fours)
R-R-M-2: shows [2c 3c] (a flush, Ace high)
R-R-M-2 collected 11680 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11680 | Rake 0 
Board [4c Jc Ac Th 4s]
Seat 3: R-R-M-2 (button) (small blind) showed [2c 3c] and won (11680) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [5d 4h] and lost with three of a kind, Fours

I can only say bravo to R-R for that hand, I never would have suspected him of holding the flush. He had been doing the 200 bets after the flop a lot, so I didn't think anything of it. I probably should have been more careful when he raised me on the turn, but I figured he only had 2 pair.

Well that is about it for my adventurous night of poker. I think I played pretty damn good tonight, which thankfully made up for the completely shitty hands I had earlier that afternoon.

I am constantly amazed at some of the hands people call in on, especially if there has been a preflop raise. Even at my loosest, before I started concentrating more and playing better, I wouldn't call half the crap I see people play. Of course it is even more amazing that a lot of times that crap they play ends up paying off that time. I guess that is a good thing since it makes them play that crap more often and eventually it will catch up with them. I mean who in the hell plays something like 84o after a 150-300 preflop raise? I can possibly see limping in on that, but I wouldn't do it very often and I certainly wouldn't call a preflop raise, even if it was only 20 chips. Hell I fold stuff like K3o and 78o, even when there isn't a preflop raise, but maybe I am just playing too passively preflop.

So UD_Delt, how do you think I did?

[Madman]

***** WARNING! YET ANOTHER LONG POST WITH HAND HISTORIES! ******

Muhahahaha! I decided to play a $2+0 (rebuys and one add-on) WSOP satellite for a shot at a seat at the $30+3 (rebuys and one add-on) WSOP qualifier. After registration the top 51 people out of 267 entries got to go to the $33 table.

I bought in for the 2 bucks and then immediately got a rebuy. I swear I got almost nothing but junk in the hole for pretty much the whole tournament, maybe I was playing too tight preflop. On the 19th hand, about 10 minutes before the break I got this hand:

Code:

*********** # 19 **************
PokerStars Game #402837284: Tournament #1434725, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2004/04/24 - 10:51:39 (ET)
Table '1434725 4' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: IOUZIP_1 (1835 in chips) 
Seat 2: BCNZ (1385 in chips) 
Seat 3: maq2000 (4275 in chips) 
Seat 4: madswede (2345 in chips) 
Seat 5: taurusgal54 (4615 in chips) 
Seat 6: RaisinRay23 (2450 in chips) 
Seat 7: cibol (1600 in chips) 
Seat 8: twohighstixx (620 in chips) 
Seat 9: TheMadMadman (2470 in chips) 
madswede: posts small blind 75
taurusgal54: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [6d Ad]
RaisinRay23: folds 
cibol: folds 
twohighstixx: folds 
TheMadMadman: calls 150
IOUZIP_1: folds 
BCNZ: calls 150
maq2000: folds 
madswede: calls 75
taurusgal54: raises 450 to 600
TheMadMadman: calls 450
BCNZ: calls 450
madswede: calls 450
*** FLOP *** [Kd 5s Qd]
madswede: checks 
taurusgal54: bets 600
TheMadMadman: raises 900 to 1500
BCNZ: folds 
madswede: folds 
taurusgal54: calls 900
*** TURN *** [Kd 5s Qd] [7h]
taurusgal54: bets 600
TheMadMadman: calls 370 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Kd 5s Qd 7h] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
taurusgal54: shows [9c As] (high card Ace)
TheMadMadman: shows [6d Ad] (a flush, Ace high)
TheMadMadman collected 6140 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6140 | Rake 0 
Board [Kd 5s Qd 7h Jd]
Seat 1: IOUZIP_1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: BCNZ folded on the Flop
Seat 3: maq2000 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: madswede (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: taurusgal54 (big blind) showed [9c As] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 6: RaisinRay23 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: cibol folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: twohighstixx folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: TheMadMadman showed [6d Ad] and won (6140) with a flush, Ace high

I figured I had to take the chance there. I was mostly playing for fun, so if I had gone out that hand I wouldn't have bothered to rebuy and just moved on. Thankfully that gamble paid off and I was set for a while. I ended up buying the add-on of 1500 more chips at the first break and was sitting on just under 7k in chips after the break. I lost 1k when I made a big preflop raise that didn't pan out for me. I made that back when I ended up with a higher kicker a few hands later and then another 1k or so when I landed a flop on the turn and nobody went after it.

There were a few hands I probably should have played, including an A7d that I folded after someone raised about 3k preflop. I thought it was over when I got sucked out on this hand:

Code:

*********** # 47 **************
PokerStars Game #402863292: Tournament #1434725, Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2004/04/24 - 11:23:51 (ET)
Table '1434725 38' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: witchypoo (16936 in chips) 
Seat 2: COOLBREZ (20206 in chips) 
Seat 3: "kid"lucky (11123 in chips) 
Seat 4: brett66 (3180 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: Vahrus (3703 in chips) 
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (8822 in chips) 
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (6515 in chips) 
Seat 8: Ken irv (4590 in chips) 
Seat 9: maq2000 (5065 in chips) 
witchypoo: posts the ante 50
COOLBREZ: posts the ante 50
"kid"lucky: posts the ante 50
brett66: posts the ante 50
Vahrus: posts the ante 50
Tzitzifies: posts the ante 50
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 50
Ken irv: posts the ante 50
maq2000: posts the ante 50
TheMadMadman: posts small blind 400
Ken irv: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [3s Kd]
maq2000: folds 
witchypoo: folds 
COOLBREZ: calls 800
"kid"lucky: folds 
brett66: folds 
Vahrus: folds 
Tzitzifies: folds 
TheMadMadman: calls 400
Ken irv: checks 
*** FLOP *** [Qh 4h 5c]
TheMadMadman: checks 
Ken irv: checks 
COOLBREZ: checks 
*** TURN *** [Qh 4h 5c] [4c]
TheMadMadman: bets 1600
Ken irv: folds 
COOLBREZ: raises 1600 to 3200
TheMadMadman: calls 1600
*** RIVER *** [Qh 4h 5c 4c] [8c]
TheMadMadman: checks 
COOLBREZ: checks 
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [3s Kd] (a pair of Fours)
COOLBREZ: shows [4d Ah] (three of a kind, Fours)
COOLBREZ collected 9250 from  pot
TheMadMadman said, "nh"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9250 | Rake 0 
Board [Qh 4h 5c 4c 8c]
Seat 1: witchypoo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: COOLBREZ showed [4d Ah] and won (9250) with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 3: "kid"lucky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: brett66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Vahrus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (small blind) showed [3s Kd] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 8: Ken irv (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 9: maq2000 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I was left with about 2500 in chips after that hand and we were on $50 antes and 400/800 blinds. I had to make a call soon, I passed up a couple of suited hands that people made raises on preflop before it got to me. Finally I ended up as the big blind and decided to just go for it on this hand:

Code:

*********** # 54 **************
PokerStars Game #402867991: Tournament #1434725, Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (600/1200) - 2004/04/24 - 11:29:41 (ET)
Table '1434725 38' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: vikjv40 (6200 in chips) 
Seat 2: COOLBREZ (21366 in chips) 
Seat 3: "kid"lucky (7683 in chips) 
Seat 4: brett66 (930 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: Vahrus (3853 in chips) 
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (11432 in chips) 
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (2065 in chips) 
Seat 8: Ken irv (7155 in chips) 
Seat 9: maq2000 (11970 in chips) 
vikjv40: posts the ante 75
COOLBREZ: posts the ante 75
"kid"lucky: posts the ante 75
brett66: posts the ante 75
Vahrus: posts the ante 75
Tzitzifies: posts the ante 75
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 75
Ken irv: posts the ante 75
maq2000: posts the ante 75
Tzitzifies: posts small blind 600
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [4c 3c]
Ken irv: folds 
maq2000: folds 
vikjv40: folds 
COOLBREZ: calls 1200
"kid"lucky: folds 
brett66: folds 
Vahrus: folds 
Tzitzifies: calls 600
TheMadMadman: raises 790 to 1990 and is all-in
COOLBREZ: calls 790
Tzitzifies: calls 790
*** FLOP *** [3s 2s 8s]
Tzitzifies: checks 
COOLBREZ: checks 
*** TURN *** [3s 2s 8s] [8d]
Tzitzifies: checks 
COOLBREZ: checks 
*** RIVER *** [3s 2s 8s 8d] [5h]
Tzitzifies: checks 
COOLBREZ: checks 
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tzitzifies: shows [Ad 7c] (a pair of Eights)
TheMadMadman: shows [4c 3c] (two pair, Eights and Threes)
COOLBREZ: mucks hand 
TheMadMadman collected 6645 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6645 | Rake 0 
Board [3s 2s 8s 8d 5h]
Seat 1: vikjv40 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: COOLBREZ mucked [Kc 9d] - a pair of Eights
Seat 3: "kid"lucky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: brett66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Vahrus (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (small blind) showed [Ad 7c] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [4c 3c] and won (6645) with two pair, Eights and Threes
Seat 8: Ken irv folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: maq2000 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I couldn't believe I won that hand, it gave me about 6600 in chips. I normally wouldn't have bet that hand, but since I was already in for 1200 big blind and the small blind would be hitting me next, I decided to go all in. Two hands later and this came up, I did NOT mean to fold on it, but I hit accidently tapped my mouse as it was over the fold box and it checked it:

Code:

*********** # 56 **************
PokerStars Game #402869181: Tournament #1434725, Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (1000/2000) - 2004/04/24 - 11:31:06 (ET)
Table '1434725 38' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: vikjv40 (6050 in chips) 
Seat 2: COOLBREZ (19226 in chips) 
Seat 3: "kid"lucky (7533 in chips) 
Seat 4: brett66 (780 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: Vahrus (6178 in chips) 
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (9292 in chips) 
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (5970 in chips) 
Seat 8: Ken irv (5805 in chips) 
Seat 9: maq2000 (11820 in chips) 
vikjv40: posts the ante 100
COOLBREZ: posts the ante 100
"kid"lucky: posts the ante 100
brett66: posts the ante 100
Vahrus: posts the ante 100
Tzitzifies: posts the ante 100
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 100
Ken irv: posts the ante 100
maq2000: posts the ante 100
Ken irv: posts small blind 1000
maq2000: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Qs 7h]
vikjv40: folds 
COOLBREZ: folds 
"kid"lucky: folds 
brett66: folds 
Vahrus: folds 
Tzitzifies: calls 2000
TheMadMadman: folds 
Ken irv: folds 
maq2000: checks 
*** FLOP *** [Qh Qc 7s]
maq2000: checks 
Tzitzifies: bets 2000
maq2000: folds 
Tzitzifies collected 5900 from  pot
Tzitzifies: doesn't show hand 
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5900 | Rake 0 
Board [Qh Qc 7s]
Seat 1: vikjv40 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: COOLBREZ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: "kid"lucky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: brett66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Vahrus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Tzitzifies collected (5900)
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Ken irv (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: maq2000 (big blind) folded on the Flop

I really was going to play that hand, although I had been folding similiar hands before. I had decided to just play the first semi-decent hand I got and hope for the best. I really wish I hadn't accidently checked the fold box because I would have made a killing. I got another semi-decent hand 5 hands later:

Code:

*********** # 61 **************
PokerStars Game #402872071: Tournament #1434725, Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (1000/2000) - 2004/04/24 - 11:34:34 (ET)
Table '1434725 38' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: vikjv40 (6450 in chips) 
Seat 2: COOLBREZ (15726 in chips) 
Seat 4: skogis (10120 in chips) 
Seat 5: Vahrus (15411 in chips) 
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (12692 in chips) 
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (5470 in chips) 
Seat 8: Ken irv (4305 in chips) 
Seat 9: maq2000 (12220 in chips) 
vikjv40: posts the ante 100
COOLBREZ: posts the ante 100
skogis: posts the ante 100
Vahrus: posts the ante 100
Tzitzifies: posts the ante 100
TheMadMadman: posts the ante 100
Ken irv: posts the ante 100
maq2000: posts the ante 100
Tzitzifies: posts small blind 1000
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kc 7c]
Ken irv: raises 2205 to 4205 and is all-in
maq2000: folds 
vikjv40: folds 
COOLBREZ: folds 
skogis: folds 
Vahrus: calls 4205
Tzitzifies: calls 3205
TheMadMadman: raises 1165 to 5370 and is all-in
Vahrus: calls 1165
Tzitzifies: calls 1165
*** FLOP *** [6d Js 7d]
Tzitzifies: checks 
Vahrus: bets 9941 and is all-in
Tzitzifies: folds 
*** TURN *** [6d Js 7d] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [6d Js 7d 7h] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheMadMadman: shows [Kc 7c] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Vahrus: shows [Ks Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
TheMadMadman collected 3495 from side pot
Ken irv: shows [As Kd] (a pair of Sevens)
TheMadMadman collected 17620 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21115 Main pot 17620. Side pot 3495. | Rake 0 
Board [6d Js 7d 7h 9s]
Seat 1: vikjv40 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: COOLBREZ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: skogis folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Vahrus (button) showed [Ks Jc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
Seat 6: Tzitzifies (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Kc 7c] and won (21115) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 8: Ken irv showed [As Kd] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 9: maq2000 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I was all excited when I saw the flop, after all I had gotten a pair. Then Vahrus bet big after the flop and when Tzitzifies folded, I figured it was over since Vahrus was showing a pair of Jacks. I couldn't believe it when the other 7 came down on the turn. After that hand there was probably about 20 or so open spots before we got into the qualifier. So all I had to do was just cruise from there and I would be set. I lost a little because of the 6k blinds, but then I managed to win about 15k when someone with 1k left didn't want to go out because there was only about 2 or 3 spots left to go. I ended the tournament with a little under 25k in chips and a seat at the $33 dollar table. I am currently thinking about whether I should do a rebuy and an add on during the $33 tourney. I do have the money from my winnings while playing SnG's, I think I would still be a little over my original $100 deposit if I did one rebuy and one add on, so I probably will do it just for fun. And if I play well, hell I might go to the WSOP! (keep dreaming buddy!)

You can tell I was getting crap in the hole and that I was playing really tight by looking at the stats for the tournament:

75 hands played and saw flop:
 - 4 times out of 10 while in small blind      (40%)
 - 4 times out of 9 while in big blind      (44%)
 - 8 times out of 56 in other positions      (14%)
 - a total of 16 times out of 75      (21%)

 Pots won at showdown - 6 out of 8      (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

I really couldn't believe I how much crap I was getting. A lot of it was stuff I would normally limp in with, but people kept raising like mad preflop so I would end up folding it.

[Madman]

Bah! I went out quickly. I really hate people who win playing bad poker, well I suppose one of them was a good call, but I honestly don't know what some of these fuckers are playing on.

I don't know what the fuck I have to do to tell these assholes I have a pocket pair. Check out the two hands that busted me:

Code:

*********** # 8 **************
PokerStars Game #403123498: Tournament #1434670, Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2004/04/24 - 15:06:21 (ET)
Table '1434670 17' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: wez99 (1390 in chips) 
Seat 2: ury_ace (1480 in chips) 
Seat 3: Belhodgio (1330 in chips) 
Seat 4: barnsey (1430 in chips) 
Seat 5: Pirum (2980 in chips) 
Seat 6: TheMadMadman (3300 in chips) 
Seat 7: Dirt McGirt (240 in chips) 
Seat 8: Grasshopper1 (2880 in chips) 
Seat 9: bobblehead (1360 in chips) 
Pirum: posts small blind 10
TheMadMadman: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kd Kh]
Dirt McGirt: folds 
Grasshopper1: calls 20
bobblehead: folds 
wez99: folds 
ury_ace: folds 
Belhodgio: folds 
barnsey: folds 
Pirum: raises 120 to 140
TheMadMadman: raises 220 to 360
Grasshopper1: folds 
Pirum: calls 220
*** FLOP *** [6c Qd 2d]
Pirum: checks 
TheMadMadman: bets 200
Pirum: raises 2420 to 2620 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 2420
*** TURN *** [6c Qd 2d] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [6c Qd 2d 6h] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pirum: shows [Kc 6d] (three of a kind, Sixes)
TheMadMadman: shows [Kd Kh] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
Pirum collected 5980 from  pot
ury_ace re-buys and receives 1500 chips for $30.00
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5980 | Rake 0 
Board [6c Qd 2d 6h 4s]
Seat 1: wez99 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ury_ace folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Belhodgio folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: barnsey (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Pirum (small blind) showed [Kc 6d] and won (5980) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 6: TheMadMadman (big blind) showed [Kd Kh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Sixes
Seat 7: Dirt McGirt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Grasshopper1 folded before Flop
Seat 9: bobblehead folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Thats the first one, I can't fucking believe he went all in on a pair of 6's, and I really can't fucking believe that another 6 came down on the turn.  Normally pocket kings are gold for me. That hand caused me to rebuy, which I had planned on doing anyway. Then a few hands later, I get this:

Code:

*********** # 29 **************
PokerStars Game #403154711: Tournament #1434670, Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2004/04/24 - 15:27:14 (ET)
Table '1434670 17' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: wez99 (1485 in chips) 
Seat 2: ury_ace (2505 in chips) 
Seat 3: Belhodgio (1935 in chips) 
Seat 4: barnsey (1495 in chips) 
Seat 5: Pirum (5665 in chips) 
Seat 6: TheMadMadman (1390 in chips) 
Seat 7: Dirt McGirt (870 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 8: Grasshopper1 (3370 in chips) 
Seat 9: bobblehead (3675 in chips) 
Grasshopper1: posts small blind 15
bobblehead: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [9c 9d]
wez99: folds 
ury_ace: folds 
Belhodgio: folds 
barnsey: raises 180 to 210
Pirum: folds 
TheMadMadman: raises 240 to 450
Dirt McGirt: folds 
Grasshopper1: folds 
bobblehead: folds 
barnsey: raises 1045 to 1495 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 940 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Ad Ks Jd]
*** TURN *** [Ad Ks Jd] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Ad Ks Jd Qc] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
barnsey: shows [Qs As] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
TheMadMadman: shows [9c 9d] (a pair of Nines)
barnsey collected 2825 from  pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2825 | Rake 0 
Board [Ad Ks Jd Qc 4s]
Seat 1: wez99 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ury_ace folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Belhodgio folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: barnsey showed [Qs As] and won (2825) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 5: Pirum folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: TheMadMadman showed [9c 9d] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 7: Dirt McGirt (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Grasshopper1 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: bobblehead (big blind) folded before Flop

Now I suppose that was a good bet by barnsey, but could the flop come down any worse for me. It's almost amazing, whenever I bet hard people stay in, even with crap and end up beating me. However, whenever someone else bets hard they fold like a cheap fucking suit. I went out of the tourney at 244 out of 281, but I should have been sitting on a comfortable amount of chips.

[Rasix]

Nice hands there.  I'll comment in general on a couple of them.

A bit ago I was watching the 2003 WSOP when they decided to feature the table with Moneymaker and Chan at it.  They made the comment "never go all in on a draw" or maybe it was "never call all-in on a draw".  Sound advice either way.  Chan didn't think so and went all in on the last hand of the day on a flush draw and got booted.

Unless you really have a metric shitton of outs, it's just bad odds and bad poker IMO.  Gus Hansen would disagree I'm sure, but I think he plays bad poker.

On the last hand, I really don't understand betting that agressively with a low pair. You're just beat by so much.  It just seems like you're putting a down payment on flopping a set.  I mean really, you're a slight statistical favorite, but that's about it. I've seen this work for some people and other people just end up with egg on their face.  It's funny when someone goes banzai with their pocket 7's and the person calling them was holding a pair of kings.

Anyhow, you look like a solid player and one that'd probably beat me pretty badly heads up.  You just seem to make some iffy calls on draws and put too much stock in low pairs.

I can't wait till mid May when I can finally start playing again. Getting married plus finishing out my degree is really giving me no time to play.

[Madman]

I'll agree with you on the last hand, that was me trying to be aggressive. I was trying to double up with a pocket pair, if there had been less people on the table I probably wouldn't have gone for it.  But you don't know how many times I have seen lower pocket pairs survive something like AK,AQ,KQ, etc. Sometimes I think the cards are out to get me because it will let players I consider bad to win those low pocket pairs, but generally when I try it the cards shoot me down hard.

I'd think I agree with you that I am a solid player, so thanks. I will also agree with you that I still tend to make some iffy calls and I do like low pocket pairs a little too much. I just have to remember to think before I make bets and play smart, when I do that then I usually end up doing a good job. When I try to be too agreessive I end up getting burned most of the time.

[Pig Destroyer]

Good grief yesterday was a rollercoaster.

I started out the day really well, placing first in 2 $5+$1 Sit N Gos.  Then played excellent at my 2 $.50/$1 tables to bring myself up to $400 total bankroll(I started out with $300).

I decided to take a break and watch some TV for a bit.  I went out with some friends and came back just in time to enter a $20 + $2 multi table tourney.  I got destroyed, then attempted to make up for the lost entry fee by playing $.50/$1 upon which I ended at $342 total bankroll.  I was mighty pissed, I had top pair Ace kicker hands beaten by 52o twice in 5 minutes.  

I was on tilt like you wouldn't believe.  I decided to watch a movie and come back to it, played in one $5 + $1 Sit N Go which I by all rights should have won, but, finished third in.  That put me at $352 total.  Then it was bedtime.

I had some amazing swings yesterday.  I hope like hell that I can control my emotions while I am at the tables in Vegas this summer.  There were a few times when I would have been thrown out of any casino for the shit I was screaming at my monitor.

Pocket 8s are my new favorite hand, on my 2nd Sit N Go yesterday, in the first hand, I got pocket 8s, and I raised preflop, the flop came 10 10 8.  There is nothing quite like flopping a boat.  I bet out about 200 chips, and some guy raises it to 500 so I pushed all in and I get him and one more to call!  My boat ended up being good against K 10o and 45d???  Tripled up on the first hand, not too shabby.

I am trying like hell to do this the right way, which is work my way up from $.50/$1 to $1/$2 by winning the extra $300 I need to have a 300x BB bankroll.  My goal is to have a sufficent $3/$6 bankroll by the time I go to Vegas in July.  Wish me luck.

[UD_Delt]

I'd rather block that tourney we played together out of my head...

I only played 3 hands before going out. The first hand I missed the flop.

Second hand I played Q10s, flop came down Q4x rainbow. Turn was another 4, river was a 10. I mistakenly figured no one for a 4 and that my two pair would be good. Got shown Q4 for the full house.

After that I was left with only about 350 in chips and said screw it and went all-in with K10s. I got 4 callers and figured I was screwed. Flop came 6-9-K or something similar and there was some hope. Turned a 10 and had more hope but sure enough someone was playing a 7-8.

So, two hands that I bet hard and lost on two pair both times...

I then played a $11 S&G and made another mistake playing AQs early on. I flopped a Q, raised an EP better, he reraised me all-in and like a fool I called. He of course had KK.

I should have stopped earlier that night. I had a nice little $50 profit after about 3 hours of play. Of course I played another 3 hours after that and gave it all back.

[Madman]

Haha! There is now a way to rank your bad beats. I found it one of SA's poker threads.

http://www.pokersavvy.com/article/badbeat.html#

According to that calculator, that KK pocket pair that got busted by a set of sixes was soulcrushing with a score of 8293. That is a pretty damn bad beat.

[WayAbvPar]

I am running BAD right now. I don't think I am playing too badly; it is just bad beat after bad beat combined with NONE of my draws coming through. Had the following hand yesterday morning as I was waiting for the CoH servers to come up-

I am in the BB with AA (FINALLY), with $1490 after posting the $50 blind. UTG limps, all fold to cutoff, who makes it 300 to go. Button calls $300, small blind folds. With $700 in the pot already, I want to win it right now, so I shove the rest of my stack in. Cutoff calls, and so does the button.

I am PRAYING they both have pocket pairs, since I am a big favorite over any PP. Cutoff turns over QQ, and the button? 55. He called two HUGE raises with 55. To reward his mindbogglingly bad play, a 5 came on the flop and knocked me down to like $200.

There truly is no justice.

[Margalis]

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [Kd Kh]
Dirt McGirt: folds
Grasshopper1: calls 20
bobblehead: folds
wez99: folds
ury_ace: folds
Belhodgio: folds
barnsey: folds
Pirum: raises 120 to 140
TheMadMadman: raises 220 to 360
Grasshopper1: folds
Pirum: calls 220
*** FLOP *** [6c Qd 2d]
Pirum: checks
TheMadMadman: bets 200
Pirum: raises 2420 to 2620 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 2420

My rule again: (I didn't invent it, but whatever) If you are willing to call all-in, you should have gone all-in. (Unless you were trapping with the nuts or close to it)

I would not have made this call unless I knew my opponent was a total idiot. He could easily have a set or 2 pair. Calling off all your money with an overpair...I wouldn't do it.

If you were willing to call all-in you should have bet all-in instead. But...in the end you got unlucky. Against idiots you have to protect your chips. EV isn't as important in tourneys. If you get unlucky once you could be out, but in a cash game you can always grab more chips. I try to avoid all-in situations unless I am the one doing the betting, and I am pretty damn sure I have the best hand or am desperate.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TheMadMadman [9c 9d]
wez99: folds
ury_ace: folds
Belhodgio: folds
barnsey: raises 180 to 210
Pirum: folds
TheMadMadman: raises 240 to 450
Dirt McGirt: folds
Grasshopper1: folds
bobblehead: folds
barnsey: raises 1045 to 1495 and is all-in
TheMadMadman: calls 940 and is all-in

Again, I don't like the call. You are probably a coin-flip at best. (As it turns out, you were) BETTING on a coin flip is a lot different than calling one. If you bet a flip and they fold, great. If not you are still 50/50. If you call it, you are just 50/50. I would have folded or raised all in. That way you can also isolate. With 99 you don't want multiple callers. In 3 way action you will probably have to flop a 9 to win. Again, if you are willing to call all-in just bet all in. Make *him* call on the coin flip.

[Madman]

Meh, I think the KK call was a good bet. After all he went all in on a pair of 6's. With his preflop raise I had him at a mid pair, Ax or garbage like QJ, when he called all in, I was waiting to see the Q pair. I realize he could have had 2 pair, but I didn't think he had it since who the hell raises with Q6? When I saw the pair of 6's I was even happier, that is until the turn when his 3rd 6 came down.

As for the second hand, I was short stacked and had been getting horrible cards, so I decided to go for it. I figured he had Ax and was willing to take the chance on his all in bet. It was a move that could very well have paid off if the flop had come down with rags. That hand I wasn't really upset about except for the fact that it seems like every time I don't want to see cards on the flop those are the exact fucking cards that come up.

I have been totally cold decked the few tourneys and I keep getting the second best hand. And of course when I have the best hand preflop, someone chases their card to the river and manages to pull it off. I went through a run of about 70 hands without getting an ace the hole and only one pocket pair which were 8's that I was forced to fold after the flop. And of course whenever I called in a garbage hand, someone else had a slightly better garbage hand.

[Madman]

I think I just broke my cold deck spell. I decided to play one more tourney after I wrote that last post, and for kicks I made it a $10+1 SnG. I ended up coming in first, which I really needed after losing the past four or five $5+.50 SnG's. I am back up to around 50 bucks over my original deposit. Which isn't too bad considering I just keep playing the $5+.50 SnG's for experience.

This $10+1 SnG, I barely ever missed a flop and I played smart and folded early when I hit it with the second best hand. I avoided chasing draws unless it was checked or the occasional smaller bet. There were a few hands I could have played better of course, but overall I think it was one of my better tourneys. Of course it is a whole lot easier when you catch your flop. It is also easier when the river doesn't screw you 7 out of 10 times (at least thats what it seemed like when I was cold).

[Pig Destroyer]

Got AA cracked in a Sit N Go by a set of 9s that came on the river yesterday.  I was insanely pissed off, as there were 2 callers and I would have tripled up.  As someone else said, there is no justice.