WPBT - PokerStars Event

109 people played tonight. I finished in the money. I took 16th place. I played at the same tables as Iggy all night. He's kicking butt as I type. I had alot of fun. Let's see who wins!

Full Tilt Freeroll

Since Paul's in Vegas right now hanging out with Grubby and Senor, I had to sub for him today in the WSoP freeroll on Full Tilt. There were 1,427 people in it and only one seat to the Main Event. Not the best odds plus I was a little nervous playing under Paul's Full Tilt account (lol). I played tight early but got aggressive when I needed to. I won alot of races and coin flips. I played for 3 hours or so and finished in 53rd place.

I won a big hand with KQ vs KJ. JJ killed me again. I lost a decent sized pot with it to AK. I'm going to stop playing that damn hand. A little later, I got raised out of a pot preflop with QJo and would've flopped the broadway straight. The pot was huge too. Damn. My KJ took a big pot from AJ. I moved all in preflop. I was on the button and the other shortstack called. I had T9,150 by then. AK won a big hand for me and soon I had T16,145 at the break.

I looked at the tourney stats and noticed that the average stack was over T40,000. There was less than 60 people left. I was one of the shortest stacks but I still had over 10 times the BB. The chip leader had over T110,000 and there was a big pack of vultures behind him. Since there was only one seat and no cash prizes, I decided to just move all in preflop whenever I got a pocket pair or Ax. Maybe even Kx in late position. I knew I still had some time or a few more levels before I started to get chipped down but I figured I might as well go for it right now since most people had 4 times as many chips as me. It was pointless to wait any longer. T110,000 chips was a lot to chase down.

I was successful a few times with this strategy but it eventually got me. My last hand was A3s. I was in EP. I pushed and got 2 callers. The button and BB called. They turned over QQ and TT. Ouch. T-8-9 flopped. The turn was a 3. The River was a J. The button won with a straight and KO'd the two of us. 53rd place was mine (or Paul's actually). Oh well. I needed to make a move. I should've been more aggressive early. I had a good time though and gained more experience which is the most important thing sometimes. Paul called a little later while leaving the sports book. Paul and Senor won all their NCAA and NBA bets for the day. They used the Costanza method and it worked!!! I'm sure he'll post about it soon.

I just played in a WSoP satellite on PokerStars and finished in 25th place. There were 728 people in it. So close. My 99 ran into AA. Ouch. Anyway, I'm playing in another WSoP tourney Saturday afternoon. It's a freeroll and I'm subbing for Paul. It's on Full Tilt. Paul's in Vegas right now and won't have time to play. I hope I can have a good showing. Let's see.

Remember . . . there's a blogger tourney this Wednesday on PokerStars courtesy of Iggy. Sign up now! And check out WPBTonline for tourney standings and the overall leader board.

Speed Tourney

Party Poker
1244 players
2.5 hours long
$6220 prize pool
1st place - $1,306.66

I played in a Multi Table Speed tourney last night and almost won it. I took 3rd out of 1244 people. I almost won $1300. It was a crap shoot with the blind structure. I had a chance to win. I folded two hands preflop that would've been winners and the guy who ended up winning the whole thing took both of those hands. Oh well. I was trying to stay away from hands with players who had close to my chip count. I should have been playing to win instead of to place high but trust me, 3rd place wasn't so bad!

Since the blinds went up fast, any pair or high cards was an all in raise. You have to race or get blinded down. I was the chip leader late in the tourney. I didn't even know it because the blinds were so high that even I was all in preflop in the BB. The levels and blinds stopped when we hit Level 26. I think the most chips I had was T627,747 and that was early in Level 25 (40,000/80,000).

In Level 25, I KO'd my entire table on 1 hand with AQo. There were 5 of us left at the table. There were only 9 tables in play. The blinds were so high that everyone was forced all in with any bet. I called the 4 all in bets and flopped a Q. I KO'd everyone and was left alone at my table. I had to wait until the other hands were done. It took a few minutes before they balanced the tables out.


All Alone

It took an hour for the last 25 people to get KO'd. People were stalling like hell. Late in the tourney (Level 26 50,000/10,000), I still had the chip lead with T313,026 and the BB went all in preflop with the Hiltons. He cracked AA and tripled up.

I eventually made it to 3 way action but got blinded down again. I lost when my 56o ran into AA. I lost and finished in 3rd. I took home a decent 3rd place prize but I wanted that $1,306 bad!


Final Standings

Bucknell Wins!

My alma mater upset Kansas in the NCAA tourney Friday night. I can't believe Bucknell won. They upset Kansas 64-63. Truly lucky. I'm still in shock!

And it's Green too . . . .

Happy St. Patrick's Day! At some point today, everyone should hoist up a Guinness for Iggy . . . err St. Patrick! So go get drunk and have some fun because I know that most of NYC right now is completely wasted and it's only the morning. Hell, when I got off the subway to come to work at 8am, I saw a ton of New Yorkers stumbling in and out of the bars already. And I was waiting for a liquid lunch. Boy am I already behind the pack.

The winner is . . . .

Congrats to Royal for winning the WPBT HORSE event last night. Check out his site for a report. I will post my report soon.

WPBT HORSE Event

Full Tilt Poker
March 13, 2005

So I played in the HORSE tourney on Full Tilt. I can't believe I almost missed it too. I finished in 10th place. I'm pretty excited about that. I did much better than I thought I would. I was as high as 4th place at one point. I blew it when I got killed on two Holdem hands in Level 16. I pissed away T20,000+ in chips in that round. Oh well. I had fun. I'll write up more later. Until then, thanks for setting this up Iggy!!! The final table is still going on.

Full Tilt, the World Series, and Razz

I'm in for the HORSE tourney on Full Tilt. I was abled to get some funds transfered to my account. Thanks Paul! It should be fun.

I fired up PokerStars on Saturday night with hopes of playing in a WPT freeroll but quickly realized that I didn't have enough player points. So I signed up for a World Series of Poker multi table tourney instead. It was a $2 Turbo with rebuys and you got T1000 to start. Before the first break, rebuys were unlimited. Rebuys got cut off after the first break. They had one add on too and that could be purchased during the first 5 minute break. I bought in for the $2 fee and people were going crazy from the get go. Everyone was moving all in with the hopes of doubling up. If not, it was REBUY time.

I tripled up early in Level 1 (10/20) with JJ. I had T3130 in chips. After that, I sat tight for awhile and folded almost everything until I got KJo on the button in Level 5 (75/150). I had T2680 at that time. The flop was 9-Q-8. I bet in late position after a check. The guy called and the turn was a 2. He checked and I put him all in. He called and the river was a 4. He had JT and won with a straight. I doubled him up which left me with only T1240 just before the break.

It was REBUY time for me. I rebought in for another T1000 in chips. It was a minute before the break and now I had T2240. I didn't play any more hands. Then during the break I bought the add on for another T1500 in chips. Now I had T3740. In total, I got an extra T2500 in chips with the 2 rebuys. Now it was Level 6 (100/200). People were dropping like flies after the first break. Late in Level 7 (100/200 with 25 antes), I was dealt 33 on the button. I picked up a T2625 pot with this hand when my opponent folded on the river to my late position raise. I had T4600 in chips now.

At the beginning of Level 8 (200/400), I was dealt AA and 55 in back to back hands. I raised preflop each time and took down both pots on the flop with very little resistance. I had T6775 now. Pocket 6's scored me a pot later on in Level 10 (400/800). I needed that after throwing away some chips in Level 9 (stop limping preflop). I was back up to T7050 after getting knocked down to T4050. I got AKo dealt to me in SB. The button raised it up to T3855. He was all in preflop. I pushed and everyone else folded. The button had 99. The flop was 4-3-Q. Turn card was K. The river was a 2. I won T8960. After KO'ing this guy, I had T11,155.

In Level 11 (600/1200), I won a pot with suited connectors and had T13,555. In Level 12 (1000/2000), I got caught trying to make a steal and lost some chips. I had T8580 left when Level 13 (1500/3000) started. So far, I had almost played for an hour and a half. The blinds and antes were high and I and was getting blinded down by now. Level 14 (2000/4000) came and went fast. I was on the bubble. There was less than 220 people left. The tourney finally ended in Level 15 (3000/6000). I had only T3080 in chips at this point. I got lucky and held on. I was one hand from the BB. The last person got KO'd right before it. I finished in the top 203 and got a free seat to the $30 multi. The next multi was an hour away from the end of this tourney. I backed in but I didn't care.


There were 1,035 people in this $2 Turbo. The prize pool was $6,714. There were 1,670 REBUYS and 652 add ons during play. So the top 203 places got a free seat to the $30 WsoP Satellite. I was lucky enough to get one. The winners of the $30 multi get a free seat to the World Series Main Event at the Rio in July.

The $30 tourney had the same rebuy rules as the $2 Turbo only this one wasn't a turbo. There was 747 people playing with $50,520 in prize money. We had 667 REBUYS and 270 add ons in this one. 4 people get to go to the Main Event and the Top 15 get prize money. $11,000 goes to each of the winners of the 4 seats.

We got T1500 to start this one. I played tight early on and nothing big happened. I just folded alot of hands and watched everyone get picked off. I had T1200 when Level 2 was over. Any pocket pairs I got during this time missed the flop. I made a few too many calls in Level 3 and Level 4. I was down to T905 when I got QQ on the button. Two A's hit the flop and I folded to a bet. I had T605 in chips left just before the break. I decided to follow my rebuy strategy from the other tourney. The rebuys were $30 in this one. I spent $66 combined for the two tourneys. The rebuys gave you an extra T1500. I now had T2105. I folded everything until the break came. Then I bought the add on and got another T2000.

I had T4005 when Level 5 (75/150) started. I got KK dealt to me UTG. I raised T500 preflop. The very next guy reraised it up to T1650. Everyone folded to me and I moved all in. I was called rather quickly by a guy who had me covered. I was up against AKo. The board came down 8-7-3-5-7. I won and doubled up. I was 79th out of the 346 left in the tourney when Level 5 ended.

Shortly after Level 6 (100/200) began, I was down to T7410. I got ATs in late position. I called a small raise and 3 people saw the flop. The flop was K-4-T and two of the cards matched my suit. The raiser bet and we both called. The turn card was a T. One check and a bet. I raised all in and everyone folded. I won a T5100 pot with trips. I had T10,410 now and Level 7 (100/200 with antes) was getting under way.

I was doing pretty well so far but then I made a bone head move that cost me the tourney and a seat to the Main Event. I got JJ (death) dealt to me on the button. I was down to T9185 at the start of this hand. I raised preflop T600. The BB reraised it up to T2600. I should've folded. Instead, I went over the top of him and reraised all in. He called with AKs. It was a race and he had me slightly covered. I had a bad feeling and I was right. I made a bad move. I was hoping he had a small pair. The board was 9-A-9-9-K. His full house beat mine. I was KO'd in 280th place out of 747. Damn. That was a really bad move on my part. I don't know what I was thinking. It takes only one mistake and that was it. I blew it. No Main Event, no Rio for me. Oh well, it hurts but I had fun. Next time!

By the way, does anyone else besides me think Razz is the most fun game to play with play money?? I'm definitely loving it!! Sign up for the HORSE tourney now. Thanks Iggy!!

Computer Meltdown . . . . a good thing?

Unfortunately, my computer was acting up all month long. As I said earlier, I had to take my computer in to get fixed. After weeks of dealing with my computer shutting down after 20 or 30 minutes of use, I finally decided to get it looked at. I was sick of getting kicked off tables. The only good thing about the computer problem was that I was able to get out of a bad poker funk. My PartyPoker bankroll was taking a severe beating lately and who knew that having my computer break down would become a blessing in disguise. My bankroll was hurting for a few reasons. Too many SnG's and playing for too long at one table. With my computer problems, cutting down on my playing time was easy. I only had a half hour at best to play. The hit and run method worked and I tripled my bankroll. I realized that I needed to attack the action junkies on the NL 6 max tables if I wanted to make some money. I figured it was the best way to maximize the short amount of time I had. I played for very short stints at each table and found a way to take advantage of the loose play without taking any hits to my stack. I would double up, leave, and move on to another table until my 30 minutes were up. Now I get my computer back and I see PP changed their betting structures and added some more games. Boy did I miss alot.

Back in Black and Out of the Weeds

I've been on a long ass hiatus. My computer was in the shop getting fixed and I was cut off from online poker. Talk about withdrawal. I even started playing video poker games. Now I have my computer back and it's fixed. So much is going on right now. Iggy's holding 2 online tourneys. One is on Full Tilt Poker. It's a HORSE tourney for $5. Signup for the event. It's being held this Sunday on March 13th at 9pm. Check out his site for more details. I'm not sure if I'll be able to play in this one. I never had a Full Tilt Poker account and since my computer was in the shop for awhile, I'm not sure if I'll be able to set up an account in time for the tourney. We'll see. The other one is a NL tourney on PokerStars on Wednesday, March 30th.

As everyone knows by now, there's another blogger tournament in Las Vegas. CJ set up the whole thing. Another WPBT event! The next live blogger event will be held on Saturday, June 4th at 10am at The Aladdin. The Buy in is $50+. Check out the WPBTonline website for more details. Paul and I already booked our plane tickets and hotel room. BG and Bob are booked as well. Can't wait for this one. It looks like it's going to be bigger this time around. It will be a great opportunity to meet more bloggers. Paul, AlCan'tHang, Eva and I are staying downtown at The Plaza. The big ass party room we got was too good of a deal to pass up. I already started my training for the trip. I got hammered the other night on SoCo shots and didn't make it into work on time. No wonder my boss wants to fire me!

Congrats to Iggy and Hank. As Paul says, buy Poker Tracker Guide. And check out Otis on the EPT blog.