Sit n' Go's and Latest Tourney News

Sit n' Go Madness

I have been testing a few theories as of late, and I am finding some interesting results. I started playing at the lowest level sit n' go's again $5 on bodog (well they do have $1 ones, but that is almost not worth the effort). Well anyway I have cashed 12 out of 24 times with a few $10 tables mixed in, so I am batting 50% at, and I have cashed 8 out of the last 10 at one of poker's lowest levels. This is very interesting to me, as you have good streaks here and there, but I think it means I am playing above the players at my level, every table I sit at for $5 I feel like I am the dominant force at the table whether I have the chip lead or not.

I am seeing things that I didn't see before, I believe that Phil Ivey said it best when he said the way to become a better poker player is to see a lot of hands, and play a lot, this is the only way you will gain the experience of being in just about every type of situation. Here is an example of a change in my thought process.

Hand of Note:
We were 8 handed in a single table sit n' go, I was Dealer everyone folded before me, I folded. The small blind had $627 chips (you start with $1000), and the big blind had $800 in chips and the blinds were at $30/$60. The small blind moved all in for $627, the big blind thought about it for a few seconds and called. The SB turned over A 3 clubs, and the big blind turned over Pocket 8's, now of course the big blind is ahead and hoping that no Ace or flush comes. At this point the 8's are a 66% to 33% advantage over the A 3 which are pretty good odds. Of course an A comes on the flop and the Big Blind now has the short stack at $173.

The Big Blind then complains saying he had a good read, and it was a good call heads up, and the other guy got lucky making a bad play.

Those statements are true, and in the past I would have agreed with him, but he didn't take into account a lot of factors like the fact that Bodog flops a lot of Aces, there was only $90 in the pot before the SB pushed all if you let him win the $60 chips you still have a lead over him, it's early in a 1 table sit n' go there is no need to risk your stack this early, the pot odds were not good, if you got in trouble in the hand you were only left with 2 outs, and several other pieces of information that go into that decision. In that case I would have folded on the simple premise of what I stood to gain was not worth the risk in that situation, some people may say I'm crazy but why would someone push all in to win a measly $60 chips? They don't have a monster, they must have a marginal hand and want to steal the measley pot just let them have it. Remember this is at pokers lowest level, and the reads are much easier IMHO, so I would not have rolled the dice there.

B-House Tourney

There was a tournament at the B-House again, a decent sized one with about 34 participants, and a $25 buy-in as well. I have been having decent success there as of late, I won 2 tourneys and finished with points in most of the events so far this year, the other 2 or 3 times I was the bubble person or close to it. We started with $2500 chips, and I was down to about $800 chips early in the tourney until I made a straight on AT&T to beat her pair of Kings. When it was down to 2 tables I noticed THEBAT had the chip lead, and he knocked out the jackal, I heard a recap of the hand and it sounded like a classic clash between those two. But I eventually made it to the final table, and busted out in 6th place 1 place out of getting points, but I did take home a cash prize. I was satisfied with my play, even though I was a little bit too aggressive in spots, and that contributed to me having $3000 chips at the final table instead of $10000, it only takes a few hands to eat up a decent stack. Nik passed me in points, but I kind of expected her too she is always in the mix and she is defending champion from last year. I can't wait for the next one.

I'm Back just call me Bubble Boy

Ohhh where to begin, it's been a whirlwind past few weeks, 2006 started off with a bang, but let's get into the poker that's what everyone is here for.

B-House Status

After falling short for my bid to be non-B-House family champion I figured out that I need to re-focus myself on the game of poker. Too many things became a distraction as my game was continually improving which ultimately led to my game regressing somewhat. There have been 5 tournaments so far this year at the B-House, I came in 2nd (lost to Rishii he's tough when he has a lot of chips), 6th (Bubble), 1st, 1st, and 5th (Bubble). I am currently in the lead in overall points, I have been playing well, and the cards have fallen my way several times as well, but I feel my game is coming back. What really motivated me is the fact that Quiet Storm, has been doing well, and his poker play has been steadily improving every month, and I have seen it come from him playing poker everyday, when he has a free moment his laptop is open and he's playing. I was like that for a few months in 2005, and that's when I felt my game was at it's best, but the time off makes your game a bit dull. There is a big tourney at the B-House next weekend, I am getting ready for it, I hope to do well.

Who is Bubble Boy

I seriously am going to adopt the nickname Bubble Boy, I have started back playing in tournaments online on almost a daily basis, and the trend seems to be continuing no matter what I seem to do I always finish 1 - 5 spots from cashing, and it's worse than going out first because I have invested several hours of time and effort into getting far and boom just like that I am out. Even at Derby Lane that time, I just couldn't get things to go my way, I seem to be able to muster success at the B-House, but it's always just out of my grasp when I play online, Derby Lane, or Hard Rock.

(Hand of Note)

I played on Ultimate Bet tonight, and I was dealt QQ I was the 3rd person to act before the flop, the blinds were 100 - 200 there were 25 people left top 20 would cash, I had about 5400 chips, the chip leader had about 12000. I raise to 1200 the guy 2 spots to my left has 3400 chips total and he re-raises me to 2400 everyone else folds. In the back of my mind I knew he had AA or KK because everytime you get a pocket pair online it seems that someone else also has a pocket pair sometimes 2 or 3 other people maybe it's a coincidence. I rationalize to myself that it's 2000 more I won't be eliminated if I lose, and if I win I will be in great shape to make the final table, I should have been calculating the pot odds which weren't very favorable at that time. So I call and of course he has AA, and I don't catch a Q.

I then get wittled down to 1200 and get dealt A K diamonds in the big blind, I decide to go for the gusto and steal because there were enough bets in the pot to get me over 2500 if everyone folded and even if someone calls at worst I am up against a pair, as long as it isn't AA or KK I could live with it. I get one caller, and it's the chip leader he has 4 4, I don't catch an A or a K and I go out in 24th place, 4 from the money.

(End Hand of Note)

I know that I could have laid the Queens down and folded my way to the money, but I take a lot from listening to Phil Ivey's interviews, and I never see him waiting around to make the money he is always going for the win. The cards just have not fallen my way in these situations, and I think the tide will turn, I don't want to just finish 15th and say good I got a little bit of money, I want to be able to outplay everyone in the tourney and reach the top, so I don't regret playing the cards the way I did, I played good (not great) poker to get that far, and I just need to work on one part of my game in tournaments and that's accumulating chips early. Well that's all for now.