My Bodog Cash (A Closer Look)

My recent results

Contrary to popular belief I haven't been playing as much poker as I would like to lately, there are a myriad of reasons for this that I won't go into. But when I have played I have done well for the most part, I didn't really notice the decent little winning streak I have been on. Here are my last few events and results:

Location & Event               Date           Buy-In         Result
Full Tilt (WSOP Qualifier) - 7/3/2006 - $24 + $2 - 37/191 (No $)
Pokerstars Sit N' Go - 7/6/2006 - $5 + $.50 - 2/9 ($)
Pokerstars Sit N' Go - 7/7/2006 - $5 + $.50 - 5/9 (No $)
Pokerstars Sit N' Go - 7/7/2006 - $5 + $.50 - 1/9 ($)
Pokerstars Sit N' Go - 7/10/2006 - $5 + $.50 - 5/9 (No $)
Pokerstars Sit N' Go - 7/10/2006 - $5 + $.50 - 6/9 (didn't cash)
Full Tilt (WSOP Qualifier) - 7/10/2006 - $24 + $2 - 137/231 (No $)
Live Game (deepstack) - 7/8/2006 - $20.00 - 11/16 (didn't cash)
Live Game - 7/8/2006 - $10.00 - 2/14 ($)
Bodog Multi-Table Tourney - 7/11/2006 - $10 + $1 - 2/162 ($)
Wednesday Home Game - 7/13/2006 - $10 - 3/8 ($)
Wednesday Home Game - 7/13/2006 - $10 - 1/8 ($)

I am batting %50 cash rate for my last 12 games played, which is good for a poker player, I play a lot of 1 table Sit N' Go's, so I don't always cash as big as I would like, but they do give a good ROI if you are fairly consistent. The biggest accomplishment out of this run is my 2nd place finish in the Bodog tournament, it's kind of funny because I had just busted out of another Full Tilt WSOP Qualifier that I didn't play too particularly well in.

I played the Bodog tournament on a whim just to get the bad taste out of my mouth, and it resulted in my biggest cash so far. It's nothing compared to a lot of people I know, but I played well in that tournament for the most part. Of course I got lucky a few times, and I was in a few situations with all my chips in the middle behind needing to catch up and I survived. I made a lot of good reads and plays during the tournament, I stole several big pots when the blinds and antes were huge, and I kept my head above water until I found an opportunity to double up. In my next post I will dissect the Bodog cash a little bit more, but it was kind of funny/Ironic that at the end with my name being "themarksman" I was heads up with a guy named "sniper119".

What do players think?

I believe everything you do in poker should be deliberate, and I truly believe that when you come into a hand there should be some type of reason for it. I see players calling raises UTG with rags, and it really leaves much to the imagination what the purpose is behind the call. Here is an example:

I was playing in a multi table tournament blinds at $200/$400, the player UTG limps the next 3 players fold. I look down to see I decide to raise 3x the big blind to $1200 because the player in 1st position will generally play speculative hands in any spot. Everyone else folds, and the UTG players calls the raise the flop comes he checks I lead out with a bet of $1200 he calls. At this point I am thinking maybe he has a Jack and another Face card, or he is slow playing with a high pocket pair. There are not flush draws, there are no straight draws, the board did pair, but a six is an unlikely holding. The next card is now I have top pair, and he checks I bet $400 he calls, the river came he then bets $2000, and I figure I am beat, but I have to see his cards, so I call and he flips over !!!! I am thinking to myself he called a raise UTG with that hand, what was the logic behind it?

I know what players who do this think, everyone wants to think that they are a great poker player, that they can make plays undetected by most players. A lot of these players make the mistake in thinking that when this play works out that calling with that type of hand will consistently lead to winning. I wonder does this type of player think about the fact that they are a 2 to 1 dog, are out of position, and hold a hand that needs to catch up to most holding to win. I hear a lot of people work under the assumption that calling raises with low cards will give them an advantage since most players raise with high cards, and if the flop is low theywill have the advantage, that may be true and a case can be made to play those cards in a lot of situations.

Think about it let's say a player with low cards catches a piece of the board with a straight draw after calling a raise pre-flop, so they bet out and the other player goes all-in over the top and has said player covered. What does the player do? Their assumption that players only raise with high cards could lead them to ruin if they called her, but they could win the hadn as well if you are holding a pair lower than 7 after the flop, and you have all in in front of you there are a lot of ways for you to lose, even if the player has AK you are a favorite, but can still lose, if the board paired you can lose, of course there are many ways to win as well. My main point is that the decision is much harder when you are put in that situation, if you play it from late position then you have the opportunity to observe the action in front of you and make your decision off of the information you pick up.

I of course am not saying I am gods gift to poker, but I read several articles and noticed myself that a lot of players these days are making crazy plays,a nd when they get lucky and have this workout they tell themselves this is the proper way they should play. There is technically no correct way to play a hand it's all based on odds and risk, if something does not give you favorable odds I don't think you want to do that too often. Just my .02 cents.

The World Series of Poker (Can I make it)

I have played in a few WSOP Qualifiers (smaller events) on Full Tilt and Bodog, these tournaments seem to bring out my best play (except late in the tourney). I played in one memorable one a few months ago, and I finished 19th out of 269 people (the top 4 got a seat).

In that particular tournment I played very good poker early, and when it got later in the tournament I made a few bonehead movies that caused me to exit before I would have liked too. The funny thing about these qualifier type tournaments is that I noticed there is an awful lot of tight play on a lot of the tables. The main reason for this is (I believe) a lot of the people playing can't afford to drop $1500 or $2500 on a tourney, so they try to get in through these qualifiers, and they play like they have thousands on the line. The thing about it is, you have a few of those players who have won seats already and they don't care to be cautious, a lot of these players just roll over the table until one of the rocks wake up with a hand.

I just got knocked out of one about 30 minutes ago, it had 191 players and I finished 35th, I played well once again, and I did a good job of re-raising pre-flop, stealing blinds, and avoiding unfavorable situations. I was above the average chip stack just about the entire tournament, and I was getting annoyed by one player who called my pre-flop raise everytime. But I noticed that if I bet the flop he would go away most of the time, so I learned to not really worry when he called me.

I saw an example of a player (Glazeman) who was too aggressive and just wasn't patient, he was in 2nd place chip wise with about $17000 at the time, the first hand he messed up on was he raised from the button to 3x the BB which was about $600, the SB re-raised over the top all-in for his remaining $3700, I folded. The original raiser thought about it and called showing A 6 off suit, the SB had JJ, the Jacks held.

Then Glazeman had a raiser 4x BB in front of him as well as a caller of that raise, he decides to go over the top all-in. One player folds, the other player calls showing KK, Glazeman shows AQ off suit, the Kings hold, and Glazeman goes down to $1200 chips. In my opinion he took risks that weren't really neccesary in both of those hands, an argument can be made for the A6 call, but it just wasn't neccesary. But he could have easily re-raised with the AQ to allow the other player to define his hand, I am sure if he had KK he would have went over the top, a bet of say $2200 would have been sufficient. But that's just my opinion.

The hand I ended up going out on, I was UTG and I raised 4x the BB with the guy next to me drdraz called, he had a history of calling raises with Ax hands it didn't matter what the kicker was. So being that he just called I figured him for Ax, Kx or something in that range, the flop came I checked because I had a sneaking suspicion that he had AJ, he thought about it for a while and he bet $1300. Now even though I was about 92% certain he had AJ I called anyway, and sure enough he shows , and of course I get eliminated in 35th place.

The first question to myself is "Why did I call??" I knew he had AJ I was almost sure of it, and the funny thing is this isn't an isolated incident. I do a decent job of knowing what a player in a hand is holding against me, but I still hardly ever take the advice, I guess I just have to see the other person's hand to verify if I am correct or not. I don't know what it is, but I do it all of the time especially late in tournaments, it may be related to stamina who knows.

At this point I am going to Vegas, and will be at the WSOP if I am playing in it is an entirely different story. I have to feel like I can go into the tournament and play with confidence, right now I feel I am a little bit above a break even player which is decent I guess, but it's nowhere near where I want to be. I need to play more, hopefully I can qualify for the WSOP and have a chance to play in it cheaply we will just have to see.

The Difference

I was on a nice run for a little while, and it felt good, I have come back to earth a little bit lately. I can noticibly tell that I am no where near as focused as a I should be, the main reason is things have gotten hectic in my real life. With deadlines and high pressure situations it becomes very easy to fall into the trap where you job consumes everything you do, and that's where I have been the past several weeks. I played in a tournament at Hard Rock, and I played ok, but no where near the level I want to be at. This is a concept I refer to as "the difference", because it's where the line is drawn between amateur poker players and professionals. Let's look at my friend Adrian, he started achieving more success after he made the decision to quit his job, and stop going to school (I wouldn't recommend this for everyone of course),but it worked for him. He has the time to spend on poker because it's his job now, so he studies the game, analyzes his stats and plays a lot more, all of that has led to him becoming a much better player.

A lot of people don't have the ability to do that and be successful, in my case I really don't know to be honest. I feel I can be very successful at poker if I did it full time, but for my life it's not conducive at this point. I have to work, therefore work will inevitably interfere with poker from time to time. But on too more poker related things, I need to get out of this bad streak I am in it just seems nothing is going my way, and I am not making good decisions. Here are a few hands I have played during this period of mediocre play.

Hand #1:
Blinds: 25/50
I am UTG with I limp into the pot. Two players call the BB, the flop comes I check, seat 5 folds, seat 7 bets $200, the BB folds, I call thinking he has a K and if I hit my flush I can win a nice sized pot. The next card is a I check (hoping to conceal the flush) Seat 7 bets $200, I call. The River brings I check, and Seat 7 bets $600, I call and he shows and I lose over $1000 chips. This was a total bonehead play on my part, and I paid dearly for it. I was attempting to be crafty, and the minute I do that the ship takes on water and sinks.

Hand #2
I am UTG and I am dealt I decide to limp in order to see a flop and see if I hit a set other wise I figure I would be done with the hand. Clover is to my right in the BB, the jackal is to my immediate left. The Jackal limps, one more player limps, the button raises to $300 (the button player is very tight and easily bet out of pots), the small blind calls, Clover calls, I call, the jackal goes all in for his last $1200 (sqeeze play) everyone folds until it gets to Clover who thinks for a long time and calls (he only called because of the Jackals history of playing garbage), I look down at my hand and know that it's going to be tough to win this pot if I call, but I had over $3300 chips and it was basically $1050 for me to win a pot of over $4000, I knew I was ahead, but they had overs I was sure of it. But I decided to call for the chance to win a huge pot and make me the chip leader.

Clover had me covered, so we had a side pot that could develop. The flop comes:



Clover thinks for a while and just checks, I thought about pushing all-in and hoping Clover would call without hitting his hand and I could have the side pot just in case I lost to the Jackal, but I just checked.

The turn brings:



Clover: Checks
I checked again

The River brings:



Clover: Checks
I check

Clover turns over:


and

The jackal turns over:



So he wins the pot with Trip 7's


These 2 hands are just a few examples of the bad decisions I have been making as of late, I have taken several days off from poker to get my head together. I hope taking a little break will bring the synergy back to my game. Have a Poker tourney tomorrow night, so I am hoping I can start playing better.

Hard Rock Memorial Day Tournament

Since it's Memorial day and I have the day off, I decide to go with my friends to play in the $85 + $15 at our local Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. I decided not to eat anything because I hate playing poker on a full stomach, so we pay sit down and get ready.

The Format
1. 283 Players today
2. 11 Players per table
2. $2500 chips to start
3. 15 Minute Blinds - $25/$50, $50/$100, $75/$150, $100/$200, $200/$400, $300/$600, $400/$800, $500/$1000, $1000/$2000, $2000/$4000
4. Alternates brought in after someone is knocked out no matter what the blind level

The tourney
I started analyzing the players at the table, I don't play tourneys at this place that much mostly just limit games, so I didn't recognize anyone. Naturally they all start to chatter about different things and I start to realize who I should watch for.

I folded for most of the first round because I didn't pick up any hands that weren't utter garbage, and the guy sitting directly to my left raised to $800 on the first hand, he was drunk or something he kept falling asleep and leaning in his seat (FISH).

Early on I noticed that there was very little to no raising it was a limp fest, and people are showing down AA, KK, AK, and other hands that would warrant a raise, but no one is raising.

Key Hand #1:
I am dealt on the Button, and the player in seat 5 had limped into the pot, the blinds were $50/$100 I raise to 4x the BB, and everyone folds except her, she just calls. At this point for some reason I feel I need to make a set to win, she had only played strong hands in the past, so the flop comes (2 clubs), she bets $500, I think for a few seconds and I go over the top of her all-in for another $1950 or so, she thinks for a few and agonizes when she says call and shows , my 9's hold up whew!

After that hand I won a few pots using continuation bets, and I had about $6500 chips which was definitely healthy at that point in the tournament.

Key Hand #2
With the blinds sitting at $100/$200 I have played tight and avoided trouble, and I have built credit at the table. I am dealt in the Cutoff seat, I raise to $600 there were 3 limpers before my raise, every says "crap" and folds except the player directly to my right, he just called. The flop comes , the player to my left checks I bet $600 he CALLS!!!!, the next card is a , he checks I ask him how much he has left and I see he has me covered, I consider pushing him all-in, but I decide against it because from the hands he played before he was content checking the best hand down to the river, but he would call any bet put before him most of the time. If my King held up I would make over $1800, so the hand was checked to the river and he flips over for a split pot.

Then I start to notice that the blinds seem to be creeping up on me, I am sitting around with about $7000 at this point, but the blinds are now $200/$400 things just moved so fast my M at this point is barely above 10 after all of that. Then it happens we lose 3 players from our table and get 3 new players who had been sitting on the rail (this deep in a tourney that's crazy), so they come in and start playing with a new $2500 chip stack, and we are still 11 handed.

A player who had just sat down goes all in on the first hand they played, and was called by another new player the first players sutied loses to . The player who won the hand got AA, KK, JJ, and AK all in a row, and won each time, and was the tournament chip leader within 4 hands. Then she starts to raise every hand causing other players to go all-in, at this point I threw away K Q off suit 2 times, K J one time, and A small a few times, these hands just didn't seem playable in a multiway situation for all of my chips.

So I am wittled down now, to about $4000, and the blinds arent' getting smaller,

Key Hand #3
I am dealt off suit in first position, being that I had been folding and I needed to take a chance on accumulating a few chips to stay ahead of the blinds I decide to limp into the pot with it, that way I could get away from the hand if raised (which I assumed was going to happen), there was 1 caller other than me, and the BB just checked. The flop came 8c 6d 3c, the big blind moved all in for $1600 I had him covered, I contemplated calling, but folded because of the person acting after me and the Gap principle. The other player calls and shows Ac 10c, the BB shows Q 6, the turn is 2d, and the river is Jh, I would have won the hand and knocked out 2 players!!!!

The next 30 mins to an hour of the tourney saw me folding hands because of all-in bets that weren't even heads up, I would have been the 3rd or 4th person coming into the pot in most cases.

I am now wittled down to less than the starting chip amount, and the blinds are now $300/$600, everyone folds to me I look down at I convince myself that I probably have the best hand since it's only the SB and BB left, so I push all-in hoping to steal the blinds and buy some much needed time, and I am called by the BB who shows , he makes a on the flop to crush any hopes of winning the hand, and I am eliminated in 132nd place.

My Mistakes:
1. Not checking the tournament structure before sitting down to play the tournament.

2. Not adjusting to the tournament structure once I realized what it was.

3. Falling into the table culture, and not staying aggressive pre-flop which is my most comfortable way of playing. I limped into too many pots (a bad habit I have picked up lately).

Summary:
I am sure I made more mistakes than that, and of course I couldn't write everything that happened, but hopefully you get the gist of how I was playing, and can analyze my play and comment. I hope to learn from this experience, and get better from it. Thanks.