Home Game TOC 2017 - Bink!

I guess the title of this post is a spoiler alert - but allow me to break down the particulars.

For the third year in a row in my decade old home game, I hosted a January Tournament of Champions in my garage - where winners from the previous years dozen or so tournaments all sit down in a freeroll to play for the season championship and a $1000 prize pool.  Click here for a brief rundown of the day and some pictures.  Read on for a more detailed and poker-centric analysis.

The pool is collected over the course of the year from each regular tournament - 10% of the total entries or $100, whichever amount is smaller.  I stop pulling from each prize pool when we reach 1K, though I still do not pay my own $40 entry so I can buy snacks, cheap trophies and occasional goodies for the players.  In other words - there is ZERO rake on my home game, all funds get back to the players either in cash payouts from the TOC or in Oreo cookies, trophies and small fun stuff.  This, and the fact that the entry is small, makes for a 100% legal and almost 100% drama free home game.

This year there were ten of us.  Or rather, there were supposed to be.  Pepper Street beast P-Money had scheduled a family vacation for the week and obviously couldn't change his plans, especially since he won his seat only a month ago.

This was good and bad news.  Bad as a friend and competitor, good news for my bankroll.  Lately I would have to say that P-Money is for sure my biggest nemesis on the home game felt.  He recently moved from the Valley to Belle (right near the Bike) and has been playing at the Bike a lot more.  His game has shown it, the guy is good.  Money-wise of course I was happy he wasn't there, but as a friend and admirer of his game I felt bad that he had to miss it.

We each started with 25K in chips.  I was the only player among us to have won two tournaments during the year, so I got an extra 5K to start.  In 2015 I had won three tournaments during the year and also managed to take down the TOC, so there was pressure on the returning champ to defend his title!

I'm going to try and remember some hands and action - my memory is a bit foggy after this much time has gone by.  As always on this blog, I try to be as honest as possible about my own play and the play of my opponents.  As the players discussed herein are also all my good friends, I will take pains to avoid any disparaging terms like "fish" or "donkey" or "calling station" or "card rack" or "luck box" (all of these terms by the way certainly apply to me as well on occasion) but I will be absolutely honest about what I think of their play.

If any of you happen to read this - please know I am solely commenting on your play, it has nothing to do with you as a person of course.  Also remember that the person I am most critical of is myself, so you are in good company.

We started at 1pm, it was an absolutely stunning day.  Saturated blue sky and white puffy clouds, like a painting.  After so much rain, it was great to get a brisk and beautiful afternoon.

Everyone was in good spirits and it quickly became evident that this exuberance was translating into a desire to play big pots.  With over 400 big blinds at our disposal and half hour levels and a flatter structure than usual, I was absolutely shocked that the very first hand had a bloated pot.  And the hand after that, and the hand after that.

I would say the table on the whole was well balanced between solid/experienced and softer/less experienced players.  But everyone seemed eager to go to war right off the bat.

Of course, they are all used to my monthly Saturday night tournament which has 20 minute levels  and skips the 250/500, 400/800, 1200/2400 and 4000/8000 levels.  In these events, yes, you have to get involved right away and chip up, as the structure is fast (so I can get upwards of 30 people out of my garage by 1am at the latest) and rapid chip accumulation is essential.

But this event, I am fully aware, is an entirely different beast.  First of all it's a Sit-N-Go, which rewards players for being tight early and super aggressive late by it's very nature.  And second of course, it's a marathon not a sprint.  The structure is designed with 10 people to last about 7-8 hours.  This day it would end in just over 6 hours, which tells you just how aggressive people were.

So I sat and smiled as folks slugged it out.  We took a break after three levels and through the dust I could see a couple of truly short stacks (amazing since our starting chips would still amount to 100 big blinds on level four) and a couple of chip mountain ranges.  My stack had grown, but just by a third or so. Almost all of the chips I gathered were without showdown, mostly on the flop with a simple C-bet.  Occasionally on the turn with a second barrel if I had no show down value.

I confess it is a genuine struggle to remember any specifics on the hands I was involved in at this stage, but I can say with certainty that the first fellow to bust out, Bob, did so by applying his usual strategy engaging in binary mode when determining whether to call pre-flop or not.  Call or fold - regardless of the size of the bet or number of other players in the hand.

Robby, a smart but newer player who is part of our study group, woke up with an overpair at one point and raised it up pre with a 5 or 6x.  A not so great sizing for a tournament as he is basically playing his hand face up and Bob snapped called without hesitation.  I believe he had 86 suited.  He flopped top pair and called off all three streets, even with an Ace turning and a ten hitting the river.  Robby's post flop betting sizes were all correct or close to it, so he dragged a substantial pot at showdown.  Bob's early exit was assured because of his boundless optimism and pervasive feeling of disbelief.

In my opinion he was for sure one of the softer players at the table, but I have played cash with him before and he can be pretty formidable.  Because his supply of chips at our lower stakes are easily replenished, he uses them as tools pretty effectively. His propensity to not believe folks betting into him also makes him sticky (and therefore tilting) and because it's not a tournament he doesn't go away until I kick everyone out.  So I fear him on my left in a cash game, in a tournament - not so much.

The aforementioned Robby would bust out an hour later, after getting tangled up in some big pots and getting the worst of it.  One hand in particular stands out that was especially devastating for him, both chip-wise and emotionally.

Directly to his left was the formidable G-Bone, who was likely the 2nd or 3rd best player at the table besides me of course ha ha ha.  Seriously, G-Bone is a damn good poker player who like me works very hard on his game.  On any given night he can take me to school and everyone else in the garage. We do talk poker together, and I try to be completely transparent as I gain a lot of insight from him.  Sven is my other closest poker confidant, more on him later.

So anyways, Robby three bet, an okay but not great sizing that I thought was too small, from the button after one limper.  This again narrows his range of holdings, as we now have eliminated overpair premiums.  His three bet range in general is narrow to begin with.  We can eliminate medium and lower pairs also as he would never three bet with them.  Also broadway cards are out except for AK or AQ and maybe a suited AJ but probably not.  So based on his sizing and actions alone, we know pretty much what he is holding.  Very likely AK, perhaps AQ, possible but not likely AJ.

G-Bone defended his small blind because he knew both the big blind and original limper were calling, and for the reasons mentioned above no doubt.

I forget the action almost entirely, but I do remember that Robby indeed had AQ and had flopped or turned top pair and G-Bone had flopped a huge draw that improved on the turn and hit on the river for a baby flush.  Robby bet all three streets.  His C-bet was small, his turn bet was quite a bit larger (he had hit the board) and his river bet was again on the small side - indicating a medium strength hand that he felt obligated to bet for value but didn't want to lose too much if he was beat.  I also doubt very much that he considered what he would be called with that he could beat.

In any case, G-Bone thought briefly and of course called with his flush.  Robby was aghast at his "luck" and from that moment on was tilted until his exit.  I remember afterwards he pushed with KK pre-flop with a stack size that was completely wrong for such an action.  Then he declared (I'm para-phrasing) "From now on that's how I'm playing good cards, it's the only way to win with them."

I was a bit surprised to hear this coming from him, though I know he was being a bit faecetous.  We will all have to discuss it for sure at our next strategy group meeting, which at this point is a bit overdue.

Play continued and at this point the next shortest stack was my poker pal and dear friend Sven, who is often a poker mentor to me as I am to him on occasion.  He too was in tilts-ville, brought about (he told me later) by being not just card dead but so card dead that he couldn't come in with two tough and one sticky players on his immediate left.  So we're talking not just a lack of premiums and pairs, but a lack of broadway cards and suited-connectors and suited aces.

With around 50 big blinds effective he three bet me correctly, it was folded to G-Bone who carved out a slightly oversized 4-bet.  I believe it was 4x the three bet, I would've preferred a 2.5x (especially considering what he had) but at any rate I speed-ejected my cards and Sven tanked a bit before flatting.

Now not being in the hand, it was easy for me to deduce that G-Bone had AA or KK.  He was never doing this with any other holding this deep against this particular opponent. (He loathes QQ.)  There were still too many softer targets available at this stage.  Sven told me afterwards that this too was his instinct.  But in the heat of the moment, an ever bloating pot combined with the card-dead-itus strain of tilt that was coursing through his veins - with a safe board he planned to check raise, which would commit him to the hand.  He indeed carried through when the board was all low cards and was forced to call off when G-Bone snap-pushed the CR.

Of course Sven had KK, G-Bone AA.  In my mind, even this deep, this is a bit of a cooler - as both players are aggressive and very capable of bluffing a lot if the opponents and situations are right.  Sven of course was in agony as he rose and said his farewells.  He added half-jokingly "Well, I guess that's all the poker for me in 2017."

So the good news for me (or at least my wallet) was that two solid players had both tilted their way out the door.  The bad news was, there were still several capables remaining.

One of them in particular, James, who has always been a solid player but has lately turned into a bit of a beast, was correctly cranking up the aggression and was bludgeoning the table with well timed aggression.  Raising nearly every time it was open folded to him and following through with good sized c-bets.  Because his sizing was so perfect, 2.5 or less pre and 1/2 pot post, he didn't have to win every pot and yet he still was turning a profit.

I must say, when James played his very first game in the garage he was very green.  He obviously had played poker before, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had never played a no-limit tournament in his life.  I have seen this before in my garage from other folks, and they almost always don't come back or if they do it's for a handful of tournaments over six months and then I never see them again.  I always try to make it super friendly and fun for them and so do my other regulars, but as light and as relaxed as we all usually are - we are unavoidably a very card-focused and sober group.  I have been told more than once "Everyone's cool and all, but you guys are some serious players."

So I was a bit surprised that James showed up for the very next tournament and during a break came to me and asked what book he should read first to get better.  I of course said then what I would still say to an inexperienced player "The tournament poker Bible, Harrington on Hold-em Vol. 1"

So I'm assuming James read it, and took my advice as to what to absorb/apply and what to take with a grain of salt as the game has evolved (even then) significantly since the book was released. I assume this because he showed up a significantly different player and improved every time he came back.  He cashed a bunch that year and yes even took down a tournament, something I had done only rarely at that point.

And so he was solid from then on, cashing fairly regularly, not taking any more down (as the room figured him out a bit, as is always the case) - but holding his own with everyone and gaining immediate respect from all of the vets.

BUT, and this is the point of all this long winded exposition, over the last year James has cranked it up and is now on another level of selective aggression and thoughtful decisions.  He has joined a somewhat elite group of folks at Pepper Street who are capable of opening with any two cards and barreling again and again with air if the need arises.

So, with him on my right - which was good because I didn't get tangled up too often with him and when I did I had position - I was hamstrung a bit with 6 players still remaining as I was reluctant to three bet with several short stacks behind me that I didn't want to call off.

However on literally three separate occasions I woke up with JJ when James had opened to my right. Once I was on the button, once I was small blind and the third time I believe I was the big blind.  The first time he simply let it go.  The second time of course he flat called and I believe I got him to fold the flop or turn as the board missed both of our ranges.  The third time I remember very well because the player on the big blind - Rooster, let it rip with A10 and I of course snapped and my hand held.

Rooster probably has more live poker experience than the rest of the table combined.  He is quite capable of bluffing, and did so with relish early on in the tournament when he seized on an opportunity to get me off my overpair (which he likely had deduced I had since I had been so inactive early on) with a nice and large lead out (or was it a check-raise) on the river with air.  He gleefully showed and I was genuinely impressed but not discouraged as he had position on me and I had no desire to call his oversized bet regardless of whether he had the goods or not when all I had was one pair.  I am all but certain that he never ever bluffs with a bet that size.  Of course if he's reading now he might want to take note ha ha.

5 players remained.  We were paying the top 3 spots, $500, $300 & $200 respectively.  The winner would also get this...

Immediately to my right was Junior - a newer player to my game but a long time regular at G-Bone's.  Junior is a fun player to go against (or tilting if you let him be) because he is for sure an "any two will do" type of guy who enjoys trapping a great deal and also getting into his opponents heads with unorthodox betting patterns and sizes.  I've had a few years to dial in on him, so he is not the scariest opponent for me, but I absolutely respect his game and recognize that what he is doing is not random whatsoever.  There is a method to the madness of a maniac as we know, and if one of them knows what they are doing, they can be deadly.

Immediately to my left was last year's TOC second place finisher Sharon.  She had moved to Chicago a few months after winning her seat - but had used her Southwest flier points to return to Pepper Street to "Win my bracelet this time".  I admired her confidence and my heart was especially warmed that she would go to all of that effort to come play poker with us.

Sharon's game hasn't changed too much since her TOC finish last year.  I might venture to guess that she plays a little more cautiously, which was good for me this time around as she was on my immediate left for the entire tournament.  She folded a ton early, then shifted to a bit more active later - but just a bit.   In general she knows what she is doing, but her monster bet size tells are still present and her tendency to call off with medium strength holdings was once again her undoing this time around.

Between not getting any value with her premiums, yes people tend to fold to 10x pre-flop, and overplaying AK and AQ respectively twice, she had a tough time accumulating chips. With AK she hit top pair but that was it and paid off her opponent who rivered 2 pair.  With AQ she simply didn't fold with Ace high and G-Bone fired two big barrels before finally checking back the river with trips.  I wonder, and I'm sure so did G after she showed her cards, if he could've gotten value on the river.  Probably.

But as is often the case, she did have quite a bit of the run good - which allowed her to gain a sizable stack in one particular hand where she hit runner runner to suck out against Rooster, I think.  I wasn't actually in the garage, I just came back from the bathroom and saw the chip transfer and heard the story.

Her stack got whittled down after that a little bit, when her Ax's failed to connect a few times and she was out-played post flop by G-Bone and James and Junior on separate occasions.  But then she got all of her chips in as a huge favorite against James who couldn't find a fold (and probably should have) to her shove on the flop.  Again, her monster over-bet told everyone what we needed to know, big bet = big hand.  James was dead to 2 cards, one of which spiked immediately on the turn.

So long Sharon, thanks so so much for making the journey.  I was a little sad inside that she didn't make the money, both because I genuinely like her a lot and because I would rather have her to contend with than the three fellows that were remaining.

At this point I got very active, as I had enough chips to maneuver quite a bit after the flop.  I believe G-Bone and James both had me covered initially but by just a little.  Junior was the shortest stack but by no means was he out of it.  However, I picked up super fast that all three of my opponents really, really, REALLY didn't want to walk away empty handed.  The only one who I thought might be a little okay with it was Junior, as he has a lot of gamble in him and is also degenerate enough and savvy enough to know that it was time to get going.

As I raised and barreled and barreled again, my stack grew.  Much to my surprise, even Junior was letting go of his weak and medium strength holdings post-flop and shockingly even pre sometimes.

Occasionally I had the goods, most of the time I did not.  The Matrix was in full view as I knew now was the time to crank it up and get chips.  I was so much in the zone that I truthfully barely noticed when Junior busted.  I believe it was me that did the deed, but honestly, I was so focused that I barely remember that he was gracious and hung out to watch.

I was so oblivious to anything outside the game in fact that I incorrectly first reported him as the third place finisher over on the Pepper Street blog!  James had to e-mail me after the post went up to kindly remind me that it was he that finished third.

Of the three of us it was James who got whittled down the most, as he was very active in opening from the button and I just wasn't having it.  I called just about every single one of his raises, probably with 80% or so of my holdings, and looked for ways to take the lead and the pot.  I also was ruthless from my button.  For an orbit or two after the bubble burst I relaxed just a bit, then when I realized neither James nor G-Bone was going crazy, I resumed the punishment - this time literally not looking at my cards when I was on the button until after the flop.  And sometimes not even then.  Shhhhh...

Again, my mind is a blank when it comes to James' exit.  I know he was pretty short when it happened - and I know I was the one who busted him.  He was happy enough with a $200 prize in a free roll and I made sure to congratulate him and mention how much I think he has improved over the last year or so.

And then there were 2.  Junior was kind enough to snap a couple snaps before leaving - leaving the two gladiators to duke it out.

I kept with my plan right away of raising without looking from the button until after the flop.  But I balanced it, as I know G-Bone would pick up on what I was doing, with looking every third button and if it was in the bottom 20% of hands I would let it go.

I confess I didn't tell the truth on the Pepper Street blog to him - and I've been meaning to tell him face to face, but I didn't pick up any premiums during the entire battle, save for AK once and AQ twice.  The best I got was 99 which I flopped top set with and I was praying G-Bone would catch up and get stacked on the turn or river - but alas he made a nice laydown.  I don't know what he had, but I had been so active I was thinking that if he had any showdown value at all he would call.  But he thought about it, and finally released.  Ergo, it was a good ass laydown.

After hammering and hammering, and yes sometimes getting hammered back and having to release - G-Bone is a good player after all - G-Bone finally dipped down into the danger zone and began to use his stack to rip over the top.  I think he had about 20 big blinds, but regardless, I had him so out-chipped that I knew I would be forced to call pretty soon.   He climbed back out once so he could open with a regular raise.  I of course was defending incredibly wide - folding only with utter garbage which I probably should've been calling with at this point to balance my range entirely.   But soon he dipped back down again - and again I knew I would have to call pretty wide on most rips.

I hemmed and hawed and finally let it go with Q10o and 78 suited respectively.  Then I dragged a few more pots and then he shipped it pre and I looked down at precisely what I didn't want to see, a low pair.  The math told me what I had to do but I didn't like it, even though he wouldn't hurt me that bad if he doubled up - it just meant back to the grind.  I grimaced and called with 55.

He flopped top pair with his broadway cards, I turned a set and that was that.

I finally let my emotions back in and I was elated to have done this two years in a row.  I must say that if I could run and play as well in casinos as I do in my garage, I might actually give this poker thing a serious try as an income supplement. Maybe.

G-Bone was gracious as always in scooping up $300 - I am very much looking forward to attending his game as often as I can.  I owe him a lot for the players, inspirations for hosting and his helping me talk through hands.  He was so gracious that he said I out-played him, maybe so, but really I felt that I just carried the momentum I'd had since the bubble and was lucky enough that it stuck as I imagine we were all pretty card dead.  I felt super happy that I had played so well, but I also realized that all it would've taken for G-Bone, or James or Junior for that matter, to do the same thing I did would be a mini-heater at bubble time.  I have big respect for all of their games.

Speaking of G-Bone's game, did I mention I love it?  It is generally soft, he is for sure the best person who plays there (sorry Junior!) although Sven has been showing up lately ha ha to give us all a run for the money, and on any given night either of them can beat me like a red-headed step child, but I love mixing it up with the rest of his crew.  Most importantly they are all like my gang, which now has a lot of G-Bone's gang in it, extremely cool people.   The only negatives about his place are the distance to travel to get there, which actually is fine with the use of Waze on a Friday night, especially coming back and the super super flat structure (combined with a small prize pool) which means that we don't finish until 1, 2 or sometimes 3 in the morning, often only getting a hundred bucks or so in profit.  But really, I'm complaining about more poker to play and a deeper structure?  Maybe I should slap myself.

Yes,  I should.

Anyways, it was fun pounding this out - but at the moment, believe it or not, I'm pretty much out of things to say except I'm extremely happy with my game right now and I'm really hoping to work hard this year to make it even better, especially in Casinos.

I think one thing that has really helped me in my garage, is that I've told myself that it isn't my job to play super tricky and/or run all over the softer players - it's my job to be a good host, and be kind and gracious no matter what and simply just enjoy myself.  So without the pressure to win, I simply let go and focus on making good decisions and reading my opponents, without a thought to the trophy or the money, which deep down I wouldn't mind at all if someone else were to emerge on top.  The more a variety of people win, the more successful an event the game will be and that matters a whole helluva lot more than forty bucks.

I need to find a way to constructively carry this approach over to casinos.  Let's face it, when I plop down a Benjamin or more to play against complete strangers, I put my war face on and my super competitive juices get flowing.  I enjoy this no doubt, but it does create tension and stress sometimes where their likely shouldn't be.

When I am driving to Commerce or any of the LA card rooms, I always say aloud to myself something like -  "I'm going there to have fun, I'm not going for the money, I'm not going to outmaneuver or beat up on other players.  Just make good decisions."

I really need to take this to heart and try to get into the mental space where I am approaching Hollywood Park like I'm approaching the San Fernando Valley where there are no Casinos.  Where my main goal is to simply enjoy the experience by playing one hand at a time, with little or no thought to payouts and/or climbing the ladder.  Only when I can really envelop myself in this frame of mind, will I have a chance at actually wreaking havoc on a regular basis among the swarthy degenerates of LA and the blinged-out grinders in Vegas.

Tournament report 010917

With the wife and kid off doing Girl Scout business, I set out for the Bike's Quantum Reload 25K Gurantee Saturday tournament.  I arrived a few minutes early, registered, and sat down right as the tournament started.  I try to always register early if I can, and I'm almost always present for the first rounds - there are too many opportunities to chip up early, as this is when a table is likely to be the most full of softer players.

This particular tournament is a double edged sword as far as these things go.  On the one hand it is a TON of poker to play before you even get close to the money.  Typically on the Saturday 25K, the largest of these dailies, it will be 10 hours or more before the bubble bursts.  Then when we are in the money, it's typically a pitiful min-cash for another 2 hours or so before final table time.  The field is also inevitably packed with decent regulars, especially the deeper in the tournament you go.

On the positive side - the price point can't be beat at $60 with a $50 add-on - though the rake approaches 30% after you factor in a 1K chip bonus for $5.  You can also re-enter for each following flight of registration, which increases in price as the afternoon progresses.  I believe these re-entries are juiced as well. This means for the most part it doesn't play like a re-buy event, players can find a fold under pressure.  Sometimes.  Click here for format details.

I also, believe it or not, sometimes really want to play a lot of hands, if I feel that I'm rusty or I have another more important tournament coming up.  In this case there's the LAPC and also my own home game's Tournament of Champions next Saturday.  In this regard, there is no better value than the Quantum.

In the spirit of improving my game, I planned to work on staying focused, upbeat, patient, optimistic and most importantly - to remain oblivious and neutral to any anger that might come my way for the way I was playing.

It is a real thing at the poker table, a weird kind of entitlement that players have that no one is supposed to raise their blind.  And if they do, they aren't supposed to keep doing it.  Well I'm sorry, if I think it's profitable to target you, I'm going to target you.  If you are a soft spot at a table full of sharks, I'm going out of my way to get into a pot with you.  Players also get angry if you appear to be doing this.

I have had a difficult time over the years cultivating a fearless attitude towards players potential anger.  At times I have literally thought to myself, 'Okay I already 3 bet this guy and got away with it, I think I'll just call or fold so he doesn't get all worked up.'   That mental attitude, the attitude of gracious conciliation, is a terrible one to have at the poker table.  I have to be utterly fearless and ruthless with my chips - while of course being pleasant, kind and affable in my behavior.

With my add-on that I got as soon as I sat down, I was at over 100 big blinds to start, and I'm happy to say after two 2 hour levels I still had over 100 bigs at the break and had quadrupled my stack.

That's right, hour long levels - in a $60 tournament.  It remains this way for six hours, to allow people to keep registering.  If you are looking to get experience in live tournament poker quick, this is for sure one of the best options in the country.

Shortly after the break I found myself in a hand with a super friendly older gentleman who had struck me as the very best kind of country fellow.  I found myself limping on the button with a low suited gapper, and he led out on the flop QKJ rainbow.  The three other limpers in the pot folded and I flat called.  A blank rolled off on the turn and he checked.  I carved out a half pot sized bet and put it forward, he called rather quickly - a good indicator of a hand of medium strength.  The flop had for sure hit his range, but I was hoping it wasn't top two pair.

The river was also inconsequential, he checked and I bombed it with a 3/4 size pot bet.  He grimaced and groaned, took a minute and finally said "I think you have me" and slid his cards forward.  I dragged a sizable pot (which also had 3 extra big blinds not to mention all the antes).  There is a reasonable chance he had 2 pair, but more likely the hand was AK, AQ or AJ.  Older home game players who have played a TON are savvy enough to not want to stack off with just top pair.  I was fairly proud of myself for formulating a plan (I'm never counting on hitting the board with low speculative cards) and sticking to it.  GG me.

Literally 2 hands later a different older fellow who was fairly tight, also to my left, opened for 5x UTG +1  I was in the hijack.  Such a large open is not unusual in this tournament, even in the later stages, but it does raise the possibility that we are looking at a strong over pair.  I had JJ and my plan was to flat and set mine, but when the one caller to my right was a seasoned regular in the cutoff, I decided to push - about 75 big blinds, to get rid of him (he had been speculating a ton in position).

I ripped, the raiser insta-pushed his chips in (about 30 big blinds).  I knew that he had AA, KK or maybe QQ.  Best case scenario AK, but his range had likely narrowed past that based on the blur that his chips became as they were shoved past the betting line.

It came around to the capable regular who sighed and tanked for about 30 seconds before he announced 'Call'.  Fuck.  He had me covered, I had about 2/3 of his stack size.

Disregard that I called him capable.  He turned up KQo.  The speedy shover had AA of course.

Turned a Jack and boated up on the river.  Ship it.

I like my isolation for a chance to go heads up and drag 30 bigs.  Absolutely horrific call by the regular, though he did stay in the tournament for awhile longer as he was able to grind his remaining chips back up a bit.

What I don't like about my move is that the initial raiser has a super tight opening range from early position.  He opened large, which is also an indicator.   Oh well, it worked out.  I think a better line would've been to flat in position and hope to flop a set and release if I didn't.

Now I was back up over 100 bigs.

I took a hit a little bit later from the player directly on my right, a younger fellow that I've played with before.  He's from Jersey and sounds like it, but he's nice enough.  Lol.  He told me he was strong with his big bet on the river, but I tanked a bit and called with marginal showdown value.  I should've known that he was betting for value, and I also should've remembered that he opens very wide in position.  His cards were low but suited and he connected well with the flop and improved on the river.

We were just past the second break, over four hours into the tournament when this took place.  Believe it or not, people were still calling very wide despite a lot of over raising pre-flop.  I had been card dead for awhile and figured I could flat a 4x on the button since there were 4 or 5 limpers and the blinds.

I had Ah6h, the blinds came along and the board flopped 6x6.  Both of the regulars I mentioned previously were in the hand and the one that called with KQ earlier donked. The other regular immediately to his left and my right raised it up!  There were a ton of chips out there at this point, I waited a beat or two and then pushed.

KQ guy tanked for a bit, and finally released.  The guy on my immediate right grumbled about being pot committed (he wasn't) and threw the rest of his chips in.  I had him covered by a bit but not a lot.
He turned up KK.  Another case of emotions getting the better of an every-day player.  A clear fold in a vacuum.

So now I had an ass-load of chips as we approached the end of registration.  I was one of only two players at my table that had been there since noon.  The other fellow was down at the other end, and he was a very loose passive player who had rivered himself into a big stack several times.  We were about even in chips for a lot of the tournament.

Sadly, almost all of the players who now surrounded me were decent or better players.  There was still a fair amount of limping, but 3 bets and squeezes started to appear more and more frequently.  I took a few stabs in position, but typically I would get 3 or 4 callers and completely whiff the flop, so I didn't c-bet a whole lot.

It's tough to make things happen when you are card dead and at a table full of every-days.   After registration closed and we took a 20 minute dinner break, 6 hours into the tournament and most likely about half way to the finish line, I took a few small hits, but also dragged some pots.   I tweeted after the dinner break that I had 135 big blinds, this was a math mistake - I realized after the tweet I was closer to 70 bigs, having doubled my calculation for whatever reason.    Still 70 bigs is a lot, well above average, and I was able to keep my head above water as the levels sped up from 55 minutes to 25.

Finally, much to my relief, our table broke.  The loose passive fellow had found the raise button and I have to say I didn't think much of how he got his initial chips, but I was impressed with how he used them.   Needless to say he made everyone's life difficult at the table, including mine, as he was limping into every pot and then outplaying people post with an aggressive mix of bluffs (that he eagerly showed whether they worked or not) and value betting.

But alas, my new table had the two tournament chip leaders sitting right next to each other and immediately on my left.  Sucky sucky.

They were fearless and super active, and without cards I had basically zero hope of getting involved with them, so I didn't bother.   I shut it down as the bubble approached, and enjoyed the show of them stealing pot after pot.  When we got to three 9 handed tables bubble safety was proposed (only 24 would get paid) and much to his credit, the biggest of the two stacks said 'Absolutely not.  I have to use the bubble as long as I can so I have the best shot at getting in the top 3.'  I really admired this, though it was easier to do so being a mid-size stack that was in very little danger of busting.

There was a ton of grumbling and some berating ("We are going to chop anyways, why deny three people their chance to break even?')  They did have a point, but I've come to realize, the game is filled with people who make a living on the felt - and as long as someone is friendly (as he was) and has a very good reason (he absolutely did) I don't think other players should say much about it.

The floor eventually stepped in and put the kibosh on the grousing.  And we played on.

The bubble period lasted another hour and a half.

I was so inactive, not by choice, that I got whittled down quite a bit.  I was around 30 bigs when the bubble finally burst.  I really didn't want to walk away with nothing after 10 hours of play, so I'm happy enough with my decision to play it safe - though I wouldn't hesitate to get my chips in with 10's or better, AK and AQ as well, especially against the aggros.

With a guaranteed payout of $275 I then set my sights on climbing the ladder.  I was utterly card dead, at the worst time of course, but I did manage to make one jump to $385 by the time my 4 1/2 big blinds stack finally got called by one of my shoves.  Me 99, he 66 and another 6 on the river of course.

All in all I'm very happy with my play.  I can't help but feel a little disappointed that I was unable to make any maneuvers against the big stack bullies on my left.  I just didn't have the gumption that close to the money after so many hours.  I'll give myself a pass for this - I'd much rather have almost 4 Benjamin''s in my bank roll than not.

I am eagerly looking forward to my TOC - the field has a couple of very good players, but the rest I should be able to handle.  I doubt I'll get another tournament in before that, but you never know.

The devil wins! (For now...)

Okay so with poker on my mind and my mind on poker, I've scheduled my first Vegas bender in over a year - outside of the WSOP of course.

I will be descending on the city of sin on the third weekend in March, just in time for one of the biggest gambling events in the city every year - NCAA Basketball tournament madness!  The first weekend of this annual frenzy of degeneracy is always by far the biggest, and as of this writing I have locked up a free Southwest flight, a reasonably priced room at Harrah's and a likely unnecessary car rental.

All told I've spent just under $600 so far, for four days and fabulous nights of poker goodness.  Looking at my tentative tournament schedule - I am likely to drop another $600 or so in entry fees.  The goal of this trip will be to recover that $1200 and hopefully notch a win big enough to go far beyond that amount.   I think I stand a very good chance of the trip paying for itself and a decent chance for a profit above and beyond that.

My plan of attack is centered at the north end of the strip.  I am staying away from the larger rooms like Aria, Venetian and Wynn, and their better structured tournaments because these events are typically loaded with Vegas regulars who are just as seasoned as their SoCal counterparts.

I have my sights set squarely on smaller buy in events that are likely to be loaded with drunken sports bettors.  I am avoiding the south strip rooms that have absolutely horrific tournament structures - Luxor, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay among others, and instead seeking out the rooms with only slightly terrible structures - T.I., Mirage and Caesar's.

The reason I'm slumming it, is because this is where the fish hopefully will be congregated, and be extra frenzied thanks to the big basketball games exploding everywhere.

I am hoping that the Mirage lives up to the nickname I gave it a long while ago - the timewarp. At it's best, the Mirage really is like journeying back to 2005, when players had narrow opening ranges even in late position, often folded to c-bets and defended their big blind 20% of the time instead of 80%.

And as for T.I. - Treasure Island, the later it is at night, the better it gets.  The drunken revelry can sometimes cross the line from amusing to exasperating, but in either case, there is lots of chips to be had at the expense of the intoxicated throng.  A very well run and most of the time fun room.  The have recently added more starting chips, which is great for fish who like to speculate early and tighten up later - I will be doing the opposite of course.

And finally Caesar's.  They have changed venues, from a completely closed off and expansive old school poker palace to a more typical smaller and open ended smoke catcher.  Having never played there before, I will have to see if I can stand it first before I commit to more than one tournament. If the room is enough to my liking, I will be sure to enjoy the slightly better than garbage structures and the usually fishy clientele.

Currently I have one compadre committed to joining me, A8Fold from back in the day (search this blog for Flatline and you'll get who he is).  Another Pepper St. regular has also said he will come along, Andrew the mack daddy who is a growing and smart poker player as well as one of my favorite 'new' people in my garage.   Hopefully they will both be able to follow through with their declarations and hopefully others will come along as well.

It should be a grand old time; in the meanwhile I have incentive to get a bit more active here at home with Casino play.  I have a home game tomorrow night, a single table tournament in my garage, but hopefully I can also find time to throw down in the LAPC this month or if not, at least partake in some dailies at the Bike or HPC.

The Road to Vegas Baby!

Ok so after a bit of thought I figured out that I don't want to waste time for the first half of this year playing for a Main Event seat in 2018.

Instead we will have a mini-series of Step 1 satellite tournaments, aimed at giving away as many $1500 bracelet event seats as possible.  Details can be found by clicking here.

Hopefully I will get at least 6 committed players besides myself and this will happen - by May we will have about a $2500 prize pool with this minimal amount of players, which will be enough to send two of us to the WSOP (one in a $1500 seat, the other in a 1K).

Of course there's a chance I may get 10 players or so - in which case we'll have over 3K to split among two players for two $1500 seats.

And let's not forget that there's a bigger chance that I won't get the minimal number of players I need - in which case I'm just going to cancel the whole thing which would suck and give me a lot less incentive to try again for the Main Event down the road.

ANYWAYS...

Thought I would post a little update on my home game satellite aspirations here and then also reflect on my own game as it stands in January of 2017.

Truthfully, I think I've regressed just a bit over the last six months or so - despite taking down two of my own tournaments in September and October and scoring $2600 at Hollywood Park in July.  This regression simply comes from playing less - I feel much less sharp and dialed in to 'the matrix' when I'm not playing every week.

This is okay, and I'm glad I can articulate this feeling here - because I definitely feel something's amiss lately when I'm at the table.  I'm either being far too tight to start, or I'm getting impatient when my stack get's down to 30 bigs or so.   Of course I always feel that I'm catching cards when I'm deep and utterly card dead when it's time to get it in for a double up.

Part of me feels like I should resolve to play more tournaments in 2017, and another part of me feels resigned to simply playing less and losing my edge in card rooms.  I still feel very capable in my own garage against most opponents that I've played with for years and (no disrespect intended) do not study or work on their games much if at all.

Part of my malaise / disinterest I can attribute to the medication I'm on (see here for the post about this) and yet I still get periodic hot flashes of desire to refocus and bear down again in pursuit of getting better and more comfortable with casino daily's and larger events.

Realistically, I don't think I will be able (or want) to return to playing every weekend.  With that in mind, I think I have to remember to go easier on myself when it comes to my results, especially in casinos.  I really believe that the very best way to get substantially better at poker, is to play poker all of the time.   While sometimes this seems like it would be a fun time, usually I understand that this would be dreadful - turning something I love into a job would be a very bad idea.

Still, as I pine for big results, I really can't and don't want to put in the work that is going to get me there, that is - playing every day or most days.  The second option then is to increase my study time, in the form of videos, books, live instruction and/or chatting with my poker compatriots like we did  in our first cabal meeting.

Cranking up the study time is something that I think is very achievable - but I have to temper my enthusiasm for the results that will come from this.  No doubt I will improve, but it simply won't be the level of improvement that playing full time (or even playing several evenings a week) would bring.  And this is okay.

So right now I'm on the lookout for another WSOP Academy type experience, the kind that I had two years ago.  Truthfully, that workshop was a great investment that I believe did indeed elevate my game to the next level.  I would love to do another immersion weekend of that nature.  Both the WSOP and the WPT have discontinued their poker instruction seminars of old, they now both run alternate versions that are much more infrequent, though no less expensive.   I will have to keep my ears and eyes open for an opportunity to sign up for something like this.

The other study option is the Cabal - I don't want to let this go by the wayside, as I think our first meeting last year was a very worthy endeavor.  I will have to reschedule again soon - this time I think I will aim for a weeknight and make it 7 to 10 or so.  I hope I get a similar turnout as the first time.

And finally there is a third study option - enrolling in a video training course.  I have tried most of them at one time or another.   I would say the one that helped my game the most was Tournament Poker Edge, specifically watching videos by the site leader Big Dog Pocket 5s - he was, and is, a great example to see how a successful maniac does his thing on the felt and most importantly his banter is entertaining.  Eventually I got tired of paying every month to watch only one or two videos, and moved on.

Other sights I was less enamored of, CardRunners and DeucesCracked both had some use but their instructors were much drier than Big Dog and really their sites amounedt to little more than watching other guys play and trying to stay awake as they drone on about hand ranges and equity.  Run It Once was more of the same thing, and quite a bit more expensive to get access to the top tier instructors.  All three of these sights were also less interesting to me because they emphasized cash game play and their tournament videos were far and few between.

Two video courses that I tried many years apart had very different approaches.  The WSOP Academy video poker school I took in 2010 (I think) was entertaining and somewhat helpful.  What I loved is that it was a curriculum that had a beginning, middle and end - it was like taking a live seminar but at my own pace and over several weeks.  Doug Polk's upswing poker that I took just last year has a similar approach and I was able to get through the bulk of the course rather quickly.

The two problems with these sights, WSOP Academy was run by old school instructors who gave old school advice which wasn't always the best.  Annie Duke's stuff was good fundamentals, but nothing earth shattering.  Phil Hellmuth's lectures were very outdated on the content.

Doug's site was pretty great, but unfortunately it was and I presume still is rather light on content.  I was done in a month and a half - and then the only option after that is to watch Doug play heads up or short handed cash games once a week on his new video posts.  Again, not really what I am playing - full ring tournament poker.  Thankfully Doug is very active in posting free videos, he is quite entertaining and his poker advice is fairly awesome, even though he doesn't focus on tournaments.

Right now I have my eyeballs set on a site called the poker academy .com which is run by Rep Porter, a two time bracelet winner with over 2.5 million in tournament earnings.  The thing that appeals to me about his course is that it places an emphasis on tournaments and the videos are reasonably watchable and again, are a full curriculum instead of simply watching someone play poker and commenting as he goes.

The stumbling blocks to me enrolling are the price (all told $500 for the full course) and my time.  I enjoy watching his free 7 minute snippets, and suspect there is great stuff beyond them, but the actual full course is literally 25 hours of video.  I don't know if I can sustain an interest.  I suppose I will if I pay for the entire course at once.   We will see.

Beyond this increased study time, I will have to wait and see if I push myself at all to play more this year.  I am for sure excited to get back to the WSOP again, so that's good I suppose.  I would be super enthused to sneak in a mini-Vegas bender before that in February, if I had been playing more recently and felt sharp about my game.  Right now, as I said, I don't feel super great about my game - so Vegas is unlikely to happen.

In the linked post above where I reveal that I am medicated and talk about how my priorities in life are now in the right order - and I do still believe that, but  confess I do still day dream about a deep run and a big score, but I know it is unlikely to materialize if I don't play more often.

It is a bit of a dilemma - but I have to let fate take it's course I suppose.  If I really want a 5 figure score or more, I have to play more - there is no short cut, I have to do the work.  And at the same time, I can't imagine ever going back to playing 100 tournaments a year like I did from 2010 to 2014.

At this moment as I type this, my heart is winning out over my brain - I am pumped to play cards this Friday night in my garage, and I am looking at the newly released LAPC schedule for the perfect event that I can register for that doesn't conflict with work or family obligations.   So yes, I guess right now - I'm old Chris.  Probably tomorrow I'll be less enthusiastic Chris, but who knows.  It appears that this will be an ongoing battle, I just have to remember that deep down one of these forces is a little angel and the other is a little devil, both perched on my shoulders.

Only time will tell which one will win out.