You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Comments
in the home straight...lol
:-)
dev
I'm very pleased to pass the £500 mark, but I won't consider myself to be half-way until I pass £551. £510 will be another good milestone; that'll be when I've managed to increase my starting balance ten-fold.
Great going! Are these psycological barriers Gary or will you be moving up levels/trying any other games? I guess if it ain't broke, don't try & fix?
I'm now rolled to buy into £11 games, and that's what I plan on doing. Unfortunately very few run during my regular playing hours; the only games are the 2-00pm and 4-00pm Bounty Hunters. The 4-00pm is a bit late for me but I'll buying into the 2-00pm when my work/life/poker schedule allows.
£2.30, £3.30 and £5.75 games will probably still fill up the best part of my poker time as they run more often and at more suitable times.
Closing balance £545.63
There was no repeat of yesterday’s run-good in the 9-45 Bounty Hunter. I started well with an easy double-up off a maniac but it slowly went downhill after that. Twice I got my chips in good against all-in short stacks but couldn’t find a hold. After 80 minutes of play my bust out hand was AT<76s aipf.
The run-good came in the 10-45 instead. I had another promising start, this time with the sweetener of two early head prizes. Life became tougher in level 4 when the runaway chipleader moved to my table and directly to my left. I already had notes on the guy and they were quickly confirmed; he was a tricky opponent playing a high percentage of pots, very aggressive and making light calls. I tightened up my range and waited for a good spot to play a big pot against him. My double came with a combo draw (flush draw and open-ended straight draw) making a flush on the river to crack his flopped two pairs. It was nice to double, though it would have been better if I hadn’t lost a chunk of chips shortly beforehand in a flopped top pair vs flopped set hand against a different player. Within an orbit that former chipleader was out of the game after getting it in with AK on a Q-high flop and running into a player with pocket QQ.
From there I had a bit of a yoyo ride to the final table; initially falling quite short, then making a comeback while busting two other short stacks on the way. Final table play was quite tense to begin with stacks relatively short compared to the blinds and only five spots being paid. Once the bubble went play opened up. I picked my spots carefully and busted the third place finisher to get heads-up with stacks almost level.
In the early HU exchanges nearly all the pots were going my way. My opponent had played very well to that point, though she appeared to be a little inexperienced in heads-up poker and was playing a bit too weak/tight. After a while she became frustrated and switched to a shove/fold preflop game despite effective stacks still being well over 20BB (a reasonable strategy if you feel your opponent has a skill edge). The shoves grew in frequency and she edged into the lead while I waited to pick up a calling hand. It was clear she was shoving a wide range, 50%+ of all hands. Eventually I made the call when I picked up pocket 77. My pair made a crucial hold against her A2s to win me a full double and 80% of the chips in play. It was all over a few hands later when my QT held vs Q9 in another aipf pot.
So, that’s two wins in two days in the £3.30 Bounty Hunters. Happy times, nearly half-way there now.
June poker points 102
6434397 6-Jun-12 13:30 NL Holdem £31/39£48.436434021 6-Jun-12 12:39 NL Holdem £320/48-£3.30
Sickest cooler of the day, quads over quads;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGreb Small blind 40.00 40.00 3531.66 GaryQQQ Big blind 80.00 120.00 3927.50 Your hole cards 9 10 Dave1703 Call 80.00 200.00 10585.00 sainthelen Call 80.00 280.00 786.67 Jeneral Call 80.00 360.00 4449.17 Greb Fold GaryQQQ Check Flop 5 3 3 GaryQQQ Check Dave1703 Check sainthelen Check Jeneral Check Turn J GaryQQQ Check Dave1703 Check sainthelen Bet 80.00 440.00 706.67 Jeneral Call 80.00 520.00 4369.17 GaryQQQ Fold Dave1703 Fold River 5 sainthelen Bet 160.00 680.00 546.67 Jeneral Raise 400.00 1080.00 3969.17 sainthelen All-in 546.67 1626.67 0.00 Jeneral Call 306.67 1933.34 3662.50 sainthelen Show 5 5 Jeneral Show 3 3 sainthelen Win Four 5s 1933.34 1933.34
Yes, I'm fully rolled for the 2-00pm £500 gtd. now and intend to buy-in direct whenever my work/home commitments allow (see my reply to Glenelg question earlier today).
Closing balance £543.05
I decided to alter my usual sleep pattern today so I could participate in this evenings Jagerbomb & Drumahai05 Birthday Tournament. I’ve tried afternoon sleeping several times in the past so I could enter evening events such as the Monday DTD and Rollers (when I’ve won a seat via the League Stars Freeroll). Unfortunately it never really works out; my body clock goes a bit haywire, I’m tired, unable to concentrate and end up playing well below my best. It’s a bit like a typical nine to five worker entering a tournament that starts at 2-00am. However, on this occasion I didn’t want to miss out due to £200 worth of added prizes generously donated by the birthday boys, plus there was the additional incentive of a fun Team51 last longer competition.
On my return from work I jumped in the first tournament going; a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. It was a wild bingo type affair. I got close to the money bubble but the wheels came off when my turned flush lost a big pot to a rivered full house. A few hands later I got it in with flopped nut flush draw, gutshot and overcard and missed all my outs to bust.
Before heading off for an afternoon sleep I played 3 quick micro HU matches and won all 3. That took me past a very pleasing landmark; my account balance at that moment was £551.85. So for the first time I’d gone past the £551 half-way mark with £500.85 of profit. It had taken 151 days to get there. I’m hoping to win the remaining £499.15 a little quicker.
When I woke up and came back online in the evening I registered for the Mini Bounty Hunter as well as the Birthday Tournament. It wasn’t to be my night. An early level 2 set under set cooler cost me half my stack in the Birthday tournament, possible straights and flushes saving me from going broke. From there I recovered to make a deepish run but fell short of the money when I ran AQ into KK in a standard late stages cooler. In the Mini I was going reasonably well until I lost a big pot with my JJ failing to hold against TT aipf in level 7 and couldn't make a comeback.
I thoroughly enjoyed my rare evening session. The birthday tournament in particular was a highly enjoyable game in which I was fortunate to share my tables with many friendly and skilled players. Online poker at its best, win or lose.
My £4.72 May C4P bonus was added to my account balance after yesterday’s entry was posted. I finish the day slightly below the half-way point but very happy with recent progress and in confident mood.
June poker points 111
6439993 8-Jun-12 01:08 NL Holdem £3164/570-£3.306440997 8-Jun-12 00:54 NL Holdem £521/77-£5.506438534 7-Jun-12 15:19 NL Holdem £215/48-£2.306441416 7-Jun-12 14:23 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956441368 7-Jun-12 14:20 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906441253 7-Jun-12 14:07 NL Holdem £11/2£0.95
Closing balance £537.34
After a busy day I didn’t get online until fairly late today and didn't have much time for poker. I registered for the first two MTTs going; the £2.30 Bounty Hunter at 2-15pm and the £5.75 Bounty Hunter at 2-30pm.
In the £2.30 I made a deep run taking two heads on the way. Unfortunately a standard pocket KK bad beat wrecked my chances on the bubble. With 10 left and 8 being paid my EP min-raise induced a shove from AJ on the SB. Unsurprisingly (aipf KK wins for me are super-rare) he binked and I was left with just 3BB. Two hands later I went out with A6<J3 aipf.
In the £5.75 I had a soft starting table but never really picked up the cards to work with. I spent most of the tournament as a short-stack using pre-flop 3-bet shoves and open shoves to maintain my fold equity. Two doubles along the way kept me alive; JJ />AT aipf and a lucky K6 />AK aipf blind vs blind hand. On the bubble I was handcuffed being very short in eighth of nine, the presence of a super short stack on the other table made tight play prudent. Unfortunately when push came to shove he trebled-up to put me in ninth place. Two hands later I got my chips in with A9 v K2, the board ran out xxxKK and I bubbled again.
No worries, that’s poker. I’m very happy with how I played in both tournaments, there was no more I could do in the circumstances. I finished the session with few fast HU STTs for fun.
June poker points 177
6444073 8-Jun-12 17:23 NL Holdem £59/62-£5.756446755 8-Jun-12 17:06 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956446730 8-Jun-12 16:57 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906446683 8-Jun-12 16:51 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056443952 8-Jun-12 16:51 NL Holdem £210/57-£0.616446668 8-Jun-12 16:47 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106446644 8-Jun-12 16:41 NL Holdem £11/2£0.95
i got a question how did u get the volume in on the because i find the 1pound dym are few and far between which is leaving to have to move to the 2pound and 3 pound ones as result. which nearly made me go busto if not for that timed euro 15min bink for 30pound.
did u mix in cash with the dym and tourments? and any suggestion on tourments ? also did u mix in any trip ur money ?
btw good progess (i predict late oct 2012 ur make ur target)
Good luck to you.
Closing balance £529.44
My usual misfortune in £5.75 Bounty Hunters continued with an AK<AQ aipf bust in level 3 of my first MTT today, the dreaded queen hitting on the river.
Next I tried my luck in the 2-00pm £500 gtd. Bounty Hunter, this being the first £11 direct buy-in of the quest. The first hand I played cost me 75% of my stack. I flopped top pair with a good kicker on a dry board against the wrong player; a maniac who frequently bluffs at all three streets post flop according to my notes. In the long run you have to trust your notes and go with your reads, unfortunately it didn’t work out this time and all those at the table probably think I'm a complete donk. He’d flopped bottom set and I found myself down to 500 chips. Three hands later I got my stack in pre-flop with my AQs racing against TT. The AQx flop looked pretty good for my cards. The running hearts on turn and river that gave my opponent a flush did not.
After losing a late stages flip 99<KQo in a £2.30 BH I tried another £5.75 game. This one went a little better than the first though with a run to final table, though ultimately I was very disappointed with a sixth place finish. Going into final table I was second in chips, playing well and hoping for a big result. That was until I was dealt the wretched pocket KK. My big preflop raise over a limper was flatted by the chipleader. He then flatted my c-bet on the ace-high flop and put me all-in on the turn. With almost half my stack in the middle it was a very reluctant, though almost certainly correct fold. Why? This guy wasn't getting out of line, every time I'd seen him make a big move like this he was strong, my table image was solid and I was the only player who could do serious damage to his stack; weighing it all up I'm convinced he had top pair at least, maybe better. An orbit later I found a good squeeze-shove spot over a serial limper with QTs on the button. A player in the blinds made a light call with A8o for most of his stack and I was out.
So my £5.75 Bounty Hunter jinx continues. I’ve had two each of second, third and fourth place finishes so far during this quest and I’m slightly down in these games overall. Hopefully the two overdue first places will follow sooner or later. Maybe pocket KK might even win a few pots on the way.
In the evening I tried the Mini Bounty Hunter. I spent most of the tournament in the top half of the field though without the perk of a head prize. As the blinds grew increasing large and I found myself getting short and in urgent need of a double I jammed my stack in with Q4 on a QTT flop after a terrible player had limped in on my BB. She held a ten of course, she also turned quads just for good measure.
June poker points 220
6449462 10-Jun-12 00:19 NL Holdem £3100/429-£3.306449550 9-Jun-12 19:52 NL Holdem £56/64£16.806449009 9-Jun-12 17:18 NL Holdem £213/42-£0.806448521 9-Jun-12 17:13 NL Holdem £1093/97-£116448618 9-Jun-12 16:49 NL Holdem £224/50-£2.306450331 9-Jun-12 16:39 NL Holdem (Sat) £1.107/7-£1.256451687 9-Jun-12 16:34 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956448323 9-Jun-12 16:11 NL Holdem £558/83-£5.756450321 9-Jun-12 16:07 NL Holdem (Sat) £0.9625/30-£1.056451655 9-Jun-12 16:04 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956451440 9-Jun-12 15:06 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056451434 9-Jun-12 15:01 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056451234 9-Jun-12 14:16 NL Holdem £11/2£0.95
Doing well anyway, just thought I'd come and say hello.
Closing balance £541.97
First up this morning I tried the 9-45 £3.30 and 10-30 £5.75 Bounty Hunters. The weekend bingo players were out in force and play was farcical. We might as well have just had an all-in every hand tournament. Needless to say my numbers didn’t get called this time.
It’s hard to get motivated to play MTTs when they’re expecting them to be luck based shove-fests. Reluctantly I decided to have one more try and registered in another £5.75 game. It started well with my pocket QQ holding against 33 aipf in only the second hand. It was sweet to double off a maniac who’s donked me out of tournaments in the past, though frustrating to miss his head prize by a few chips. After the maniac busted it was pleasing to get a sensible table and my proper game of poker of the day. My hopes rose mid-stages when pocket KK won me a full double against QQ at which point I took the chiplead. On the final table bubble I took my first head prize with JJ />A8 aipf. Going into final table I was joint top, though with only 3 spots to be paid due to the small field size.
Despite a good start to final table during which I built a clear lead I was destined to fall short in a £5.75 once again. With 6 still remaining the eventual winner doubled off me with his A8 cracking my 88 aipf, a pot that would have won me his head prize and made my stack twice as big as anybody else’s. Later coolers included my AQ running QQ on a Q-high flop and my AT v 66 on an AT6 flop, doubling opponents both times. Admittedly I got lucky too with my 77 />QQ aipf on the bubble, so I suppose I can’t complain too much. I took another 2 heads at final table and finished third. My bust-out was a standard cooler; with average stacks at only 17BB I jammed A8s from the button and couldn’t improve against ATo in the BB.
I didn’t have time to commit to any more MTTs and entered a few fun HU STTs to finish off my session. An ill-timed AA<J9o beat in the only £5.25 match cost me victory in that game and a new highest balance in this quest.
June poker points 251
6456802 10-Jun-12 18:46 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956456324 10-Jun-12 17:03 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906456252 10-Jun-12 16:47 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956456178 10-Jun-12 16:29 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056455954 10-Jun-12 16:25 NL Holdem £52/2-£5.256455858 10-Jun-12 16:06 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856456017 10-Jun-12 15:54 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906455975 10-Jun-12 15:48 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956455792 10-Jun-12 15:39 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056453482 10-Jun-12 13:48 NL Holdem £53/27£18.306452829 10-Jun-12 12:34 NL Holdem £523/39-£5.756452604 10-Jun-12 12:21 NL Holdem £316/56-£2.17
Closing balance £535.98
First game today was the 10-45am Bounty Hunter. I went deep but busted close to the money but busted when my pocket pair failed to hold against AK in a standard late stages flip.
Next up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I was going well with two head prizes to my name until my pocket KK curse led to yet another sickening bust. An uber-aggressive maniac whose game I know very well was sat directly to my left. He’d luck-boxed his way to a big chip lead and was bullying the table relentlessly. With a big stack in front he always squeezes over limpers, so I limped behind others with my KK hoping to see the usual raise. He didn’t just raise; he jammed. I snapped him off, his pocket 55 won.
So my £5.75 Bounty Hunter and pocket KK jinxes both continue. The villain in that hand runs so well it’s unbelievable, I was the 33rd of the 54 entrants to exit this tournament, he’d taken 10 of those 33 heads. I’ve seen him busting others in similar fashion time and time again, I’ve been a victim myself several many times before, must be nice.
With nothing else of interest imminent I jumped into a £2.30 game. Unsurprisingly play was loose and wild, after only 25 minutes 19 of the 33 entrants had already busted. I had some terrible players at my table and was at 3x starting stack with 6K at that point despite losing a 3K pot with AA<K5o aipf. From there it went gradually downhill. I was only playing a tight range but the calling stations playing any two cards kept getting there on the river. My second late stages flip of the day also didn’t go my way as I exited with JJ<AQ aipf for a min-cash.
I finished up with a few heads-up games. When it became clear I was running dreadfully in those too I threw in the towel and setttled down to watch the football.
Over the last few days I feel I’ve been playing well but running badly. There’s no more I can do so I’m just going to stay relaxed and continue to play to the best of my ability. When a bit of good runnage comes so will the results.
June poker points 269
6460201 11-Jun-12 16:59 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106460189 11-Jun-12 16:54 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056458195 11-Jun-12 16:47 NL Holdem £25/33£1.426460168 11-Jun-12 16:46 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956459862 11-Jun-12 16:42 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056457687 11-Jun-12 16:27 NL Holdem £524/54-£1.996457445 11-Jun-12 13:05 NL Holdem £38/45-£2.17
I couldn’t get past the maniacs or the calling stations today;PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceManiac Small blind 75.00 75.00 16150.00 conk9 Big blind 150.00 225.00 2955.00 Your hole cards K K i4abluff Call 150.00 375.00 3710.00 otter07 Call 150.00 525.00 5835.00 sugu Fold GaryQQQ Call 150.00 675.00 4790.00 Maniac All-in 16150.00 16825.00 0.00 conk9 Fold i4abluff Fold otter07 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 4790.00 21615.00 0.00 Maniac Unmatched bet 11285.00 10330.00 11285.00 Maniac Show 5 5 GaryQQQ Show K K Flop 5 3 10 Turn 8 River 7 Maniac Win Three 5s 10330.00 21615.00
Closing balance £575.73
First MTT today was the 10-45 Bounty Hunter. An early full house over straight hand gave me a full double and I spent much of the early to mid-stages as one of the bigger stacks. It was to no avail; in the late stages my stack frustratingly dwindled away. Every time I entered a pot the same awful calling station kept getting there on the river. He’d then redistribute my chips to the rest of the table in hands that didn’t involve me. When down to 15BB my bust came when my flopped open-ended straight draw and flush draw couldn’t improve against a player who’d flopped a made flush with his 74s.
Next up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter, a game I was to thoroughly enjoy against a skilled field playing good poker. The bingo players were either at other tables or taking a day off. After losing a few early pots I took a head prize with my flopped set of 5s stacking a player with AK who bluff/shoved on the turn when he was drawing dead. After that I had a long spell card dead, but I still managed to win two biggish pots with junk cards that smashed flops after players limped to my BB. Another head prize followed when I completed behind several limpers from the SB with A3s and made a nut flush to bust a player with a straight. At that point I was going well and second in chips though things went downhill for a while after that. First I lost a large pot to another limper when my Q4o looked good on the AQ4r flop but went behind to his A2 on the river. Soon after that my KJ ended up being second best against K4 on a king high flop. Each time I probably lost the minimum.
Going into final table (and to the bubble with 5 to be paid) I was the shortest stack and took the aggressive approach to avoid losing fold equity. It worked; I managed to double my stack and survive the bubble without a showdown. The final table was very tough with no soft spots and a couple of very strong players. With four left I won a crucial flip with 88>AJ and found myself chipleader for the first time. I then got very lucky with a 3-bet shove; my K7s outdrawing TT to bust the guy who was fourth. A couple of hands later I busted the third place finisher with my pocket QQ and went into heads-up play against the best player at the table. It didn’t go my way, after a tough battle I got second place in rather unpleasant fashion with my ATs losing to KTo aipf, the AQQ flop being followed by a killer J on the turn.
This was my third runner-up finish in a £5.75 to go along with my three third places, yet I’m still waiting for the first win. To be honest I’m not too disappointed at getting second this time. Going into final table as a short stack I was half expecting to bubble, plus I did run well in the 88 vs AJ flip win and K7s vsTT hand. Also I have the sweetener of posting a new highest balance. Worthy of note; for the first time my end-of-day balance is well past the £551 half-way point. All things considered I’ll take it.
June poker points 283
6461373 12-Jun-12 16:18 NL Holdem £52/46£38.306463279 12-Jun-12 13:32 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956461129 12-Jun-12 13:13 NL Holdem £314/60-£3.306463194 12-Jun-12 12:56 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906463159 12-Jun-12 12:46 NL Holdem £21/2£1.90
Do you have any general strategies for starting out at the low stakes HU Turbos & Hypers - I understand if you don't want to share them obviously.
Keep it going glgl.
In the fast HU games you need to be aggresive in position (on the SB), tighter out of position (BB). Personally I'll start by min-raising from the SB with a wide range and (if flat called) c-bet about half pot (hit or miss) for the first couple of levels, then adapt according to how hard my opponent plays back.
Most of the time both players will have very little or nothing, so the more aggresive player will have the edge. A pocket pair is huge in a short stacked HU match, as is flopped top pair. The ability to adapt your play to different types of opponents is key. Very often the blinds will rise to the point where push/fold preflop is the only play, so you'll need to develop a very good understanding of correct push/fold/calling ranges when effective stacks get very short.
Variance is high, so expect a bumpy ride. There's plenty of good strategy advice freely available on the internet, a search engine is your friend. Also there are several other regular posters on this forum who are better at HU STTs than me, they'll probably be happy to help too.
Closing balance £584.24
First MTT today was the 9-45 Bounty Hunter. I found myself drawn on a shove-crazy bingo table with three players playing an all-in preflop game right from the start. When the mayhem died down I emerged with close to double starting stack, but just as the real poker began the wheels came off with a typical KK beat; my pocket pair doubling a player with A8. He did it in style with the board running out A8xxA. Does pocket KK ever hold up? It almost never wins for me when the chips go in preflop. I was left with 8 big blinds, they went in with pocket 55 and lost a flip v AK.
In the 10-45 I busted a very short stack for a head prize early on, but then lost a big one after getting stacks in the turn while holding A2 with AA54 on the board. My opponent in the hand held AT. Looking at it again I think I played it poorly and should have been able to find a fold. Three hands later I lost a flip to bust with AJs<77 aipf.
After a break I returned for the £5.75 Bounty Hunter at 13-30. I started well, but then doubled another player with a JJ<KK cooler on a low flop. With only 13BB left I was looking for a spot to double or bust. After the blinds went through me I jammed A3o from the button and the BB called with 89o. It was a very quick kill; the flop came down 567.
The last games of my session were another £5.75 BH and a £2.30 BH. In the £5.75 I had a mid-stages exit with the sickest of beats; my 3-bet shoved AK being called by A8. The board ran out 85882, so my opponent made quad 8s to scoop a pot which was bigger than the average stack.
The £2.30 game became my day saver. I played well, hit plenty of flops, ran nicely and went on to win the tournament. Obviously I’d rather have won the £5.75, but I’ll take it. As usual pocket KK did its best to derail me when I picked it up during heads up play. After min-raising from the SB I flopped top set, yet still managed to lose a pot to T5o. In recompense good fortune was on my side soon after when I doubled with AT v AQ aipf. That appeared to tilt my opponent and he switched into maniac mode. The winning hand was AQs holding against T8s aipf.
Also worthy of note; although it didn't affect me several of my opponents were struggling in the £2.30 tournament I won due to the current connection problems. Intermittent red timebars were being seen at all tables. Comments in the chatbox made it clear the players involved were very unhappy.
June poker points 309
6465822 13-Jun-12 17:27 NL Holdem £519/39-£5.756465726 13-Jun-12 16:40 NL Holdem £21/50£24.536465428 13-Jun-12 15:49 NL Holdem £531/52-£5.756465142 13-Jun-12 13:31 NL Holdem £327/46-£2.176467521 13-Jun-12 13:24 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956464770 13-Jun-12 12:26 NL Holdem £323/62-£3.30
The curse of pocket KK strikes again. I think I lost the minimum here;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 500.00 500.00 42735.00 pokerpolak Big blind 1000.00 1500.00 55765.00 Your hole cards K K GaryQQQ Raise 1500.00 3000.00 41235.00 pokerpolak Call 1000.00 4000.00 54765.00 Flop Q K 9 pokerpolak Check GaryQQQ Bet 2000.00 6000.00 39235.00 pokerpolak Call 2000.00 8000.00 52765.00 Turn J pokerpolak Check GaryQQQ Check River 4 pokerpolak Bet 8000.00 16000.00 44765.00 GaryQQQ Call 8000.00 24000.00 31235.00 pokerpolak Show 5 10 GaryQQQ Show K K pokerpolak Win Straight to the King 24000.00 68765.00
The most impressive bingo play of the day;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceSKINDOH73 Small blind 10.00 10.00 1980.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 2060.00 Your hole cards 7 5 luckydabber All-in 2000.00 2030.00 0.00 SCIFI65 All-in 1210.00 3240.00 0.00 Jimbobin8d Fold spike33 Fold SKINDOH73 Fold GaryQQQ Fold luckydabber Unmatched bet 790.00 2450.00 790.00 luckydabber Show 7 A SCIFI65 Show A A Flop 9 6 3 Turn 5 River 4 luckydabber Win Straight to the 7 2450.00 3240.00
Closing balance £591.72
First off today were lunchtime £2.30 and £5.75 Bounty Hunters. In the £2.30 I was going well in 2nd of 8 from 35 starters when I got coolered in a massive pot. I flatted an open raise with my pocket 66, as did the chipleader on the BB. The flop came down 956 rainbow. The OOP opener donk-shoved, I called, the chipleader then re-shoved. I made the call with my set and with 25K of the 70K chips in play in the middle. The chipleader held 78 for a flopped straight. He dodged the full-house/quad outs to bust both me and the opener with his pocket TT.
In the £5.75 the wheels came off a promising start when I lost a big TT < AJo aipf flip. The AJ called my 4-bet shove. It was a bad call in my opinion; pocket TT was at the bottom of my 4-bet shove range, the rest of which would've had him crushed. Still, he won this time so good luck to him. I was unable to recover and busted when I ran 55 into 88.
In my second £5.75 I enjoyed a first level double with my pocket AA almost busting a player with AQ on a Q-high flop. Annoyingly I missed his bounty by 20 chips. From there I gradually chipped up, then in level 7 enjoyed another full double with straight over straight to go second overall in chips. My first bounty came in level 8 with TT>A9 aipf, though before that I’d lost flips to double a couple of shorties. When down to 8 players I took a big knock when I had to fold AK on an A-high board with more than a third of my stack in the middle. The passive chipleader put me all-in on the river, there was no way I could call with a flush being the most likely of many possible hands that had me beat.
Play was cagey when we broke to final table with 5 to be paid and average stack at only 17 big blinds. I decided to ignore the risk of bubbling and go for the win. After a couple of orbits when 4 players limped and I looked down at AJ on the big blind I decided to squeeze/shove my 14 bigs. I didn’t really want a call to be honest and would’ve been very happy to pick up the 5BB in the middle. However the shortest stack at the table put his stack in too with pocket 88. I flipped well to bust both him and the bubble. Soon after that I also busted a very short stack who finished fifth. Unfortunately my first £5.75 Bounty Hunter quest win still eludes me. I went out in fourth after jamming Q9s from the button. The SB had a standard call with AK. There was a 9 on the flop, but an ace fell on the river and that was that. It was a standard spot, stacks were short and I had only 13BB behind. He needed a hand to call and I’d play it exactly the same way again in the future.
So far during this challenge I’ve entered 64 x £5.75 Bounty Hunters. From those I’ve made 12 final tables at which I’ve had second, third and fourth place finishes three times each. I’m still waiting for the first win. I need three of them now just to balance things up!
June poker points 328
6469653 14-Jun-12 17:07 NL Holdem £54/40£13.566469311 14-Jun-12 16:07 NL Holdem £526/55-£5.756468901 14-Jun-12 14:45 NL Holdem £28/35-£0.33
Progress so far according to the Sharkscope database (it's fairly accurate, though it doesn't account for C4P bonuses or re-buy expenses and a small number of results have been missed);
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8650/quest140612.jpg
click image below to enlarge
Closing balance £708.33
A busy day meant I didn’t get online until a bit later than usual. First up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I don’t think I won a single pot. It was one of those games where I picked up very few playable hands and every time I entered a pot I missed the flop completely. When my stack became dangerously short I jammed a suited ace and couldn’t improve against a caller’s ace with a bigger kicker.
Next game was the 4-00pm £11.00 Bounty Hunter. A maniac on my starting table was hitting everything and busted 3 players in the first two levels. He used his huge stack to bully the table relentlessly and made life very difficult for the rest of us. I tightened up my range, aware that if I entered a pot I’d probably be put to a decision for my whole stack. Ironically when my double did come with AK>QJ it was against another player. A couple of hands after that our table broke. I was disappointed because I knew I’d have stood a great chance to double again off the maniac (who’d taken four heads by then) if I'd either picked up a premium or smashed a flop.
Play was surprisingly wild for the £11 buy-in; easily as crazy as most £2.30 games. By the end of level 5 only 28 of the 73 entrants were still alive. Despite having nearly double the starting stack at that point I was still well below average. Just as my stack was dwindling again an AJ>KJ aipf double gave me hope, though I then lost a KJ<77 aipf flip to double a shortie and put myself back in trouble with 12 left. Just when I was beginning to think I’d be the bubble boy (10 paid) an amazing 66>JJ>AT aipf at my table eliminated two players and we were in the money.
From there I worked the short stack magic and brought myself into contention. Going into final table I was a healthy second in chips, though a long way behind the leader. To cut a long story short I managed to get heads-up, still well behind, still without a head prize……….but I went on to take it down!
The winning hand against valiant runner-up karlluke was my 88 v QJ aipf, I flopped a set to win the flip and bink the tournament.
Despite taking only one head prize I’m delight with todays win. It’s by far my best bink of this quest so far and I’ve rocketed to a new highest balance. I won’t worry too much about my failure to win £5.75 Bounty Hunters if the binkage comes in £11.00 games instead.
June poker points 346
6474437 15-Jun-12 19:19 NL Holdem £101/73£122.366473941 15-Jun-12 16:55 NL Holdem £537/58-£5.75
https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby?action=go_tnmt_lobby&game_id=6474437&guid=50efe387-c43d-424e-bf08-41d3be8f4ef0Well done mate , and well into the 2nd half of your challenge, bet it doesnt take anywhere near as long as the first half !
not far 2 go now m8,
dev
#kerching! Nice one!
p.s."From there I worked the short stack magic and brought myself into contention" When ya get a mo could you expand as my ss play sucks at the mo?
'Short stack magic' - No easy explanation really, you need to continually monitor the table dynamic and carefully pick out the good open-shove and 3-bet shove spots. It's one of those poker skills that comes with practice and becomes a sixth sense.
It's very important to keep fold equity on your side. Once your stack drops below about 10BB in a Bounty Hunter you're getting called by any almost any two cards; so you need to get your chips in before you drop to that level, ie keep your stack big enough to inflict serious damage to any caller and retain the ability to force folds even if you have no hand. I've reviewed the hand history of this win. Plays I made when short include a succesful (ie the opener folded) 3-bet shove from the SB with 86s and an open shove from the button with Q3o.
Blinding down to a very small stack while waiting for a strong hand is inadvisable in my opinion. Getting 12BB all-in with 50% equity is worth far more than getting 5BB in with 80% equity; do the maths for yourself. If you want to give yourself the chance to win a tournament you need to have the balls to get your chips in before you get too short and resist temptation to blind out hoping to ladder a spot or two.
I was at a 4-handed table (with 9, 8 then 7 left) for about 15 minutes post bubble in this game. During that time I more than doubled my stack without even seeing a flop. Initially the button was raising every time I was on the SB, so my light 3-bet shoves were picking up his raise and the blinds. I also get through several open shoves from the button and small blind. Eventually I wasn't believed anymore and found myself a caller. I won that hand (phew) to propel myself up to second in chips shortly before we broke to final table. If I'd gone nitty and played it safe I probably would have laddered to sixth place at best, instead by taking an aggresive risk averse approach while 9th of 9 I set myself up for the win.