Poker, Football, and everything sports

This was in my fortune cookie at my lunch at Panda Express today. While most people would hope this applies to academics or jobs, I was kinda hoping it would apply to the poker tournament tonight! Well I got knocked out about 60 spots b4 the money about 3 hours in. Got a couple good stories though and some hands to recap. We start with 4500 in chips blinds go up 25/50 up every 30 minutes. Here we go.

Bout 30 minutes in I limp with 10 9 offsuit, and call a raise to 500 after two others call. The flop comes 942 and we check around. Turn is a 7 3 spades on board I have the 9 of spades I bet 500 the raiser calls. River is an 8 of diamonds and we check and I win the pot. Side story the table behind me has Amir Vahedi, a well known poker pro. More on this later.

So I make a couple good bluffs with Q10 to chip up don't remember the exact hands but one I had Q high the other I bet with a pair of tens with a J and A on board. Then with about 8k I have a shot at a bounty. Facing a raise to 600 and a call I reraise to 2k with AK. Raiser folds and limper pushes all in for 1k more I call he shows AJ. Flop comes 234 ugh 5 chops it turn is a blank river is a fucking 5 we chop still at 8k.

I get up to about 9k when a big hand occurs. Facing two limpers i raise to 800 with 66. guy behind me calls then a tight player pushes all in for 2700 more. Both limpers fold and its on me. the odds are pretty good and I'd still have 5k if I lose. Most importantly, I felt like alottt of high cards had already been folded so if he has AK or AQ then I'm in great shape. I decide to call and he shows KK. LAME The board comes 10 high so I was right I woulda won the coin flip.

So then I get moved to a new table, and I happen to sit right next to mr Amir Vahedi. This was really special for me because he was at the final table of the 2003 world series of poker main event. This is the tournament that got me into poker so this was awesome. He doubled up my first hand there then we get into it! He limp the small blind and I check with K4. Flop comes K75 he bets 300 I raise to 900 leaving 3k behind. He pushes all in and snap call! He shows K2 and we chop it up. woulda loved to have doubled through him! Oh well

So I get moved again with about 4800 chips blinds at 200 400 need to make a move. First hand I get I see AJ and shove no callers. About 3 hands later I'm in the big blind guy raises to 1200 and button calls I push for 5k with 99 and they fold. I win the next hand and now i'm up to 10k at the 3 hour break!

Couple hands back I raise to 2k under the gun. Guy pushes me all in and I have to fold because I realllly can't beat a single hand he's pushing with. Very next hand facing two callers I push with AK no callers. Next hand two limpers I call with A9 flop comes A43 I check guy bets 2k I push 6k more he insta calls with A3. Turn is a 2 and river is a 10 and I'm out

Overall pretty solid play woulda loved that initial bounty to get things going. Oh well. Thanks for reading. Online reports coming.

After winning the 10 buck knockout out two weeks ago, I finished 10th in it yesterday for 50 bucks with first getting 1800. Then today I finished 21st for 33 bucks with first getting two grand. LAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

So I played the 120 buy in tournament at the bike got 500 people first got about 13k. Start with 4k in chips blinds at 25 50. So first hand I get involved in I have Q10 in the bb. Flop came 10 9 8 and I bet 200 one caller. Turn is a 9 and we check check. River is Ace of diamonds bringing 3 diamonds on board. He bets 500 and I call even though I really can't beat anything he shows A10 bad call on my part.

Then with blinds at 50 100 UTG raises to 350 I call with AQ of diamonds. Flop comes Qj9 she bets 600 I call. Turn is a 7 she bets 750 leaving about 600 behind. I'm not good enough to fold even though she's only calling with KK, AA, or AQ. She thinks for a few seconds and calls with AQ chop it up.

Then I make a pretty good bluff limp in small blind with Q4 bb checks. Flop AJ7 check check turn is a 7 I bet 250 she calls. river A I bet 700 and she folds. So back up to about 3k when I raise to 600 with KK and get 2 callers including the big stack who's been running really hot. Flop comes QA6 ughhhh I check to him he bets 700 and I fold really frustrating.

So I get grinding down to about 1800 and I push in middle position with KJ and the bb looks at his hand and grunts makes me think he's just got a crap hand. Then he takes about 20 seconds and calls throwing me off he shows 66. Flop comes 10104 bad for me turn is a dream card Q meaning any A, K, Q, J, or 9 and I double up. River is a 2 and I'm out last hand b4 break.

Then I buy in for 80 bucks at a cash game and I tell myself I'm gonna be aggressive so I don't get bored lol. Well it worked for 1 hand! facing three limpers I raise to 15 bucks with 10 10 and get folders. Then the next hand I limped with 44 flop A23 I bet 8 one caller. Turn J check check river 10 she bets 20 I thought she had a busted flush and almost called but folded and she showed A2 good fold.

Next hand I get 10 8 of diamonds and limp. Flop comes J87. Checks around. Turn is a 2. Guy bets 8 another guy calls I raise to 24. Original better folds and guy calls. River is a 10 two pair for me but 4 card straight. He almost instantly pushes all in for 44 leaving me 8 behind. I was confused but told myself I was goin big or goin home I call he shows...95. Had a double belly buster straight draw and hit it. Lame.

I add on my last 20 bucks and call a raise to 8 with K10. Flop comes 10 5 4 and I push. Guy calls raiser moves all in guy calls. Not good for me!! Turn is an A river 8 and guy shows A10. 100 bucks gone in 10 minutes!!

So I come back and play a few multis. Shoulda known it would be a bad night when I got knocked out in 2 hands in a 26 KO flopped trip queens and guy river a full house with a 2 outer 7. Well I played a few others. Turbo fiddy I push all in with A8 facing a min raise. Guy calls with...J2 suited!! Flop brings a deuce as does the river. It was for half his stack! Seriously?!?!

Then I got knocked out of others with my last tournament being a 20 buck with rebuys. I had about 18k with blinds at 300 600 when I get QJ in the bb. SB pushes 10k when folded around to him I tell myself I'm playing for the win and call. He shows 10 8 and turns an 8. I was really pissed because he pushed 20 big blinds with 10 8 coulda easily just raised and if I push he folds makes no sense. Oh well knocks me down to 8k.

After that I make a raise with A8 in late position only to get reraised all in. Down to 5k. two hands later I push with A5 same freakin guy pushes has QQ it holds and I'm knocked a couple tables b4 the money.

Ugh just really frustrating when horrible play is rewarded. I still can't believe the J2 hand or the 10 8 hand, and there are a few other hands that are just gettin to me rite now but its in the past. Ugh frustrating. Might play a good amount tomorrow we'll see how I'm feeling. Thanks for reading.

Gonna play the 120 buy in first even of the turkey shootout at the bike on Thursday. Will be a 120 buy in will probably get about 500 people will be much like the last tournament I played excepted less chips to start. Expect a report Friday afternoon hopefully a lengthy one with a good result! Also won a 26 KO for 600 bucks. Not much to report here its easy when you run as well as I did and get good spots to get your money in. 500 more bucks coming in the mail. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that with cashouts of 3200, 400, 500, 300, and 500 that I'm at 4900 of my goal of 5000 on the semester. So just short but there's still a couple weeks left :) Thanks for reading guys.

Ugh these are getting back to being alittle frustrating. I played a few 26 buy ins today and got really close. I also played a 30 buck turbo and got 214 bucks first got 900 ugh. Then I played the 5k 6 handed pl holdem tourney that I've won before and I got 18th for 64 bucks. It was really frustrating because I was the chip leader with 27 left and I got in a hugeeeee hand with another guy who had 3k less then me and I tried to bluff him on the river hoping he'd fear the bubble but he didn't. alas still cashed. Then I got 8th in for the 2nd straight 26 ko for 54 bucks again and then min cashed in a 26 buck heads up tourney for about 60 bucks first got 1k. So little annoyign but I still have enough to do another small cash of 350 and still have a grand in the bank. Thanks for reading guys.

So since my big win I've been having alottttt of fun with poker. Last night, I played an 8 buck tournament with 160 people and I took 2nd. I was pretty disappointed because I was the big stack the whole final table and I lost to a terrible overly aggressive player who I shouldn't have lost to but oh well. That game me 260 bucks, so I cashed out another 300 after sunday's win I wanted to get some more money in my pocket, so i have 800 bucks coming in the mail.

Tonight I registered for 4 tournaments, and made 3 final tables. Not a bad percentage! I played a 5 buck turbo 6 handed just to pass some time it got 58 people and I took 2nd in that for 60 bucks. Woulda liked to have taken it down but it was just fun to be at another final table. In addition to that, I played a 3 buck turbo rebuy tournament which I invested 9 bucks into. It got 53 people, and I took 3rd for 64 bucks, with first gettin 168 so alittle disappointed money wise there. Lastly I final table another 26 KO and got a disappointing 8th. Everyone was reallly even in chips and I got it in for a big stack against a guy drawing to an A, Q, or 9 and hit an A on the turn. 54 bucks oh well.

So yea there aren't many big nightly tournaments which is the reason for the unusually small buy ins. I want to continue to play he 8 buck and 10 buck tournaments, as they are easy and fun. But I'm hoping to post a bigger buy in report soon. I think I'm gonna play a 120 buck tourney at the bike next thursday. I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks for reading.

So after the horrible play that was this morning's ftops I get some lunch clear my head and play a few other multis. I ship an 1100 person 10 buck KO for 2k. Ain't poker a funny game :) I'll post details later once I get a chance. I shipped some of it to Plattman who was staking me but I cashed out 500 putting me at what I believe is 3700 out of my goal of 5k.


Ok so here are the big hands that I can remember. With the blinds at around 1500 3k I was looking realllly good. I had about 115000 with one other big stack at my table who had 120,000. Next closest to us had about 60k. Big stack raises to 9k I call with 44 able to see a flop for that price. The flop comes 454. Pretty good flop for me! He bets 11k into the 25k pot. I smooth call. Turn is a J he bets 30k into the 50k pot and another easy smooth call. We both have around 70k now. River is a 5 and he pushes all in and I snap call he shows QQ. I double up to a huge chip lead with 245k with 45 people left. Its an easy game. :)

We've gotten down to the final 18 and blinds are at 5k 10k. Ive got about 350k good enough for around 5th or so. I've stayed pretty tight aggressive and hadn't made a big move until now. The button who has about 290k raises 30k into the pot. I reraise to 100k with Q8 off knowing he's only shoving with a made hand .He says "figures" and folds and I gladly show the bluff for the exact reason that comes up a few hands later when I pick up the good ole AA! Same situation guy with about 200k raises to 30k and I reraise to 100k. He thinks for about 20 seconds and shoves in and I snap call he has 1010. The flop comes AQ9 all hearts he has no heart! Yahtzee. Turn is a 4 of hearts meaning that any heart on the turn and he split the pot and my computer goes out the window!!! no heart and I get up to about 500k.

Now with 11 to go I'm 3rd in chips. Blinds still at 5k 10k and I'm pounding the final table bubble pretty hard with only one stack at the table covering me. Guy makes it 30k and I once again make it 100k with 77. Short stack pushes 23k more and I call he shows JJ. Flop bricks out turn hello mr 7! River is a blank and I'm up to 650k. only time in the tournament i got really lucky...at least towards the end.

At the final table I'm 2nd in chips and we are down to 7 when a HUGE hand comes up. I have about 700k opponent has about 400k when he raises to 47,800m just over a min raise with blinds at 10k 20k. I just call on the button with 88 not wanting to reraise and race for this many chips. The flop comes 532 and he bets out 90k almost a pot size bet. I really didn't know where I stood but I decided to call and see a turn fearing an insta call with an over pair if I shove. The turn comes a 7 and he open pushes all in for 320k. The pot only has 300k in it so this is a HUGE bet. At this point, I was confident he has AK or AQ because he would have value bet an over pair I figured. I make the call and he shows.....77. Bit unlucky for me and either a great play on his end or a stupid one but I lose a massive pot and an down to 300k.

After chipping up on a few raises we are down to 4 people when this hand comes up. I have 600k in the big blind the small blind has 300k . Blinds are at 15k 30k. He raises to 90k and I shove all in with AK. He thinks for 20 seconds and calls with A2. The flop is a disaster. AA2 huge suckout for him and I can't catch up. It knocked me down to 300k and now the short stack. I was surprisingly calm afterwards, and knew that now was not the time to get pissed and go on tilt. I simply said nice hand and moved on. So after we all exchange being the short stack, I chip up to around 550k and I open shove all in with blinds at 20k 40k with KQ. The big blind calls with 55 and I spike a K on the turn to get me up to about 800k 3 handed.

More jockeying for position occurs and I make a pretty big move. The big stack of 1.5 mil raises my big blind to 120k. I shove over the top all in for 750k half his stack with K9 suited. HE ponders for a few seconds and folds. Back down to 760k and I raises the BB who is dead even with me to 240k with A10 he thinks for a few seconds and shoves all in and I snap call. He shows A5!! The flop comes J32 not a huge fan as now he has a 4 for an out. The board blanks out and now I am dead even at 1.6 mil heads up for 1st place.

I told myself that if I could get to heads up as at least a 2 to 1 underdog that I could outplay any of them ,so I was stoked to get heads up. I had chipped down to 1.3 million when the following hand occurs. With blinds at 25k 50k he raises to 150k for the 3rd button in a row. I reraise with A5 to 450k and he calls, very interesting play. I put him on a prety big hand, but when the flop comes 653 I figure its as good a flop as I am goin to see. I push all in for a cool mil and he nearly insta calls and I think for sure he's got an over pair. He flips over....44, and I need to dodge a 7 4 or 2 to take a massive lead. I do just that and now I have 3 mil to his 300k. He doubles once, but then I get it in with 55 vs Q9 and I hold up to take down the title and the 2 grand.

Overall I'm so happy with my play and it was a great feeling after coming so close to the big win so many times. Now that my roll is back on track, expect some other lengthy tourney reports. Thanks for reading guys.

Ok FTOPS is starting now I'll be posting updates every hour or so. I took a day off yesterday to clear my head and now i'm focused. Hope to have some good stuff to report. Starting off with 5k in chips and blinds at 10 20 so alotttt of play to be had. Man I suck lol I really do I played horrible today I managed to last 30 minutes in a tournament with 5k in chips really only 3 hands to talk about and I don't wanna go in much detail makes me sick thinking about it.

Sick Hand. KQ raise to 90 called reraise to 270. flop KK5 check check. Turn 7 I bet 250 he calls. River 9 bet 500 he raises 650 I call he has AK figures.

A10 spades call a raise flop 10 Q4 two spades I call 278 bet. Turn J check check river 6 I bet 500 raised 780 I fold. Terrible play be me. I couldn't have made it more obvious I missed my flush. Same guy who beat me in previous hand 2.3 k

KJ call raise. flop Q94 he bets 160 I call turn K check check river I bet 400 guy pushes all in I call Q9 . If I reraise preflop be holds. Fairly easy old don;t even know what I thought he mite have had. God I play so bad

Not much else to be said. Just a bad tournament was bested every time. Probably gonna go lose the rest of my bankroll today. Lol

In recent weeks, I have lowered my usual buy ins from 26 bucks to 8-10 bucks. This is for a few reasons. One, my bankroll dictates that I must lol. Secondly, I miss the thrill of a deep run in a multi tournament. In recent weeks, I've only made final tables in turbos where it is basically all in or fold. I wanted to make a deep run and get some solid deep stack play in before my ftops tournament on Sunday, which is my 3rd reason.

Well I've made some pretty deep runs, but for the most part fell just short of my intended goal. Last week, I cashed in two of the 10 buck 6 handed tournaments that I love that I reported on earlier in this blog. In one, I bubbled the final table, finishing 7th out of 318. First got 700 bucks I got 80. ugh. Later that nite, I got 10th in a field of about 170. First got 400 I got 30. UGH.

Last night I played an 8 buck multi. Full Tilt runs these every hour they are 8 buck buys in with a max of 180 and 2k in starting chips a pretty good structure. I played in one with 94 people and I got 4th despite having the chip lead with 4 to go. UGHHHHH! I got 80 for 4th and first to 260 so in this case it was more so frustrating to just not get first then to miss out on a lot of money.

Today, same old story. I played a 10 buck heads up multi, structured much like the NCAA tournament. You win one heads up match, then you face someone else who won their match. I finished in 8th, first out of the quarterfinals. Got 44 bucks first get 300. UGHHHHHHHH. Lol one more to add on. 10 buck 6 handed with 280 first gets 680 and I get 29th for 20 bucks. This one made even mroe frustrating becasue I was short stacked the whole money bubble thne two quick double ups, only to run AK into AA. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Lol so done venting. I'm feeling good going into Sunday. Its a game that I'm really looking forward to, and something I feel like I can make a good run in. I'll be posting updates every half an hour on Sunday. So wish me luck! thanks for reading.