Better $20+2 results tonight

Worked diligently tonight on "playing perfect poker" and applying the guidelines I set out in the previous post on $20+2 SNG strategy. Results of this new diligence? Five tournaments played, 40% ITM with 45.45% ROI. Money finishes were a first and a second, non-money a fourth and two sixth. That leaves me at just over 36% ITM over the past two days and 24% ROI for the same two days.

Should have even converted the one more that I bubbled out in - I had been playing well but generally card-dead. I was short stack at the table with $520 and had just posted my $150 big blind and had been dealt the all-mighty offsuit hammer. Second smallest stack ($640) folds UTG. Chipleader ($4952) calls from the button. Small blind ($1888) completes. Flop rewards me with 2-2-T. SB checks, I bet the minimum $150 in to the $450 pot (fastplay is the new slowplay). Chipleader re-raises me all-in, and I insta-call. He turns over T-3 for two pair and I'm almost a 90% favorite to win with my trips. However he catches his three-outer (ignoring the longshot runner-runner threeve) on the turn when another ten drops, and his tens full beats my deuces full. Double-up there and I was almost certainly ITM sitting at 2x the small stack's chips. Still, solid results from a solid night of play.

In personal news, after selling off my cars (sale still pending on the M5, but i've got earnest money so I doubt he's backing out) I may have found my replacement car. Guy I know from one of the local car clubs has a ridiculously low mileage three-year-old Audi TT Coupe (7100 actual miles). The TT was already one of the cars on my list for acquisition, and I think i'm going to save the dough and go with this used example instead of buying the new one I had my eye on. As the previous owner of an almost-identical (except for color) TT Coupe I can enthusiastically say that this is one of my favorite all-time cars to drive, and I'm excited about the prospect of owning one again. I've got an appointment to see it in the morning, and if everything checks out I'll probably make an offer on the spot.

Blogroll update: added a St. Louis poker blogger and avid SNG'er: "Poker with WillWonka" to the blogroll. Per Performify Poker Page Published Policy, he finds a home right up near the top of the list where all those who shamelessly reciprocially link to Performify's Poker Page find refuge from the cruel dregs of the non-linking bastages...

Starting stats at $20+2

After reaching my goal at the $10+1 SNG level, I decided I was going to climb to the $20+2 level and give that a whirl. So far, its not going so stellar.

So far I've clocked thirty $20+2 sit and go tournaments and I am down $120. In The Money a disappointing 23.33% of the time with the following finishes: 4 first, 1 second, 2 third, and 5 fourth place finishes (only the top three pay). The only bright side so far is my very solid heads-up and 3-way play - if not for finishing the majority of those ITM places with overall wins I'd be in much worse shape overall.

I'm continuing to find that my strongest play is that of table captain (aka playing as the agressor with one of the larger stacks), and I'm having the most trouble finishing in the middle of the pack - in 40% so far I've finished in positions 4-6. Generally, i think I'm carrying over too-tight play from the $10+1 level and I'm getting blinded down to the small stack with 5-7 players remaining and then ending up getting too aggressive all-in and ending up in coinfliip scenarios.

I'm finding that there definately seems to be a massive gap in player ability between $10 and $20. Mostly in player tightness - at the $10+1 level it paid off dramatically to be extremly tight - the donkeys there are wild and crazy and you generally see five people eliminated in the first 20 minutes with crazy all-in play. I had developed what I feel is a strong methodology for attacking the $10 tables (one of these days, I'll do a nice archived write-up on that methodology, to help fulfil my role as a contributing member of the KCpoker.org team) and I find that the same methodology from the $10 game is NOT working as well at the $20 level...

More specifically, at the $20+2 level I'm consistently seeing 4-5 decent, tight players making up the final portion of the table. There's still the occasional donkey early going for sure, willing to re-raise all-in early on with a medium pocket pair, but its no where near the donkey level of the $10+1 (where I'd estimate only one or two in ten are reliably solid players). Ultimately this means, unlike the $10+1 level, you can't just play very tight, execute selective aggression using the gap concept, and basically fold your way in to the money with a single double-up along the way. Players here (talking about that group of final four or five at the $20 level) are positionally aware, are appropriately tight, and generally play decent tight aggressive poker. Playing my usual "final table" strategy, its exceedingly hard to build a big chiplead without getting majorly lucky: generally you see the final four or five with near-identical stacks of chips around 1500-2000 each. Generally you see the final three with near-equal chipstacks as well. Everyone is generally playing decent, tight poker and you're only seeing two big hands go up against each other pre-flop. Sure, I'm only 30 SNGs across three days, but I'm getting a sense that the play is genuinely better here.

I've certainly had my share of beats across thirty games, for sure. I'm not winning a lot of coinflips - and i'm finding myself in a lot of coinflips, often being the small stack around 4-5 players and getting an all-in with overcards called by a small pocket pair or vice-versa.

I did better with my play today, in the green for today with 33% ITM (a first and a third out of six played) for a small return. I do believe I can beat this game at the 40%+ ITM rate that I was consistently beating the $10+1 - I just believe its going to take me some time. Ultimately, I believe that it will make me a better, more well rounded player. I've got a good methodology for beating a freeze-out full of donkeys - now its time to build a methodology to reliably win freeze-outs consisting of mostly solid players.

Overall, the strategy changes I feel I need to make:

1. see more flops cheaply from late position, especially early. Its probably worth limping decent suited connectors almost every time in the first two orbits with a decent chipstack just to see if you can get in cheap and catch a big piece. Of course, just like playing a NL cash game, you've got the have the discipline to back down if you don't solidly connect.
2. stop overplaying medium pairs pre-flop and especially post-flop. At the $10+1 level you'd get called by mediocre hands and could generally take down the pot with a continuation bet on a scary flop (and often really have the best hand). At the $20+2 level, its seems 90% of the time when I'm raising 3x the blinds early with 77, i'm only going to get called by a better hand or overcards. So pay more attention to the texture of the flop - when the big cards hit, someone who called you probably connected so don't just automatically continuation bet from out of position. Which brings me to my next point
3. Respect position, especially post-flop. Quit pre-flop raising with mediocre hands out of position, then making a continuation bet in to a decent field with an underpair. I'm getting re-raised too often and those times I do call-down its almost always a mistake. Play more hands aggressively in late position and take advantage of the fact that the rest of the table acts before you do.
4. complete more often from the small blind - if three or more people are limping, complete with any sort of decent hand (high 1 gap connectors for sure, suited cards for sure). Have the discipline to get away if you don't connect with an OESD or better, but its not a good habit to go routinely turning down 7-1 pot odds preflop (or often better) in a situation where there's a real need to accumulate chips quickly. The few times that the BB raises in to the limpers and you have to fold are offset by the numerous times that doesn't happen and you get to see three cards for very cheap.
5. Limp in to more pots. At the $10+1 level if I was coming in to a pot, even with suited connectors or small pocket pairs I was at least raising 2x the blinds, trying not to give the blinds a cheap/free flop. If you play smarter post-flop, you can limp more hands especially early and connect-or-forget. I've thrown away too much money recently raising 3x blinds with medium pairs in early position: raising 1/5 your stack with 77 with four or five people left is not +EV. And finally:
6. Don't automatically continuation bet. $10+1 people are calling pre-flop raises with any sort of drawing hand, so a continuation bet is much more effective as its much easier to assume that the flop missed them if you're representing strength pre-flop. However at the $20+2 level if your raises are getting called pre-flop at the $20 level, its generally by overcards or a medium pair or better, so a continuation bet from early position is NOT always a good idea.

Next goal

Well, i've got three tournament levels still in the red: The biggest being 0/9 on 3-table 5+1 SNGs from when I first started playing on Party. I'm also slightly in the red on $20+2 MTTs (five played for 20% ITM and down $23) and 0/1 on $30+3 three-table SNGs. So I'm going to grind out the $5+1 three-tables quickly (should be pretty easy, I think) and going to take a shot at the occasional $30+3 three table to see if I can manage a cash there in a few attempts. I'm probably going to start taking shots at $20+2 single table SNGs, and possibly continue to terrorize the $10+1 SNGs since I'm seeing such good results there.

Quick update: took fifth in my first trip back to the $5+1 three-table ($15 payout). Tried a $30+3 three-table at the same time and was doing very well there - I was short-stacked most of the way, but doubled up at an opportune time with AK and then won a few more hands to climb to third in chips. At the final table with nine left, I get a free flop from the BB with Q5o, and flop top two pair. The chipleader is in the hand, limping from UTG. I mean to raise, but my slider gets off and I check. He raises, I re-raise the pot, he re-raises me all in. I insta-call. He's got KQo for top pair 2nd kicker, I'm way out in front with my flopped two pair. Beautiful - this holds up and I can cruise to a money finish. Instead he catches runner-runner nines to pair the board, counterfitting my two pair and knocking me out in ninth. Oh well. At least I've proven to myself that I should be able to make a money finish at the $30+3 three-table level: I made the final table, I got all-in as a 3-1 favorite when it counted, and I should have been able to cruise to a money finish if I hadn't have gotten the suck out.

Bounced out of my first $20+2 SNG in 8th. Players don't seem to be any tougher than the $10+1 level based on this first game - I get aces on the button, get four limpers at T30, I raise to T125, everyone folds to the girl to my left who re-raises all in. I immediately call expecting to see AA, KK or AK - instead she turns over pocket threeve. Of course she trips up on the flop to crack my aces - behold the power of threeve!

Finished

Completed my latest goal. Finished ITM in my last two SNGs tonight. The first of the last two put me in the green lifetime, and then the third finish in the finale kept me there.

Played after work. Stats average, couple cashes. Went to the new Rob Zombie horror movie "The Devil's Rejects" tonight. Followed that up with ITM on 5/7 SNGs for a 133% ROI. I was 41.11% ITM for the month of July with 26% ROI. That brings me to 34.27% ITM lifetime on the $10+1 single tables. I'm now green on all my tournament stats except the $20+2 MTT (1/5 lifetime), $30+3 3-table SNGs (0/1 lifetime), and 5+1 3-table SNGs (0/9 lifetime all early in my career). I believe I can roll through the 3-table SNGs (certainly the 5+1) this weekend.

Then what? Who knows... but I do know it is 4am. Time for bed.

Tournament strategy - parlaying the best hand in to a loss

I was digging around the netherworld of the online poker world the other day, and found this gem from none other than the Crew's Dutch Boyd:

Best thing I can tell you is to pick your spots and be aggressive. The idea behind NL tournaments is not to show your hand unless you're sure it's good. Think about this... let's say you are short-stacked. If you get pocket aces against, say pocket Jacks, you're 4.5:1 to win... or about 82%. So you get your money in and go all-in, get called, and are hoping to double up. You do. Very next hand, you get aces again. You push all-in and get called by QQs... again, 82%. You win and double up again. But you're still just an average stack. Next hand you get them AGAIN! You push all-in and get called by a big stack with pocket 22s. Still 82%, but this time you lose. Ouch. Bad-beat, righ? Sure, sure...

But the funny thing is, it's not a bad beat at all. You see, you are basically betting a parlay. You must win the first + second + third. Figuring out the chances of winning all of them is done by multiplying all of the percentages together (82% x 82% x 82%)... it comes up to roughly 55%. So you are only a slight favorite to still be in the tournament after being all-in three times with the best hand in the game.

from rakefree.com

I hadn't ever though of it this way, but its spot on.  This bit of mathmatical realization has helped me deal with "bad beats" much better now - especially in tournament situations where i've been all-in three or four times with the best hand.  Understanding that I've parlayed these bets to "must wins" and that my odds of hitting a 4-1 favorite five or six times in a row certainly isn't always going to come through has really allowed me to see the bigger picture.  

Its also helped me to focus on winning tournament pots without being all-in, or at least winning pots while trying to avoid going to the showdown despite likely having the best hand - its a matter of not offering people valid opportunities to draw out on you in tournament situations. I'm finding thats the real key to constent tournament play: tempered agression while staying away from marginal all-in situations - especially if you are calling someone all-in for a significant portion of your stack late in the tournament with what you feel is a marginal advantage at best. I think its one of the main intricacies of No Limit, thats only starting to come to me with a good deal of experience - raising the exact amount to put the absolute amount of pressure on my opponnet.

A great example of this would be overbetting the pot odds (especially if that puts my opponent all-in) against someone with a probable flush draw - if I'm convinced I've got the best hand and they are on a flush draw, I'm going to put maximum pressure on them, instead of making a pot-sized bet on the flop which most certainly gives a fourflush the implied odds to call (if not the actual odds to call) if they've got chips left.  I'm still extremely tight/agressive in tournament play, and I feel I play the big stack very very well.  But more than anything, this way of looking at things helps me keep it all in perspective...

Cross-posted to KCpoker.org. If you're a KC Poker player and you haven't joined KCpoker.org, you really should head over there and join the forums.

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Also, a quick note of thanks to PokerGrub for the recent linkup. You'll note that his site has hopped near the top of my own blogroll, a dubious honor which is reserved for those who reciprocally link to me...

Quick SNG stats update

Ten SNGs tonight. 60% ITM finishes, ROI just over 45%. Very much on a roll. Ran in to consistent connection problems in the last half of the night. I very much might have been able to squeek a few higher finishes without the problems.

With my extremely consistent SNG results of late, I am very close to my goal of getting this batch of SNG stats in the green...

ESPN WSOP DVD Review

I've managed to make my way through the 2004 World Series Of Poker DVD which I recently received. You can find full details on what is on the DVD at that link, by the way. As I mentioned previously, its available for the very reasonable price of $19.95 for a 3-disc set. Check out ESPNshop.com or championshipdvd.com to order.

I'm extremely impressed with the DVD set. It is very well packaged, the menus are very slick. Of course, everyone reading this has probably already seen the main event coverage in its first go-round on ESPN, so I really won't go in to depth on said coverage on the main discs - except to say you've got two main discs with five episodes each, taking you from the first day of play through the end, and the feature tables pack some great players along the way. However, I will say that its been excellent to be able to replay the details of the 2004 WSOP, especially to be able to analyze the details of many different hands and players. I was in Vegas for the 2004 WSOP and was lucky enough to get inside the ballroom and watch much of the final table action. So this DVD set was especially nice, being able to replay a lot of the televised coverage of the final table that I was fortunate enough to witness live.

There were a number of notable moments of the 2004 WSOP (some of which ESPN was happy enough to package in to a segment included on the bonus disc called "Top Ten Moments"): the opportunity to hear Mattias Anderson doing the wild wildebeest mating call throughout the tournament. Watching Raymer being cool and poised in the face of abuse from Mike the Mouth and then watching him decimate Mike later on in the tournament and send Matisow home crying on the end of disc one. Watching Doyle Brunson put the moves on Scott Fishman. Watching Raymer get lucky four consecutive times at the final table, in two cases winning as a pretty big underdog, but end the end bringing it home with his great play from the bigstack. And wonderful bonus disc coverage, including the WSOP Tournament of Champions. The star-studded $1000 No Limit Hold'em table (Paul Phillips, Daniel Negreaneu, John Juanda, Mike Matusow). The packaged "best hands from the Pot Limit Omaha final table". Full coverage of both the $1000 NLHE and PLO events would have certainly been nice, but at least we got to see a handful of hands from each tournament.

There are a few minor upgrades that I'd like to see (perhaps in the 2005 WSOP DVD set if nothing else). Specifically, the DVD could use more details on the packaging. Of course the average consumer is really just expecting to see the main event as that is all most people associate with the term WSOP, however being that there's a lot of poker from the WSOP not included, it would be nice to see a little "truth in advertising" on the back of the packaging - i.e. stop constantly using the term "2004 World Series of Poker" as if it were interchangeable with "2004 World Series of Poker Main Event" (emphasis mine). So at least somewhere on the back of the DVD, it should make it abundantly clear exactly what's on this set of DVDs before you purchase them: i.e. its the ten ESPN broadcasts of the Main Event of the WSOP, plus the listed bonus features. No where on the packaging does it mention that this DVD set is mostly the main event and not full coverage from the WSOP (although you don't really expect full coverage with "just" three DVDs).

Also, an extremely nice feature would be a more detailed synopsis. A lot of the people who buy this DVD set are going to be hardcore poker fanatics, and it would be nice to be able to know exactly where on a disc something occurs if you're trying to jump to a quick highlight or at least a specific episode. I'm talking about a detailed summary of what is in each episode, similar to what you see on the boxed DVDs of television series (reference DVD sets of the Sopranos, the Simpsons, or 24). For example, something like (details just completely made up) "Disc One - Episode 1: Covers day 1 - day 2 of the Main Event of the WSOP. Highlights include the knockout of Brunson, Helmuth, and Juanda. Featured table participants include Daniel Negreaneu, Mattias Anderson and Doyle Brunson." With ten episodes split across two DVDs, its hard to remember exactly where and when the action you'd like to see occurs. This type of synopsis would probably be best on an insert liner in the front of the DVD, but some sort of details on the title menu of the DVD would also be acceptable (especially if you could see what was on the other DVD as well).

Finally, it goes without saying that hopefully next year ESPN will release a much greater amount of coverage from the 2005 WSOP. I'd be interested in picking up a multi-disc set (ten DVDs, maybe?) of coverage from the 2005 WSOP, hopefully including coverage of a lot more events besides the Main Event (Omaha, Hi/Lo, all the Hold'em events, etc).

Once again, I'm extremely impressed with the DVD set and strongly recommend it to everyone, both the hardcore poker fanatics and the casual amateur. Check out ESPNshop.com or championshipdvd.com to order.

Stats update - and a mouse story

Tonight, five SNGS, two first place finishes. So thats 40% ITM and almost 82% ROI for the night. Stats for the week: 33 SNGs, 42.42% ITM, 43.25% ROI. That puts me in the green on $10+1 SNG stats for June and July. Still have some work to do to go in the green lifetime on these, though.

In humorous news, I got to bash a mouse in the head tonight. Those offended by the discovery channel and/or mouse head bashing may wish to stop here.

My mom has cancer and just got back from Mayo, and I took her out tonight to celebrate. Took her home, ducked in to her house to use the restroom, and heard a bloodcurdling scream. I burst out of the bathroom ready to throw down on what I assumed to be a burgler - and came face to face with a ferocious Mus musculus aka common house mouse. My mom is flat out terrorized by mice, like a stereotypical fourties housewife - wants to stand on a chair, and immediately tries getting on the cell phone to my dad. I calmly open the laundry room door to grab a broom to do some mouse bashing, when a second mouse runs out from the laundry room. At this point, I realize I'm in over my head, and call in professional help: Steve, my parent's cat.

A ferocious hunter and purely outdoor cat (lives in the garage, comes and goes as he pleases, mostly lives off wild game but eats at home occasionally), Steve was more than happy to lend a paw. He's a wonderfully friendly cat, immediately extending to greet me with a purr from his window ledge in the garage. But dropped on the floor of my mom's kitchen (where she still was perched on a chair, shrieking), Steve took off like a bullet. Soon he had flushed one of the mice and quickly battered it in to submission, and I had cornered another in the bottom of a closet under some boxes.

I contemplated my options - I've just about decided that I'm going to prod at the boxes in hope the mouse tries to make a run for it (while Steve sits back in the prevent defense) when I spy nothing other than an oldfashioned spring-loaded mousetrap on the closet shelf. Aparently not the first time there's been a mouse in the house. While Steve keeps a watchful eye on the closet, I duck to the pantry and blob a fingerful of creamy peanut butter (moms and mice love Jif!) on to the trap and set the spring. I gingerly place the loaded trap at the base of the boxes, and carry Steve in to the other room to give the mouse a second to work. I hadn't even gotten to the other room before I hear the distinctive BANG!. I drop Steve (as I no longer need to worry about him setting off the trap) and sure enough, he beelines for the closet - and immedately starts pounding the shit out of the trapped mouse.

If you've ever seen a cat in a serious fight/hunt, their paw speed is just amazing - imagine Roy Jones Jr. in his prime, except on meth, and you are watching him fight some poor schmuck on fast forward while you're freebasing cocaine. We're talking eight jabs a second. The doomed mouse had mostly escaped the brunt of the trap - he was pinned by a now-broken back leg, but could move around and was certainly not going anywhere. Steve had arrived like a freight train, and decided the mouse needed a serious roughing up for daring to invade the house on his watch. In the four seconds it took me to close the gap between to the closet, Steve had landed something like 75 jabs and three big uppercuts. The mouse was down faster than Tyson's career.

I applied the fatality with a quick thump on the head, and we were two mice down. Steven and I then roamed the first floor, an efficient killing duo on the warpath - and managed to locate a third mouse behind the trash compactor - Steve crouched at the compactor, tail swishing in hunter mode - I did my duty and pulled the built-in compactor free from the counter. Immediately the third mouse made a run for the border, but was quickly intercepted by the long paw of the law, and dispatched with a frenzy of left-right-left-right-left combinations. Final Score: Cat 3, Mouse 0.

Of course, I did the right thing afterwards - I left all three mouse carcasses on top of the pulled out trash compactor sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor as trophies for my father when he would return from a late night at work.

WSOP Prop bet

I've placed a proposition bet with Sallgeud and Cujofan on the WSOP main event. We each got to draft two players, and the winner will be the person with the highest overall finisher among their two. Cujofan selected Lee Watkinson and John Juanda. Sallgued picked Mike Matusow and Farzad Bonyadi. I selected Phil Ivey and current chipleader Tim Phan. Winner takes all. No one wanted to take Greg Raymer due to his dumping of half his chips late yesterday, but I just about picked him over Phan. Of course, we'll be watching Tao of Poker and Pokerwire for the latest updates...

$10+1 R+A - first attempt

Entered the $10+1 R+1 that I previously blogged about. Running log of interesting plays:

0:00 - First hand, caught AQs and popped 3x the blinds in middle position. Two callers. Flop comes 347 rainbow and I bet the pot (T150). Two callers. Uh, ok. Ace comes on the turn, I push all in (slightly more than the pot). Two callers. Hmm. River brings the 6s - and it turns out I've got the third best hand - one person just completed their gutshot straight (holding a five), another had A3s and called a pot sized bet on the flop with bottom pair. I guess these R+As will take some getting used to. Rebuy #1.

0:30 - Fifteen hands later, caught two black cowboys on the button. Three limpers in front, and I raise 10x the blinds to 250. One caller. Ace hits the flop, I make a 2/3 pot continuation bet and he calls. We check to the river and he turns over A3c. I'm down to 600 chips, so here comes rebuy #2 to put me to T1600 (and $30+3 invested).

0:45 - At the 45-minute mark i catch ATo UTG and I 3x the BB. The big blind calls, i catch two pair (but the ace and ten of clubs) on the flop - i overbet the pot, she folds. Three hands later, with cujofan cheering me on from the rail, I raise preflop from the button over a limper and the blinds with the Krablar. Flop rewards playing the crab with K73-rainbow and I drag a big pot (and do the crab dance). Now sitting just above the average.

1:00 - First break, one hour in. I'm sitting at 2525 with an average of 3272. I'm already playing a $30+3, but eight of the other nine players at the table add-on, so I elect to add on to bring my total to T4025 with a total invested of $40+4. Once play resumes, we've got 567 players left out of 810 entrants, total prize pool of $22,790, first prize of just over $5000. Average stack jumped to $4400.

1:16 - middle position min-raises while I'm in the big blind. The button calls, and getting 5-1 I call with K6o. Flop comes KQ9-rainbow and I lead out for 250 chips (about 1/4th the pot). The initial raiser folds, the button calls, and an Ace hits the turn. We check down. She turns over KJo and drags the pot. After a pass through the blinds, I'm down to T3250. Average stack just over T5250k, 469 players left.

1:32 - I limp ATd just completing from the small blind with two limpers. Flop comes jack high with two diamonds, I check, button bets the pot, I come over the top all-in on a check raise, he goes in to the tank and then calls with QJo. I've got twelve outs on the turn - offsuit nine drops which gives me a gutshot redraw, so I'm sitting at fifteen outs on the river. The river is a blank, and I'm out in 425th place.

I'm not liking these R+A formats at all. My tournament game, which had been running extremely sharp with almost 30% ITM on 1500+ fields in the nightly $15+1 tournaments, is just not seeing the same results. I believe I have not yet adjusted to the early, crazy play of the R+A games, where people are calling with any sort of longshot out and thus something like TPTK becomes a weaker holding when you're up against three callers each drawing to a different five-outer. We'll see, my tournament game remains sharp. But for now - back to the SNGs for tonight. And probably more frequent participation in the $20+2 straight-up MTT in the future.

SNG Update: eight SNGs tonight after/during the two MTTs, 50% ITM with 47.7% ROI. Very solid night.

SNG Sat + Sun

Saturday Update: Per the new goal, still working on getting the $10+1 single table SNGs back in the green. Was able to play a little tonight, this afternoon before going out and a few games after coming back from the bars. Total for the day: 8 SNGs, two 1st place finishes and a 2nd for 37.5% ITM and 47.73% ROI for a positive delta of $42. Not bad at all... one more cash would have been good, but the two first place finishes make up for the weak ITM.

On a personal update, I've managed to sell two of my cars (previous post) and am left with just the M5. Spent part of the day driving around KC test driving a couple potential replacements. Not sure if I'm going to do anything at this time, because I do love my M5, but upgrading to a single year-round car (considering the S4, another TT, or possibly a 545i) instead of buying a second car for incliment weather (especially November - February) seems like its -in the words of poker legend Bill Fillmaff - PLUS EEEEEE-VEEEEE.

Sunday Update: Total for the weekend: Fifteen $10+1 SNGs entered. In The Money 40% of the time, with three 1st, two 2nd, and a 3rd for a +$65 return. Not as much time to spend on poker today as hoped.

Rebuy, Add-On. Sigh.

The month of July brought a tournament schedule change at Party Poker, replacing my usual nightly $15+1 NL tourney at 7:40 local time with a $10+1 Rebuy + Add-on tourney. I've never played an R+A tournament before, and to help prepare myself for the $10+1 R+A MTT that I'm sure i'll end up playing some, I entered a $5+1 R+A tournament. 1439 entrants for a total prize pool of $22,060 once the R+A's were done.

Tonight was suckout city against me, unfortunately. About ten hands in I raise 3x the blinds into a host of limpers from late position and get a single caller. Flop comes ten high rainbow, i bet half my stack, he pushes, I call. He turns over Ace-Ten clubs (single club on the board). I'm exctatic - early double-up time. But the board comes runner runner clubs and bam, rebuy #1. I go back in to my usual tight poker, and purchase another rebuy when I get blinded down to T900 so I'm up to T2900, effectively making this tournament a $15+1. I play normal tight agressive tournement poker, heavily utilizing both the Gap Concept and Harringon's "continuation bet on a off-texture flop" technique to build to about 3800 in chips by the first break. During the first break I can add on another 1500 chips for another $5, so now i'm $20+1 invested.

I keep running tight, sitting about T3500 when I get cowboys UTG+1. I raise 3x the blinds, get re-raised, and push back over the top. I get called by QQ, and now i'm in monster shape - I'll double to more than the average and be in great shape for a run at the money. Instead, he catches a queen on the turn and I'm out in 890th or so. On top of that, I'm only 1/4 on $10+1 SNGs tonight with a single third place. However I did manage 1/2 on $5+1 Omaha Hi/Lo SNGs with a first place finish there, to make a little back at least.

Cujofan was running well in the same tournament, sitting above average with about 400 left, but then cracked out somewhere around 380, bleeding off chips and getting blinded out to the point he had to push about 2.5xBB with ace high preflop and got bounced.

2004 WSOP DVD released

Just got word thanks to Human Head and Drizz that the 2004 WSOP DVD has been released. Pretty reasonable price at $19.95 for a 3-disc set. Check out ESPNshop.com or championshipdvd.com to order. It should be available in retail outlets in a couple of months, as well. In other WSOP news, you should know that today is the first day of the main event of the WSOP. Hit my WSOP links section to the right (especially Pauly's wonderful daily updates) for the latest news from this year's WSOP.

Here's the full text of the press release:

ESPN Original Entertainment’s 2004 World Series of Poker Now Available on DVD
NEW YORK (June 28, 2005) — The poker phenomenon is still raging and so is its highest stakes game, No-Limit Texas Hold’Em. To the delight of poker fans nationwide, ESPN Original Entertainment and DVD Marketing Inc. have compiled the complete 2004 World Series of Poker’s Main Event, a six-day shoot-out between the crème de la crème of the poker world and wildcard amateurs to capture the multi-million dollar cash prize, onto an ultimate must-have three-disc DVD set. The DVD set, packed with bonus features and more than 11 hours of poker action, will be available for online purchase as of today at www.espnshop.com and www.championshipdvd.com with a suggested retail price of $19.95. Availability in retail outlets will follow.
“Our fans will really enjoy the 2004 WSOP DVD collection because we’ve loaded it with four hours of bonus content,” said Victoria Stevens, vice president, ESPN. “It’s great for people who enjoy poker and dream of someday making it to the final table at the game’s biggest stage.”
A record-breaking 2,576 players, more than triple the number from last year, came to Las Vegas for the 2004 World Series of Poker. Once again, it was a virtual unknown in the poker world that would beat the poker masters and garner the top prize. Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, a patent attorney from Connecticut, parlayed a $160 online entry fee into $5 million in winnings and the coveted WSOP title.
This DVD set contains ESPN Original Entertainment’s final 10 programs from the telecast of the 2004 World Series of Poker, which earned a 1.7 rating for more than 1.5 million viewing households. Hosted by ESPN commentators and poker aficionados, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, the DVD is presented in fullscreen (1.33:1) digital video without commercial interruption, and includes revealing interviews of star players, basic rules of No-Limit Texas Hold’Em and four hours of bonus features. Chapter points set at the key rounds allow the viewer to jump directly to the action putting them in control of every frame of video as ESPN captures the emotion, strategy and luck in route to crowning the champion of the World Series of Poker.
The unprecedented four hours of bonus features include:
* Top-10 moments from the 2004 tournament
* A Greg Raymer commentary
* A Greg Raymer All Access
* Greg Raymer’s Bio
* A Stu Unger feature
* Beyond the Felt: Poker Talk segment
* Coverage of the $1,000 Buy-In No-Limit Texas Hold’Em
* Coverage of the $2,000 Buy-In Pot Limit Omaha
* Tournament of Champions feature
* Coverage of the Kansas City Lowball event, exclusive only to the DVD

July 4th update

So as previously discussed we held a good-sized homegame tournament this weekend. We ended up with eighteen entrants and a $360 prize pool. We played essentially a Party Poker two-table SNG format: 40% paid to first, 10% paid to fourth.

We had an interesting mix of players. A couple first timers, who were students of the game but had never actually played for money before. We had a couple players who were clearly more interested in getting (or already being) drunk than playing - we had one such player bust out on the first hand, less than two minutes in. And we had a handful of players we hadn't seen before, several of whom turned out to be pretty solid.

We spread two tables, of nine and eight respectively. I got seated at the larger table, with a lot of the solid players and a couple new players. I played my usual tight-aggressive SNG game - I literally think I played three pots the first hour, winning the blinds with KK once, doubling up with KK or AK later, and raising pre-flop with 77 in late position and folding it to someone betting out on a scary flop.

Not a lot of interesting hands. A party poker player by the handle Sallgeud (aka Chad) was able to run over the first table and built a massive chiplead on the rest of the field early. When we finally consolodated down to the final table, we looked like this:

• Sallgeud aka Chad - monster chipleader, new to poker, tight aggressive but still mostly "by the book"
• Sal aka Mr. Corleone - new to Hold'em but a solid poker player and experienced gambler
• Edmonds aka D-Eddy, who has come a long way in his play in recent months, also the winner of our last major tournament
• Wags aka D-Dub a tight, solid player who consistently finishes in the money
• Cujofan - sitting medium stack but always a threat due to very aggressive playstyle,
• Randy who was new to our games but seemed very solid
• Myself, playing very tight to this point and under the average stack
• Someone I can't remember, who'll call "Goose", was second in chips at the time of consolodation
• My younger brother Ryan

"Goose" was the first of the final table to go home, despite being second in chips. I took a good amount of chips away from him a couple times - he'd been able to play pretty loose and operate like a calling station at the first table, taking away some big pots from the maniacs over there, but at the second table he ran in to tighter players and quickly bled away his chips.

My brother Ryan won the "dick move of the night" award (well, second to the drunk guy who threw a bratworst, missed his target and nearly hit one of the player's pregnant wife -and was thusly bounced from the party) when he turned over middle pair (a seven) but neglected to turn the second card (the nut flush) until Cujofan turned over a higher pair. Slightly in his defense I think he really thought the middle pair was good anyways as it seemed like he was trapping with the flush and expected a raise on the end - but it ended up looking pretty shady. Cujofan certainly wasn't happy. Ryan was knocked out next from the final table, making a calculated bluff all-in against four attempted limpers, but one ended up calling his bluff and he was KO'd.

I was involved in only a couple big pots: I doubled up off my brother once, and then trippled up a few hands later getting two callers when I flopped a full house, check-called the flop and then pushed on the turn when a second flushcard hit the board, making it look like I was agressively betting the flush, and managed to get two callers (both had at least double my stack). This put me in great position for a run at the top.

There were a couple suckouts on the way to the money, but nothing major - Cujofan caught a six-outer at one point on D-Dub, but the way the betting went he only needed eight outs to call the re-raise so it wasn't a terrible call on his part. Sal hung on quite a while but was knocked out with top pair against a flopped two pair. Edmonds got KO'd by Sallgeud, who I believe ended up sucking out a five-outer by pairing his other hole card. Randy bubbled out in fifth, and we entered the money with Wags, Cujofan, myself and Sallgeud still with a major chiplead.

Wags was first out, getting KO'd by Sallgeud with another minor suckout filling in another fourflush (i believe). Sallgeud now had a monster chiplead on Cujofan and I - we both won a few big pots and ran back to the point where we were just about even. Eventually Cujofan got his money in the middle against Sallgued holding top pair against a medium pair (and a three-flush) and Sallgeud caught runner-runner clubs to turn his pocket pair into a weak flush. After that major suckout, Sallgeud was back with a commanding chiplead. We played one hand heads-up which I won, then I pushed next hand with top pair against his pocket sevens (plus fourflush, the flop was all diamonds and one of his sevens was a diamond) and he completed the fourflush again to knock me out and claim first prize. We could have played a decent game heads up, but given that it was already 2:45 (or something like that) AND that I had to drive him home (30 minutes each way) after the game was over, I wasn't about to spend any significant time playing heads up for the $40 delta between 1st and 2nd.

A great game, and a fun time was had by everyone... a great takedown by Sallgeud who led pretty much start to finish, and a solid showing for the hometeam (all four money finishers were part of our usual group of players).

Quick Update

Only had a tiny bit of time for cards tonight. Busted out in 5th and 7th in two $10+1 SNGs, losing in the first with AJd against AQo, pushing pre-flop as a semi-bluff from middle position with the 2nd shortest stack trying to gather the blinds. Busted out in the other when the flop hit EVERYONE involved hard. I was on the button and raised 3x the blinds with ATc, properly executing the Gap Concept. Both blinds called. Flop comes down A-J-T rainbow. Both blinds check and I raise half my stack thinking my two pair is golden and both blinds were just trying to defend with mediocre hands against my frequent steals. However, the small blind calls, the big blind pushes, so now I push, and the small blind calls! Turns out the big blind had AJo and hit a bigger two pair - and the small blind held KQo for the flopped straight. He is up against eight collective outs (i've got three outs, the remaining tens, the bigger two pair has five outs in the remaining jacks and the two remaining aces) or a couple longshot runner runner situations, but neither of the two pairs can improve and he busts us both.

I make up for it dropping in to a Omaha Hi/Lo SNG and taking first prize. I completed several monster hands tonight, winning big pots with the highs (several full houses, several nut flushes, several nut straights) and dropped a couple low straights to pickup the low as well as the high. I'm becoming a big fan of Omaha Hi/Lo. I'm not too sure on the hand selection yet (I generally can recognize a monster hand pre-flop, but not really where the various cutoffs for playable hands are yet) so I tend to see a lot of flops when they're cheap and if I can build up a big chiplead (as I did tonight - I was 3-1 on the table with only three players out and 6-1 on the final player when it went heads up) I will generally be able to apply a lot of pressure. I've started re-reading the Omaha Hi/Lo section of Helmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros, following which I plan to disect Bobby Baldwin's Hi/Lo section of Super System 2 - incidentally two of the many books I overviewed in "Poker Books I Recommend".

This weekend we've got a large group of people coming in to town. We're hosting a cookout and poker tournament on Sunday night - right now we've got fourteen confirmed players, so this could grow to three tables if a high percentage of the "maybes" decide to show. If you're close to Kansas City and not busy Sunday night, drop me an email or a comment and we'll see if we can't get you "a chip and a chair"... Speaking of which, I've also got a new poker table being handcrafted for me by a local friend-of-a-friend who does such things "on the side", which should be completed and delivered by gametime. It will look something like this (a version of the his handiwork built for someone else).