1. 2009-09-19 05:54:26

   Poker Life Updates

   Megan has to work early tomorrow so she's asleep and it's too late for me to start an online session, so I figured I'd catch up on the site. That got me thinking that I haven't really posted here in a while, so I'd write an update for all my lovely fans (hah).

   I haven't really been playing much at all. I might have played 10 times since the WSOP aside from the Monday night online PokerSoup games. I had a good run cashing in those almost every time, but that has stopped for the last month. I played a 40-person tournament not so long ago and drank waaaay too much tequila, especially considering I'm taking medication that increases the effects of alcohol. I didn't do too well. Oops. Stephen of "Stephen and Jeff from Las Vegas" fame was over for my birthday, so we played some small cash games. I ended up being ahead, mostly because my saw a flop of against his and the board didn't pair. Stephen was not hitting much and was finally happy to have a quality hand to get it all in on the turn. Sorry, dude!

   I've been watching the WSOP Main Event on ESPN. It's fun to see Hellmuth playing "every hand". He should have started doing that bout 3 years ago. His edge is his situational game (he can read cards, betting patterns, and body language very well), not so much his nittiness. Is that a word? The guy is a total dick so often, but you gotta love his ability. I'm hoping they show more Ivey as he progresses through the tournament. I'd like to see some of the awesome decisions he makes. How about the army father and the cancer dude? Wow, that is some serious stuff.

   Last night I played in 4 tournaments on Full Tilt: one single-table and three 45-persons. Of course, I was doing other random stuff, so I wasn't paying enough attention to the individual players, but I managed a 2nd place in the single-person game. I got knocked out on a bad beat in one of the 45-person games, made a dumb all in in another one, and bubbled on the third one. Which brings me to:

   $11 5-table (45-person) tournament on Full Tilt. The blinds are at 300/600 and you have 4000 left. You are in 5th place in chips out of 7 players (6th place pays). Your image is relatively tight, but not a nit (they've seen you make loose calls to knock other players out when pot odds demand it). You recently doubled up when you shoved and called (thanks!).

   You are on the button and it folds to you. The players in the blinds have 3000 in chips (1000 less than you). What do you do with your ? I shoved, got called by and lost. I was happy to get my money in good, and even if I decided to only raise pre-flop (raaaarely limping there), the dude rainbow flopped two-pair so he would have checked it to me and I would have c-bet. In other words, I was doomed, this time, but what's the best EV play?

   I'm going with the shove. Or the $2750 bet, just for fun (effectively putting them all in). What you say?

   Posted by Jason M at 2009-09-19 05:54:26

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Comments on “Poker Life Updates”

1. • Posted by timmybrown (unverified) g 2010-01-17 18:32:28
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   • Ax is very strong against 2 randoms esp since you only have <7bb left. It's very positive EV shove.

2. • Posted by Jason M g 2009-12-12 23:18:17
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   • Absolutely the concept, but not by that name :) Thanks for making me look it up and read a bit more on it. This article http://www.pokerjunkie.com/icm-explaining-the-independent-chip-model seems good.

3. • Posted by Svidri g 2009-09-22 16:30:00
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   • Well if he's good and he calls a wide range, then your A-high is probably a favorite. If he's bad and folds a lot, then you will steal the blinds. If he's bad and folds a lot but calls this time, then you are in trouble. There isn't much you can do since you are too short.

     Have you heard of ICM?

4. • Posted by Jason M g 2009-09-21 23:32:53
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   • i never heard of that challenge but i read it and it's pretty crazy. seems like a fun way to make $120k a year.

     i wasn't paying enough attention for the whole tourney (i almost always work while i'm playing and i haven't reinstalled pokertracker), but i was paying attention once the bubble was close. i was surprised by his call because it was the first time he called all in. i guess he thought k-high might be good - maybe i was more active than i thought. i had knocked off a shorter stack when i did the same thing with a suited queen a few revolutions before...

5. • Posted by Svidri g 2009-09-21 19:45:11
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   • I think it depends on your reads on the BB. Ace high has a ton of equity against good players in this spot. The BB needs to call pretty much 100% here with only 5 bbs... This is the famous leak Boku exploited back when he did his first challenge. It looks like the BB is pretty good since he called with K9o.