Hello everybody, Saturday night was a great success with 11 people showing up.

Pocket Jacks

The first hand that I want to talk about is, I get in middle position Jonas in early position raises it to 200 when the blinds are in the beginning stages at 25/50. I decided to come over the top with 800 total thinking either a call or an all in I would be facing. I was going to call regardless I felt like it was the right move to do in the early stages to try and accumulate chips. So, he re raises 1600 it is either AK or he thinks that I am trying to push him around and he is trying to see if I would really call. Or he has Aces or Kings and I would be stupid to call lol (who knows). Little did he know that I was going to call regardless, He ended up with and the board came out 9 high for the win on my part. I will go back to this hand for reference later in the posting.

Queen-Nine

The next hand soon after in the 50/100 stages of the blinds I pick up in the small blind and decided to be the only one to call the button raise of 250 which was Alvin. The flop was I decided to lead out 250 thinking that this was a good board for me to see Alvin raises 500 on top and I called. Turn was a now this gives me more outs. I have 3rd pair and a open ended straight draw. (King or and 8 makes a straight) I lead out for a 700 chip bet and he raises to 2500 which gets me to question.

Does he just have a jack if so I call. If he has two pair I still have a fair amount of cards to catch I decided that I had enough outs to call this bet to win all of his chips on the river. So, With that in mind I called the river was a I checked he bet again now I can't call the Jack was a terrible card to see and I folded. Later on he told me he had KQ, My opinion on having KQ with having a bad straight draw on the flop. He put me on a under pair against his two over cards so I understand why he would call on the flop. This was an unavoidable hand after the turn cause it was so good for me with my hand I am just glad the 8 didn't hit on the river otherwise that would of sucked!!! and Alvin would of had all of my chips.

Ace-King Suited

Last but not least, I pick up of spades huge hand looking for some chips back here and mostly win it all pre flop is my goal. I was under the gun made it 200 to go when I actually wanted to make it 300 couldn't count out my chips right lol. Then Kalib makes it 400 to go and Josh makes it 1000 total so I figured those are some weak ass re raises. I decided after re evaluating the hand that If I raise all in and take it down without a showdown that is what I wanted. If I get called there could be a good chance that I could have one of the two players dominated. So I went all in then was called by Josh with and didn't improve.

Food for Thought

The lesson that I would like to preach here is when you have AK, if you raise and someone reraises, I would suggest a call, waiting to see what happens after the flop. You do this because your side of the hand will be much more clear once the flop hits. Both Jonas and I should of learned that lesson, but the good thing was that it is a cheap lesson. Put that in your arsenal for the future and I believe that AK will be a little bit easier to play in big pots.

This post is the second installment of my bankroll building series. I played at the New Phoenix casino which is 1 of 4 small casinos that they have their.

Happy to Have the Day Off

The day after I came back from my trip to California, I learned that I had the day off of work and decided to play the usual 4-40 game. I bought in for my usual amount of 200, and played tight for a bit. I was just observing the table to see what was going on.

Pocket Queens

I pick up on the button, there are two limper's, and I make it 15 to go. I get two callers and the flop is rainbow. Two checks and I bet out 20 and get one caller. The turn is a - this one foe of mine was a lil tricky so he checks and I bet out 30 to see where my hand is at. He calls and the river is a , so it's unlikely he has a straight I bet the max 40 he calls with his pair of jacks.

So I'm at just over 130 and folded around a bit until I picked up and limped in middle position no reason really just wanted to play a hand that is connected to hit a nice flop and make a bunch of money. Instead, I get 444 on the flop!!!! I check the flop, the turn is a , I bet 10 and get one caller, the river is a , I bet out 20 and get no callers.

In the middle of the session as I am eating my shrimp fried rice order (which is awesome!) the loosest player at the table moves to my left. He took me good last time we played so I didn't like that he was on my left, but it happens.

Building Steam

I ended up going on a streak: limp in with , flop the nuts, no bets on the flop and 1 caller to my 15 dollar bet on the turn. No callers on the river, now I am up to just about 600 total, which is great. I was looking to cash out to be honest. Soon after, I pick up again, make it 17 to go, get two callers, flop so I am thinking to bet enough to get a draw out. Two checks to me, I bet out 20 and get one caller. Right now I have control, but if a spade comes I'll be a little cautious. The turn is a - best card ever - he checks, I bet out 30 and he folds.

The Bluff

After flopping trip eights against the really loose player and getting 60 bucks off him, I came to the best part of my session. About 3 hours into the session, I was playing tight-aggressive and looked like I knew what I was doing. I pick up , limp into a 4-way pot, and the flop is . Two players check and I bet out 15. The loose player calls and the rest fold. The turn is a I bet out 30 and he calls. The river is an (which I thought was a great card to seal my bluff if he didn't believe me). Now I looked strong on the flop and even stronger on the turn when the high card came on the river with a straight draw on the board it looked like I was chasing, I bet 40 on the river (max bet) and he folded. I showed my bluff and got great props from the table and cashed out up a very nice amount.

Food for Thought

To sum up my session, I think I played very solid, made the right moves, ate some good shrimp fried rice, and pulled off a great bluff opposite to my table image (which, by the way, was the single biggest factor that I was able to get away with my bluff).

Finally my big win up 484!!! Now the roll is at 1,425 - almost to my ten buy-in goal, so tune in next time as I chronicle my 4-40 experience.

Hello everybody, the third tournament started with five players, but two people showed up a little bit late. That didn't matter - it turned out to be fun anyway. To sum up my tournament, I had very bad cards and pocket pairs that didn't hit, so I was pretty much there just trying to survive. Even at 100/200 blinds, nobody was out. There were a couple of short stacks, though, and finally Alvin busted first. After that hand, I am sitting with 4,700 (started with 5,000) so not too bad of standing. I pick up , Matt raises just after under the gun. The next two people fold to me and I raise all in. It was a tough call for him, because if he called and lost he would only have 3,400 left, but he called anyway, which surprised me. Matt turns over pocket 10's, much to my dismay, and I didn't catch up. I ended up in 6th place.

Check out the point standings - it is a log jam for 3-6 places. In the coming tournaments it will separate itself out. We hope to see everyone for the next tournament coming up on the 29th.

Thank you to everyone for making this league a success. See everyone Saturday!

• Location: Lucky Chances Casino Colma, CA
• Game: 1/1/2 NL
• Buy-In: $200
• Date: 10/04/07

This post is the first of my continuing series about trying to establish my bankroll. I will slowly post all the past sessions that I took notes on. I had been working on my bank roll in small cash games and a few visits to my local casinos in La Center for a couple months previous to this.

I was in town on vacation for 3 days. I got off the Bart after some confusion about getting picked up but Jason came through. Jason and I arrived at the casino - a very big room, bigger than I expected. The game of choice was 1-1-2 NL with the button paying a dollar. I sat down and it turns out a very loose player is to my left so it seemed like a good table to be at.

The first hand I picked up was under the gun, I made it 16 to go and got three callers - didn't like that too much, but it happens. The flop was rainbow, the blinds check, I bet out 15 and take the pot.

In the cutoff position I pickup with two limpers before me I limped in with the button and the blinds followed. The flop came , it was a decent flop but I had to be careful here. Everyone checks to me and I bet out 18 and got one caller. The turn is the - GREAT CARD - I bet out 28 and was called. The river was a , I bet out 40 he calls and my two-pair held.

After this I tighten up - Missed a nut flush draw and folded most of my hands. I picked up Aces and didn't make much. I picked up and flopped a set but with minimal action, A little frustrating but still up just over 100 which is fine.

Then, towards my last few hands I picked up in middle position. I limped with five-way action - flop is . One guy bets out 10, I raise to 24 and he calls. The turn is an so I bet out 26 and he calls. The river is the - WORST CARD IN THE DECK - he checks I check and he ended up making a flush on the river.

So overall a good session - cashed out up 41 bucks (better than losing). The bankroll is up to 950 now, but I'm still looking for that big win. I'll post about another session from the same week when I get a chance. Thanks for reading!

Thank you for coming

I want to start out thanking everyone for coming, It turned out to be a very solid cash game. We started at 6:30pm and ended at 10pm. I bought in for 40. From all of the hands I received, I would like to share two hands in particular.

First hand

I pick up in the big blind for a 5-way pot. The flop comes out the small blind checks, I bet out $2.50. Justin calls me so I will have to see what he does on the turn, because with limping in there is a small chance that the flop helped him.

Turn is a small card so I bet out $10 and he decides for a small amount of time and calls. At this point, this a puzzling call - he could have K10 and really wants to bust me. Maybe KJ or QJ (trapping me) and just wants to see what I am going to do when the river comes. Or he could just be busting my balls with Ace high - who knows? The river is a , which doesn't really affect the hand. I highly doubt he would have AK in this situation the way the betting was going. I checked the river to show down and he bets out 15 dollars.

I sit back and my thought process was. I really put him on 3 Queens and or KJ so I wanted to see it just in case he was pulling off a bluff, but I also didn't want to call and see what I was thinking due to the good chance he would have the hands I was putting him on. I decided to fold. He told me after the game that he bluffed me. Do I believe him? (sort of) But it was a excellent play on his part if it was. Hats off to you on a good hand.

Second hand

The second hand that I want to discuss is a very crazy hand that I am still shocked about. I started the hand with around 68 dollars and pick up under the gun and make it $3.00. Four callers! The flop is that is a good board to see if you have Queens, because it is a very low chance that the players would have a Jack and if someone has a 9 you should get paid off accordingly. Someone could have Q10 but I think here you have to think your good here. Two people check to me and I bet out $6.00, there was one caller and the turn is an 8. With a 10 on the river, I would make my straight. So I ended up betting out $10.00 again to apply pressure. He thinks about it and calls. Now I am baffled on this call - if he had a jack here why wouldn't he raise me all in or if he had Q10 he would have made his hand and would try and get me all in.

The river comes out a 3rd Jack on the board now I have a full house with only 3 hands that could beat me KK, AA, or any Jack. He goes all in, I immediately call, and he has JACK 6!!!!!! He called a pre-flop raise with that hand and just got super lucky. Maybe my problem was I might have pushed too hard but with that river card it is nearly impossible to fold that hand unless your name is Daniel Negreanu. Then you would maybe think about pitching it away but I just can't see I could of gotten away from it.

Well thanks for checking out the entry, stay tuned for more soon, and again, thanks to everyone that made the cash game a fun night overall.

Definiton

So your probably thinking squeeze play,what is that? Well the definition, would be your in middle to late position. An aggressive player to the right of you raises 2.5 or 3 times the big blind. The next player thinks about it and calls cause he knows that this player can be stealing then the next player folds. You pick up let's say and your table image is very solid and tight. You either re-raise all in or just put out a very stiff raise to tell the other players, don't mess with me here I mean business. I am going to explain why this is a very good tournament move and why it can be very effective in the later stages of a tournament.

Wsop 2004 Final Table

If you watch the final table of the 2004 main event you would see Dan Harrington do the "squeeze play" I believe he had 52 off suit and got the to other players to fold. With Josh Arieh raising on the button with K9 and Greg Raymer called with A7 or so. How about we go and take a look at table image.

Table Image

How to keep them guessing on your image, is NEVER show your cards when your playing with strangers do not give them free information. Unless, you have to show down and if you are in showdowns and you only show premium hands then you have a tight table image. But if you are raising quite a bit and not showing the best hands your opponents will give you less credit if you try and bully them out with a not so stellar hand.

Where This Play Works

Here is a situation when the squeeze play would work perfect. You are in middle position under the gun folds the next player (very aggressive player) Raises you notice, during the tournament that he does this quite often. The player next to him recognizes that and calls his raise with a semi premium hand. The next player folds and now it is up to you. You pickup 57 off suit now your not looking at your cards and saying "57 off suit I Immediately fold" it is recognition that you have a tight solid table image. Your opponents know that you mean business in your pots that you enter. With this in mind you re raise a really big amount. For example, let's say the blinds are 20,000 & 40,000 the aggressor makes it 120,000 to go and the other player calls you would make it somewhere between 350,000 or 425,000. The aggressor would fold because he knows that he just got his hand caught in the cookie jar. Player B would fold because he knows that you just put out a stiff re-raise with 2 players that have already acted. More times than not that means a very strong hand.

Food for Thought

That is why table image is very important with this move this is a very advanced play that you should pay very close attention on what kind of players you are dealing with. When making this play, cause it could burn you very bad if the move is made in the wrong situation.

Please give as much feedback as possible with this post the more the better!!! Tune in for more tournament strategy postings.

Hello everybody, I am back to tell you about the second tournament of the Vancouver Poker Tour. I was a little late getting there from work but it worked out fine. First hand I sat down I was delt blinds are 25/50 and make it 250 to go with 1 caller, the flop comes I lead out by testing the waters with a bet of 200 my opponent calls. The turn is a I bet out 400 he calls, without question with no reraise I am not that scared of the ace you would think if he had AQ or so he would of re raised me here. River is a I bet out 700 he thinks about it and calls I show my jacks and they are good he tells me, "I thought I had a 10 but I really had nothing" lol for you to avoid this to happen to you, just look again or know nicknames for hands so you don't have to look again.

This is the hand I ended up getting knocked out in. I am in the big blind the blinds are 50/100 everyone folds to the small blind which was Alvin he just calls. I am holding I raise 300 more Alvin calls. Flop is he checks to me I bet out 400 he raises to 800 I sit back and think and decide that my ace is good enough in this situation to showdown. So I went all in he looks at me and says, "did you say all in?" This means two things either fold right away or he will call right away he ended up calling and showed and didn't catch up on the turn and river.

Overall great tournament very much looking forward to how the season will turn out.

The results are posted here: http://pokersoup.com/tournament/show/114

Big thanks to the Poker Soup guys and don't forget to check out the Vancouver Poker Tour standings throughout the season.