This year I played in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Placing between 968th -972nd out of 6494 players.Like many of the entrants, I won my $10000 seat playing a "satellite" tournament in a cardroom in my hometown.
Even though I didn't place high enough to cash, it was a great experience. I'll do it again if I get the chance. I had a lot of fun and met many good (and bad) poker players.
I was satisfied with my overall play. At the start of the 4th level on day 3, I had over 300000 chips (about double the average). Unfortunately, one player got lucky and caught 2-pair against my pocket Kings and my chip stack was greatly reduced. About an hour later, the player who had initially raised preflop called my all-in for about 95% of his chips. He had A-K off suite, I had Q-Q and he rivered an ace to knock me out. That's Poker!!!
Not only was this my first time playing in this event, it was also my first time in Las Vegas. I didn't go to any shows or clubs because the purpose of the trip was to make money, so I spent most of my time in Poker rooms. Personally, I recommend the Mirage.
More than any other year, I am looking forward to seeing this year's final table. It should be exciting. There is a lot of talent on this table.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The "streak" is over
Since the inception of the bar poker league "Poker Challenge of America", I have always made it to the final day of the season finals tournament and only one NOT made the final table.
Well that's done now. For the first time I got knocked out on day 1. I did see some spectacularly bad play at my table as well as some solid play. I was getting short stacked, 2 people limped in for 400 and I pushed all-in for 2200 with K-Q off-suite. Only the under-the-gun limper called me so I expected a big ace or a small pair. He called with A-3 off-suite. I was actually happy with the call because it was virtually a coin flip (58-42 in his favor) his ace high won the hand and I was done.
What gets me is that many players in Florida both in bar leagues and in casinos, consider hands like A-3 off-suite premium hands. I have seen a player call a preflop re-raise (the raise was to 7 dollars with 4 callers) of $50 with a suited A-3, then call an all-in bet of $135 with bottom pair (I had a set of Queens) and a backdoor flush draw. Yes he hit his flush.
I guess God smiles on the stupid and mentally impaired.
Well that's done now. For the first time I got knocked out on day 1. I did see some spectacularly bad play at my table as well as some solid play. I was getting short stacked, 2 people limped in for 400 and I pushed all-in for 2200 with K-Q off-suite. Only the under-the-gun limper called me so I expected a big ace or a small pair. He called with A-3 off-suite. I was actually happy with the call because it was virtually a coin flip (58-42 in his favor) his ace high won the hand and I was done.
What gets me is that many players in Florida both in bar leagues and in casinos, consider hands like A-3 off-suite premium hands. I have seen a player call a preflop re-raise (the raise was to 7 dollars with 4 callers) of $50 with a suited A-3, then call an all-in bet of $135 with bottom pair (I had a set of Queens) and a backdoor flush draw. Yes he hit his flush.
I guess God smiles on the stupid and mentally impaired.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Poker in South Florida
This is my first post about playing poker in South Florida.
First of all, here in Florida ther is currently a $100 maximum buy-in for cash (non-tournament) poker games. Nevertheless, cardrooms offer up to $5-$10 no-limit Texas Holdem games.
Personally, I think it's ridiculous to play a game where half of your starting money could be lost by simply folding your blinds for 3 turns of the dealer button.
From what I've seen at these tables, while there are good players, the majority seem to be action junkies with money to burn. I have seen a player build up his stack to almost $3000 from his first couple of hundred by playing hands like Jack - 3 suited to all-in raises preflop and within an hour, that same player is taking out a fresh $100 because he lost it all, complaining that the "donkeys" took his money.
Of course, these types of players exist at all table limits. However, at $1-$2 and $2-$5 a player isn't automatically commited to pot on his first hand if he initially called a raise of 5 times the big blind and was re-raised all-in with no ther callers. These lower limits allow a player to depend on luck less.
I personally prefer $2-$5 no-limit holdem. A good player can make about as much as a $5-$10 player in the same amount of time.
For example: I limped in with pocket 6s second to act then called a raise of $20 closing the betting preflop. I could easily fold if I did'nt hit the flop. The flop was Qd-6h-10h. The first 3 players looked at their hole cards and cautiously checked. I suspected that they were on flush draws with one of them havine top pair. I also checked expecting a bet from the initial preflop raiser( very aggressive player). He bet $30, the blinds called and the under the gun player went all-in. I called as did the other players. My read was right. They were all on flush draws with one of them also having top pair. Needless to say, my set of 6s held up and I was up to $500 in the first hand. I left the table 2 hours later with almost $2000.
First of all, here in Florida ther is currently a $100 maximum buy-in for cash (non-tournament) poker games. Nevertheless, cardrooms offer up to $5-$10 no-limit Texas Holdem games.
Personally, I think it's ridiculous to play a game where half of your starting money could be lost by simply folding your blinds for 3 turns of the dealer button.
From what I've seen at these tables, while there are good players, the majority seem to be action junkies with money to burn. I have seen a player build up his stack to almost $3000 from his first couple of hundred by playing hands like Jack - 3 suited to all-in raises preflop and within an hour, that same player is taking out a fresh $100 because he lost it all, complaining that the "donkeys" took his money.
Of course, these types of players exist at all table limits. However, at $1-$2 and $2-$5 a player isn't automatically commited to pot on his first hand if he initially called a raise of 5 times the big blind and was re-raised all-in with no ther callers. These lower limits allow a player to depend on luck less.
I personally prefer $2-$5 no-limit holdem. A good player can make about as much as a $5-$10 player in the same amount of time.
For example: I limped in with pocket 6s second to act then called a raise of $20 closing the betting preflop. I could easily fold if I did'nt hit the flop. The flop was Qd-6h-10h. The first 3 players looked at their hole cards and cautiously checked. I suspected that they were on flush draws with one of them havine top pair. I also checked expecting a bet from the initial preflop raiser( very aggressive player). He bet $30, the blinds called and the under the gun player went all-in. I called as did the other players. My read was right. They were all on flush draws with one of them also having top pair. Needless to say, my set of 6s held up and I was up to $500 in the first hand. I left the table 2 hours later with almost $2000.
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