Summer Classics 2008

Alright.. I'm back with the report from last weeks games.. the Summer Classics 2008 @ Holland Casino Utrecht..

It was a real nice experience to play in a big tournament.. I met with some collegues from work to travel to Utrecht together.. we got there at 1PM.. subscribed for the tourney and sat down at the tables..

The first tournament was a 100€ single rebuy/addon LIMIT hold'em event. Yes... LIMIT. That's something none of us knew.. and it was a big surprise.. especially since we have never ever played limit hold'em before.. it was weird to adapt to the game.. I wasn't aware of any of the limit strategies.. so I just tried to play a tight game.. Going to the flop with premium hands and also suited connectors.. try to hit the flop, if not.. get out of the pot.. There were 200 participants in this tourney.. and I had a really boring run of cards.. I ended up folding almost all my hands, playing very few.. I never had any ups or downs.. I made it to the last 50 players.. only the first 14 would end up in the money.. the blinds were getting high and I was short-stacked, when finally I get an "okay" hand to raise and go all-in on the flop.. I got JJ.. I raise.. everyone folds because I have been playing pretty tight.. I got one call.. But because of my raise, i'm left with almost NO chips.. not even enough to pay the big blind.. So I said to myself, whatever comes on the flop.. i'm going all-in.. Flop was bad for me.. it was Q73.. I go all-in, offcourse the other person calls.. and shows KQ.. turn & river didn't save me, and I was eliminated in 49th place.. I'm happy with this tourney because I feel that I didn't make any mistakes.. I just had an extremely bad & boring run of cards.. So I was unable to build a nice stack.. and because of that, I had to play tight.. Altough it was limit.. I think I did a pretty good job to end in 49th place for my first tourney ever! 

Total cost of this tourney : 300€ (plus 200€ of losses on the caribbean poker because my collegues didn't want to leave the casino immediatly :( .. )

The day after we went back for another tourney in the Summer Classics 2008.. the 200€ unlimited rebuy/addon event.. I was seated on an extremely loose table, in the rebuy period.. so loose that it really discuted me, and has made me HATE unlimited rebuy tournaments.. from the very first hand people started going all-in with junk hands.. especially one guy who went all-in with almost every hand he got.. Finally I'm dealt AA after a few hands.. Like always, one guy raises, the loose guy goes all-in.. offcourse I call.. the raiser calls also.. Me and the raiser have about 500 chips left (from the starting 1500) Flop comes KQJ.. very bad flop for 2 Aces.. the raiser goes all-in.. I have to call offcourse.. He shows me KT.. no flush draw, but toppair and a straight draw.. the loose guy who went all-in showed 67s .. so he was almost drawing dead.. Turn is blank and offcourse the river is a 9 so the guy makes his straight.. and tripples up. I lost my stack twice again with all-in raises.. but I don't remember the hands.. then in the last hand I get JJ.. 2 loose guys go all-in, I call.. and I win the race.. trippeld up.. and I took the addon also. So i've got about 6500 chips after the break, an okay position.. first hand after the break I get TT.. Everyone folds, I raise pretty big.. 2 callers.. flop comes 963 rainbow.. I tought a good flop for TT.. one guy checks, the other one raises .. I'm thinking he's trying to steal the pot or holds A9 .. So i have to reraise him to see where i'm at.. the other guy folds, and the raiser re-re-raises me all-in ... at this point i'm pretty much discusted offcourse.. I already donated half my stack into the pot, wich is now getting really big.. I asked the dealer to count his all-in and there was a misunderstanding with me and the dealer.. he told me 1800 and I tought that that was the total ammount, so I said call.. but the dealer meant 1800 on top of my raise.. so it actually put me all-in.. instead of an extra 1800.. and since I already announced "call" I had to call.. I was discusted because there is a big diffirence between being all-in and still having 2000 chips in front of you.. I was pretty sure he had a set or something, but I said call because I thought I would still have about 2000 chips in front of me wich is still enough to play a little.. but now I was almost all-in (only 300 chips left) .. and yep, offcourse.. he showed me a set of 6's .. and there was no savior on the turn or river.. So i'm left with 300 chips, just after the break.. and I felt really bad and mad at the dealer also because he confused me.. so yeah, this was bad play.. I had the feeling i was against a set but I just couldn't lay it down because the pot was getting so big and I already donated more then half my stack to it.. and I had the overpair so yeah.. pff.. eventually I got blinded out, finished in 99th place (with 140 participants)..

Total cost of this tourney : 1000€ .....

Total cost of the summer classics : 1500€ .. this is a little to much for me.. I didn't know that the rebuy tourney was gonna cost me 1000€ .. these losses cracked my bankroll.. wich is now BELOW 0 .. so I'm going to have to reload offcourse.. wich I will.. just not sure of how much yet.

I also made a few rules for myself:

- Only play 2/2 cash games

- Only play single rebuy or freezeout tourneys

- And... try to win :p

Fun experience.. but costly.. and a little dissapointing offcourse.. but I will be back.. I will play the freezeout tourney in Valkenburg and also the single rebuy & freezeout tourney in Breda.. these tourneys are in october..

Next up:

2/2 NL Cash game @ Holland Casino Breda on Wednesday..

Stay tuned :o

Live game..

So I went to the cash-tables in the Holland Casino in Breda.. 2/2 NL.

Early on, I lost 2 big hands.. I remember this hand:
- I have KJs .. On the button. People limp to me, I decide to raise it up.. 4BB. 3 callers.. Flop comes 259 rainbow.. Everyone checks, I check.. Turn 8.. Everyone checks, I check.. River J.. Everyone checks, I bet 24.. One caller, who shows "AA" .. Okay then.. That pot wasn't so bad but it discusted me that the person showed AA..

- I have A5s .. Someone raises small, I call.. few other callers. Flop is 34Q .. with 2 spades (I have suited spades).. Someone bets small, I call.. few others call aswell.. Turn comes a 6.. Someone bets small, I call.. 2 other callers.. River comes 8.. Everyone checks, I try to steal the pot because I smell weakness .. Bet pretty big .. One caller, who shows "AA" AGAIN.. what's up with these slowplayers ??

Further on the evening I get NO hands at all.. I try to see some flops with some mediocre hands, flop nothing.. I get blinded out.. Eventually I get ATs .. I raise, one caller.. Flop comes T52.. I raise, I get reraised.... I tought that he had a T .. or a medium pocket pair.. and that he tought I was raising just to see where I was at, and if my AK or something hit nothing.. So I reraised all-in because I felt I was pretty strong there.. He calls.. and shows "JJ" .. So I lost my stack there completely.. I rebought for 400 .. So I was in 800€. Finally I got a few nice hands, won some nice pots.. ended the evening with 630€ in front of me.. so I ended up loosing 170€.

Live bankroll : 480€

I subscribed for the Summer Classics 200€ rebuy/addon tourney also.. So.. my planning for next week is:

Monday : Holland Casino Breda (Cash games 2/2)
Tuesday : Summer classics 08 in Utrecht (100€ single rebuy/Addon tourney)
Wednesday : Summer Classics 08 in Utrecht (200€ rebuy/addon tourney)
Thursday : Holland Casino Breda (Cash Games 2/2)

We'll see how it goes...

Tried the internet again..

So I was bored and I still had a few hours to kill before tonight's live game.. So I thought I might try the internet tables since I found out that I still had a 65$ bankroll on FullTilt..

Since I find cashgames on the internet extremely boring, I chose to play some SnG's..

First one was a 11$ buy-in turbo FR SnG.. in one of my first hands I got knocked down to the shortstacked because I couldn't laydown my Top pair with medium kicker.. But I got myself back up again and I ended up winning the SnG.. winning 49$ and upping my bankroll to 100$..

I saw a system-message that the 7K guarantee was about to start.. and there were "only" 350 entrants.. with a 25$ buy-in.. first price was 2,5k .. So I took a shot.. My tournament got ended early because of the following hand: I have KTs .. i'm on the button.. everyone folds to me.. I raise to 3BB.. the 2 blinds call. Flop comes T42 rainbow.. someone raises, one calls, I re-raise.. the original raiser calls me, other one folds.. river is a 7.. I make a big bet because that openend a flush-draw .. he re-raises me all-in for like 300 more chips so I had to call and he shows me AT.. I know I should have layed it down but damnit.. :)

Now i'm participating in the Double Shootout sattelite to the 750K guarantee tournament.. It was only 3$ buyin and only 39 entrants so.. That's a nice opportunity to get into the 250$ buy-in tournament with a 750k guarantee :)

** update : I ended in third place on my table.. we were the last remaining table, blinds were getting very high and we ended up pushing it all-in .. all three of us .. I had A8s, the 2 others had QTs and K9o .. so I liked my chances.. but there came a K on the flop.. So he won it all and placed for the final table..

So.. my internet bankroll is back to 65$ .. Next up will be the live game :)

I'm back..

I took a break in Poker for about a year or so.. since I had some other interests and had a few bad beats in my last games (that I forgot to blog.. sigh :)) 

But now I'm back.. more than ever.. Playing live-games every week now. I will start to blog all my games from now on.. and I will quickly inform you about the games that I had last week..

Monday morning after work me and 3 collegues played a little cash game.. I wich I ended up break-even but then won 200€ on "high-card draws" with one of them :)

That's when I said.. okay.. I've got 200€ profit now, I will be using that to play poker and start up a bankroll.. 

Tuesday is never a working day for me, so that will be the day that I hit the Casino in Breda where they have 3 NL poker tables with 2/2 blinds.. So I sat down with 200€.. went up and down, played some nice hands, etc.. eventually I ended up with 600€ of profit.. wich upped my bankroll to 800€.

Few days later I went back to the tables.. but I was on the waiting list to get a seat so I tried my luck with the Caribbean stud poker.. lost 200€ there.. damnit.. then finally sat down at the table, and ended up winning 100€ there after a lots of ups and downs.. wich gives me a total of 100€ loss.. wich downed my bankroll to 700€

Then.. tonight.. The people where I used to play my home games called me up and told me that they were planning a game.. so offcourse I went down.. Sat down with 25€.. won some pots, but then lost it all.. rebought for 25€.. lost it all.. rebought for 50€ (100€ total) and finally started to play some solid poker.. won some nice pots, sucked out a 2 times on a big pot.. god I love it.. I'm dealt QJo .. someone raises, it's folded to me.. I call.. flop comes QJT.. scary board but I hit 2 pair.. I raise, he reraises.. I have to call.. although I was fearing AK.. turn comes a blank.. I check, he raises me all-in.. But he only had like 25€ left in a pot of 130 or so.. So i had to call.. he shows me AK.. but the river comes another Q and I make my fullhouse :)

After that I'm dealt AK.. I raise, one caller.. flop comes 47J.. I raise, he re-raises me all-in .. but the re-raise all-in was only 10€ more in a pot of 90€ so.. offcourse I had to call.. turn comes a T.. river comes a Q.. I make my straight, lol :-) 

So there we are.. I bought in for 100€.. Buid up my stack to 400€.. the end is near, when the following hand happened..

I've got T5s.. Someone makes a small raise, everybody calls, so yeah.. I call to since it was one of the last hands.. flop comes T5Q.. original raiser raises 50€ wich makes the pot 100€.. everyone folds.. I put him on AQ so I re-raise him to 150€.. he calls.. turn comes a 2 but opens possibility for a flush.. he checks.. I bet 100€.. he moves all-in for 160€.. offcourse I call the remaining 60€.. he shows Q9.. even worse then I thought, so I have the best hand.. but then the dealer shows me a 9 on the river, wich gave him a higher 2-pair.. and shrinked my stack to 50€.. so I ended up losing 50€ that night.. instead of winning 300€.. BAH ! So.. my live bankroll is down to 650€

But.. I have to say.. My play really got better.. I'm currently reading "theory & practice" by David Sklansky .. and reading the twoplustwo forums.. and watching lots of poker episodes on pokertube.. and i'm also thinking about subscribing to deucescracked of cardrunners community to improve my game some more.. Also, something very important.. I feel alot more comfortable at the table and the stakes I play because I'm making much more money now with my Job that I did last year.. so I can take a few bad beats.. and I'm not scared to get my money in the pot..

Next up:

Tommorow we are going back to Holland Casino in Breda for a night of 2/2 NL..

Next week I am playing the Summer Classics 2008 in Holland Casino in Utrecht.. it's a tournament with 100€ buy-in.. single rebuy & addon.. and 180 entrants.. 13 first places are in the money..

Live bankroll : 650€ (still have to pay the buyin for the tournament)

Next update is coming tommorow.. :)

Back on track!

Heya,

I promised that I would keep you updated about my game tonight..

After last week, I was hoping to play a little better.. since that last week I made a lot of errors. I started out slowly.. Bought in for 20€, went up to about 70€ and then I lost it all, with this hand: I'm dealt QQ, I raise before the flop, I get a few callers (wich is very normal in our game, hardly anyone folds before the flop). Flop comes J73 with 2 clubs. 2 people check, one raises, and 2 others call his raise.. I don't want the drawers to stay in, so I reraise all-in because the pot was worth it. Everyone folds except the original raiser, who has KJ. So he needs to hit a K or a J, and offcourse, on the river, he hits a K, wich gives him 2pair.

Alright, I rebuy 30€ .. I loose it all on a few small pots. I got a few nice cards, but I never hit anything on the flop.. and Seeing a flop in this game mostly costs around 6€ .. So it's expensive. I rebuy for another 50, I slowly climb my way up to +- 150€ when I get pot comitted into a pot, where I had 2pair .. But got beaten by a flush on the river ..

I only brought 250 this week, so I bought in for the maximum I had left, wich was 150€. Things totally went my way now.. I got great cards, I hit great flops, I was on FIRE! One of the memorable hands was this one: I'm dealt AA. I raise before the flop, everyone calls. Flop comes QQA .. I have the absolute nuts, unless someone holds QQ .. Wich is very unlikely. I check. Someone raises, 2 people call, another reraises, another one re-reraises, I just call, everyone calls. It seems like everyone got a piece of this flop.. Turn comes a blank. I check again, someone raises, 2 people fold, another one reraises, another one calls, I call, and the original raiser calls. River card put a flush on the table.. So the ones who were chasing their flush, hit it now.. What a dream come true for me :) I check again! Someone raises, another one reraises, 2 people call, and now I re-reraise all-in .. 3 people called, one folded .. 2 of them had a Q, the other one had the ace-high flush .. But I beat them all with my aces full. I took down a pot worth 400€.

Things didn't stop me for me.. I was making straights, flushes, sets, .. and 8 hands in a row I got these cards: AA, QQ, AK, AQ, AK, TT, AJ, 44 .. All great cards, and most of the time I hot something. My stack was build up to 900€ .. I was the massive chipleader. I was playing the field, raising pots, stealing pots, really using the chips to my advantage.

Near the end I get involved into this one.. I'm holding 57 of clubs. Flop comes 46Q (with 2 clubs). I check, someone raises, another one reraises, everyone calls.. I deffinatly call also. I have an open-end straightdraw with a flushdraw.. Massive hand. I can't fold that.. Turn comes a blank 9. The original raiser from the flop, raises all-in .. more then 200€. Everyone folds.. I'm left with the hard decision. I've got the chips, I've got an open-end straightdraw and a flushdraw .. I'm sure he has me beat now, but he is not chasing a straight or a flush, so I figure that I have him beat if I hit my hand .. I put him on AQ or something .. I doubted for a little while, but I made the call .. He had AA, so indeed .. I needed a club, a 3 or a 8.. But unfortunatly the river gives a blank, so my stack shrinks a little ..

One more hand is really worth mentioning .. Wauw, what a hand .. Some might think it's crazy play.. But I did it, and everyone at the table congratulate me at the end of the hand, saying that I earned it, that I had balls. Here is what happenend:

I get TT. I raise, 4 people call. Flop comes 367. I raise the pot. Everyone folds except one, who calls my raise.. Turn comes a K. Huge scare card for me offcourse. I bet again, 2 times the pot (60€). He calls, but I noticed a hesitation .. River comes a Q. Another scare card for me, but I figured.. damnit.. I'm already in the pot for a lot of money, he called me with hesitation.. I asked him to count his chips, and I raised him all-in. I see discust in his face.. He thinks I fucked him on the last card .. He put me on KK, so on a set of K's .. I still don't know what he has so he's got me woundering big time.. But I showed no fear.. I stared him down. He only had another 75 in front of him, with 350€ in the pot or something.. and he said: "Bah, I'm sure you got me.. let me think". He shows his cards, while he is still thinking about paying or not, trying to get a reaction out of my face.. and he shows AA.. Pocket Aces, Wauw! I know he's got me beat if he makes the call.. But still, I didn't show fear.. Finaly he layed his hand down, and I showed my TT. And he just said "Wauw, nice hand.. You earned it".

It felt good to steal a pot like that :)

Anyway, we played on .. My luck kinda changed, I didn't get any good cards, I lost some small pots .. In the end, I ended up with 655€ of chips.. I put 250 in, so that's 405€ of profit for me.

I'm happy :)

Conclusion:
Buy-in: 250€
Cashed out: 655€

New Live Bankroll: 620€

I will keep you guys informed about upcoming games :)

Greetz,

Miche

The week after

So, here I am again..

Just got home from a very intense pokergame. I played at my regular place, where i also played last week.. tonight there were 6 players playing the game.

We all started off slowly, with the regular 0,50€/1€ blinds .. each buyed in for 50€. Things started okay.. we won a few small pots, lost a few small ones, after an hour of playing I still had +- 50€ in front of me. 2 other players went broke already, and they rebought for 100€.. I think one of them went broke another time, and bought in for another 100€ .. Anyway, I get dealth QQ, I raise before the flop, and like always I get a few callers (these guys are very hard to get them to fold, before the flop.. even with a 6BB of 8BB raise preflop, most of them still see the flop.. it's weird.) So like i said, I get a few callers.. flop comes 458 rainbow, I think i'm pretty safe, 2 people check to me and I raise the pot .. The guy behind me calls, the 2 checkers fold .. Turn comes a J .. He checks to me, I raise the pot again .. and he moves all-in (for like 10€ more then I raised) .. So that was an easy call. He shows me a 23 .. So he has a possibility for a street, he needs a 6 or an Ace .. I questioned hes play offcourse, and he said "Hey, i was already in it for more then half of my stack, so I figured I should go for all or nothing" .. So there it was, he needs an ace or a six, river comes .. he gets his 6, and my queens are crushed, and I'm left with 5€ in front of me.

So, I rebuy another 50 .. Wich makes me in for 100€ total. A bad run of cards, made me loose it pretty quickly.. I was getting a little annoyed, and got a little emotional .. I really wanted to win my money back, so I bought in for another 100€ .. I figured, if I want to recover my 100€ loss, I should buy-in for at least 100€. I got a few nice cards, and I build up my stack to 200€ .. Wich made me break-even.

Then, I got involved in a weird hand against a player who likes to mix up he's game. Last week, and earlier this evening, he showed his cards when he made some very nice bluffs.. And in this hand (I don't remember the cards exactly so I'm not gonna bother with that) I had second best pair at the river. Suddenly he raises so big at the end, that I thought I had a read on him.. He bet the same ammount, and in the same way, as last week when I saw him make a crazy bluff on a big pot.. I really didn't think he had my 2nd pair beat .. So i re-raised him all-in (he had more chips then me). He made a quick call with 2pair.. i was discusted with my play.. Why didn't I lay it down..

So i'm back to square 1.. I have no chips, and I'm down 200€. I buy-in for another 100€ .. Because there were a few hours left to come, and I was hoping that my luck would change a little and that I would play solid poker.. Things really didn't go my way.. I get dealt a few nice cards.. AKs, AQs, AA .. Each time I either don't hit on the flop, or they get cracked.. for example my AA. Someone raises before the flop, I reraise him, he calls. Flop comes J48 all clubs.. I'm discusted, none of my aces were clubs .. He bets the pot into my face. I don't know where I am at .. So to check that, I reraise him 3 times his bet. He moves all-in .. I'm even more discusted. I already contributed like 75€ in the pot, I need to pay 25€ more to see .. So yeah, I was pot committed, I made the call... And he shows his flush with a K3 of clubs.

Again, back to square one .. 0 chips, down 300€. I'm getting really stressed at this point .. I had 200€ left in my pocket (I brought 500€) .. And i said to myself .. I don't care if I go home with 200€ or 0 .. If i get a chanse to win my money back, so I bought in for another 200€ .. My last cent.

Now it's my time to shine.. I get dealt KQh .. Flop comes Q63 .. I don't really know what happened but there was a pretty decent raise, and everyone called it .. (everyone was in the pot) so there was a very nice pot developing, I think there was more then 100€ in. So i'm sitting there with top pair, second best kicker .. and everyone is in it .. I felt like it was time to make a move, so I moved all-in .. One guy called me with QJ, and another guy called me with AKs who was chasing the flush .. And BOOM! I took it all.. no flush came, and no J came.. I trippled up. I had recoverd all my losses, I was extactic..

It didn't last long. I made 2 terrible plays .. I tried to bluff at 2 pots, against the same guy .. pretty big pots .. and I missed both of them. It looked like the guy had a read on me or something, I totally sniffed out my bluffs that he called me down with a stupid pair (not even toppair).. I really was ashamed of my play, I donated like 400€ to him with those stupid bluffs, so I was back at 200€ ..

The end was near, I thought I would loose 300€ .. I was a little discusted. The last round was announced, when I get KJs .. Everyone was in the pot, with a big preflop raise.. things were going crazy. People callin raises 10x BB with 53offsuit and stuff, just to hope to win a little money.. So, the flop comes J78rainbow .. A guy raises, everyone calls .. And again, I figured .. Damn, I've got toppair, with a K kicker .. and there is a made street possibility if someone has 9T .. I wanted to chase out ot the street drawers, So.. I moved all-in for 200€ in a pot worth 150€ already.. Everyone folds, except one .. He calls me with AA .. Wauw, I didn't see that coming.. He was surprised by my play, because he thought I moved all-in because I had the street .. He was happy, and surprised, to see that I only had KJ .. Very big pot. Very big moment. I need to catch a King or a Jack. If I don't, I loose everything.. 500€. If I do catch it, and suck out, I win 500 .. So I recover all my losses and go home break-even. Turn comes a blank. I start to sweat .. I'm thinking it's over .. the dealer slowly draws the river card. Looks at it. Looks at me, smiles ..... and jams it on the table ... a King ! Yes ! I won ...

The other guy is discusted, offcourse .. I sucked out big on him .. I feel kinda sorry for him, but damn.. I'm happy. I recoverd my 500€ .. Well, actually, it was only 490€ .. So i only lost 10€ that evening, instead of 500€ .. On a suckout :)

So, all those bad beats I have taken in my life .. Live and internet .. They payed off, in the biggest pot of the evening!

Conclusion:
- Buyed in for 500€
- Cashed out 490€
= 10€ loss

New live bankroll: 215€

Next week .. same place, same game... We'll see how it goes. I will keep you informed :)

Miche

After the break

Alright,

So I had a little break because things were not going very well financially.. today my group of people from the 0,50€/1€ homegame asked me if I could come and play, so I did..

Things started bad for me.. I was down 60€ pretty quickly. I bought in for another 65€, and then my luck finally turned.. I doubled up with this hand: I'm deald 89s, i call a small raise preflop and several others also call.. flop comes 999.. a guy bets 10€, 2 callers, I move all-in, and the original better calls me and the rest folds. He shows TT so my 4of-a-kind beats his flush. Nice one!

Things continue to go well, I won a few small pots, and then I get dealt 88. Flop comes 448. The same guy from my big pot earlier bets 20€, I call. Turn comes a J. The guy bets another 20€ and I re-raise him all-in (for another 90€) he calls me with A4 .. So his 3of-a-kind with Ace kicker gets crushed by my fullhouse. Nice one again!

Time goes quickly, I lose a few small pots, win a few small pots, I pretty much stay at the same ammount. The homegame stopped at 3AM and I had about 350€ of chips in front of me. So.. 350-125 = 225€ of profit .. I'm glad.

So.. because I had to use my 200€ live bankroll that was left, a month ago, for personal use because I was a little down, my current live bankroll stands at 225€.

Live bankroll: 225€

I'm okay now, so I'm not touching that, except for Poker! Let's see if I can build something up.. I think the next live-game will be in 2weeks. I'm currently still taking an internet-break.