played 540 at Wynn today was very fun…  couple key hands

First orbit I play maybe 3 hands all small and my stack hasnt changed
much I have around 10k…

folds to me on button i have ajos and a loose image i make it 125
blinds 25-50 sb folds and bb makes it 350 I have no reads on him but
he knows im loose and could be restealing light…. so I flat not
trying to play a huge pot… flop comes out 222 and he grabs 600 and
fires out…. I feel like i could have the best hand.. he might have a
pocket pair or aq ak but im not willing to give up right away and
decide to call and see what he does on the turn…

Turn card is a 6 and he says “whos full house is bigger?”  and looks
kinda nervous at me..  I dont have any reads on him so im not sure if
he is being honest or not but i know he doesnt like his hand he fires
out 500……. The pot is now at 2kish and I just feel like he does
not like his hand at all and I am ahead a lot and its 500 to win 2k
out there so If Im wrong I may be able to hit a hand or bluff him
off….

River is a king…  he instantly reaches for his stack and throw out
1k yellow chip…. I decide that this is a blocker scared bet and now
change my read thinking he has like 88 or 77 and hates seing the king.
I dont want to call and see a junk pair so I decide to make it 3k
cause i feel like he cant call without a king.  he thinks for a bit
says “you got a 2? or AA”  obv now i know he hit that king and had air
the whole way finally calls and shows me KQ…..  rigged….

So im playing like half the pots semi tilted and either want to get
back to a starting stack or go home and play a full session online.
The table is playing very passive so I’m chipping up pretty well.  I
flopped a set of fives and doubled on a j57 board vs aj and am back up
to 11kish.

I get AcJc in late pos and a semi active player limps in at 1-200 no
antes on a 10k stack and I make it 600 cause i dont mind playing a pot
with him with my hand in pos.   The guy with kq from previous hand
flats on the button and it gets back to him and he flats the blinds
had folded.   Flop comes out  7c6c2h so its go time for me.  check to
me i fire 1200 and the button quick calls ep folds…  I feel like he
has either a week pair maybe 8s or 9s or like 87 or 89 maybe a worse
club draw but def not a set or two pair cause he would raise
everytime.

turn is a 5s so a bad card but i feel like if i bet hard he will fold
most of his range so i fire 4k into his remaining 7500.  The pot was
around 5k he thinks for a second and gives a douchey look then
calls….. Im thinking wtf and praying hes drawing.  River hits a 8s
making the board 7c6c2h5s8s and i desperatly fire all in for 5kish he
has 3500 he gives another douchey look at the board and says i call im
all in… He shows Qc9c for the straight……. fuck  clubs..

So I have 1100 left and am ready to go home ship all in blind the next
hand double up to 3k then ship in 2 more times and am back at around
8k….

I work my stack back up to 30k at dinner break and havent showed down
many hands picking my spots very well.

After dinner the blinds amp up to 8-1600 with 200 ante I have blinded
down to 25k…

A player on 16kish makes it 4200 to go i get AK and send it to 12k and
a nitty guy at the end of the table shoves in for 17k opener folds
back to me I hate life and call expecting to see aa-qq…. A miracle
he shows me AK off as well….. until he runs out a flush with his Ac.
fuck clubs..

I have 8k left same blinds and I shove blind under the gun… folds
around to big blind and he tanks and folds saying “i had 55″  LOL he
folded my 4 bb shove with 55 in the big i had Q3 off.

Im back at 11k after the ship and a loose opener opens hijack i look
down at a7 off in the sb shove it in.  he tanks….. for 7k more…..
im thinking damn he must have absolutely nothing then calls with 43off
and pairs his 4 gg…

Tommorow 1k weeee

Kept the ball rollin last night with a outright win in the 100 1r 1 a on ftp last night.

Decided to play a live tournament today.

Get to my seat at Bellagio five diamond  today an hour after the tourney started little hungover and out of it.

Anyway blinds are 50-100 and we started with 9k chips and this ufc looking guy has about 15-20k.  it folds around to him in late position and he opens to 300.  An old guy with 800 chips tosses them in after him and it folds back to that guy.

He thinks for like 20 seconds (any though over 2 seconds here is absurd).  Then tosses the 500 chip in and tables KK.  The other guy puts flips over his 33 and says “nh”   The old man remains seated while the ufc guy literally stands hoving over the table.  Yelling no 3 and pointing at the table.

At this point I have no clue if hes joking or being serious with the whole act.  He continues yelling no 3 as the flop and turn brick out as if he were all in for like a 1-2 million chip pot at the main event or something.

In my head im just praying a 3 binks and sure enough it spikes the river.  The guy then smashes the table with his fist and yells out “god damn it” and some other curse words which were covered up by my uncontrollable laughing.

He then proceeds to storm away from the table and the whole table errupts in laughter.    When he gets back he begins berating the old man for his poor play saying “what you didnt think I had anything?”  I couldnt help but saying “can you really play badly with 8 blinds at 50-100?”

I can only imagine what this guy is gonna do when hes deep in a tourney when real chips are at stake and I feel sorry for the person he kills.

I opened pot later with QsJd against him later at to 300 and got two callers one guy on button and him in the bb.  The flop came out 895 all diamonds and I lead 600 before my chips even hit the pot he turbo ships his 20k stack into the middle.

The guy on the button hadnt acted yet and was like wtf.  They called the floor over and told him his bet had to remain.  Guy to my left mucks QdQx  and I obviously muck and he folds his hand and says good fold man I had the nut flush.   Then the guy to my right tells me he folded the Ad so Im like wtf could he have then?

Anyway  I can actually say I had a good time felting the 3k today and saw that Basebaldy was final table of yesterdays so gl to him.

Scott

Hey guys,

I can’t remember if I mentioned in my last post that I predicted I would run red hot in November but it happened.  The first couple days started out slowly but I ended up going on a tear with a 3rd place in the  50 on stars a 4th place in the 100rebuy on stars a 1st place in the 100 2x on stars chopped the Stars Quarter Mil won a PCA seat and just took 3rd in the 109 2x on stars last night.

After an ice cold October this was just what I needed to start loving poker again.   I also played about 8 live tournaments in November chopping one at the venetian and final table bubbling another when my KK went down to AJ for a top stack :(.

I guess it just goes to show that when you are in a downswing just keep playing a lot of vollume and keep playing your A-game and the results WILL follow.

Going home for a bit for the holidays then off to the Bahamas for the Pokerstars Carribean Adventure.  I am feeling good about this excursion and expect to take home the first price!!!

I’ll be writing more often I promise

So its been another long stretch since I posted anything but have been really busy with other stuff.   Played a lot of live poker recently along with the normal online grind….

I played like 3 Caesars Classic events 3 Festa De Lago Bellagio events and 10 Venetian events.  I bubbled a Caesars 1k along with a Venetian 1k and really only had success in one 330 at the Venetian.    I think I did a good job addapting to the slower starting structure but faster middle late stages.

I was really playing well manuvering pots with very few showdowns.  I used my image to manuver many pots and really put myself in the game.  Unfortunately I got an awful seat at the final table with the only other player with more chips then me to my left.  He played very well three betting me in spots where it was hard for me to continue without a hand.  He also won a few flips and before I knew it we were down to 4 left and I had 500k and him 2 million and the other two had under 400k.

I knocked out the 4th place guy 44 to AK flopping a set.  Then they wanted to talk chop which I really wasnt interested but agreed to just look at the numbers if they paused the clock.  1st place was 24 2nd was 14 and 3rd 8.    The chip leader agreed to give up 4 and take 20 and 3rd said we should split the last 26 right down the middle.  I said no way because i had 750k to his 480k.  So we played on and the first hand back with blinds 15-30k i was on the button with 44 and made it 75k.  He was angry at me for not agreeing to the chop  so I felt like he was gonna be willing to stuff me with a wide range of hands.  He shipped it in and I called to see his J8 os.  He binked an 8 on the  which reversed our stacks so after that hand I called him out and told him if he was so upset that now we should chop it.  :)  I actually thought he was going to tell me to screw off but surprisingly he quickly agreed.

So I took the chop for 13.5  but was upset after cause we never got to play it out and I’m still eagerly awaiting my first big live tourney win

As for online I just final table bubbled for 11th in the 50k and 13th in the 20k 5 minutes ago.   Won 2 tourneys last week though so feeling ok poker wise great other wise.

pz

Ok so I’ve been MIA for a bit playing some live poker at Festa de Lago at the Bellagio and spending some time with friends in town.  I had one good run final tabling and taking 7th in the WPT Bellagio tournaments but due to the small turnouts (108 runners) it was basically a min cash.  I have really been itching to get back at the online tourneys and today it starts!!!

I am going to play everyday from today until next Sunday and try and put in long sessions.  I’ll be updating my blog every couple days during the stretch and hopefully I can pop some off.

The baseball season ended for me with all the teams I had any interest in basically getting owned.  I really wanted to see the cubs or brewers make a run but neither did anything.  It really sucked that they have a 162 game season and only a 5 game first round.  If they are going to do that they may as well let 12 teams in.  Since only 8 make it what would hurt it to let them have 7 game series’.

So I’ve been on a good run lately and either tweeked some things in my game that I believe I was doing wrong or am just not running god awful anymore.  (might be a combination of the two).

For a little bragage I have had 5 final tables in my last 4 sessions, Including a 2nd place in the 100 rebuy tournament and a 1st place in the UB 20k.   I was very happy with the 2nd place finish although I believe I should have won the tournament because at one point I had 1.5 million chips to the other two remaining players 400k and 300k.  In my defense I did run extremely bad in races when we got 3 way.  Gboro took down the win and to his credit is a very good player.  The final hand I had 800k to his 1.4 million.  In an unraised pot the flop came out J93 I had J4 and fired out a pot sized bet of 60k which he called.  The turn brought a T and I checked and he fired out 200k and I check raised him all in for around 600k only to see that he had 9-T and I couldn’t catch up and he took down the win.

It wasn’t easy streets for me though as I had a brutal beat with 16 players left.  I was around 5th in chips with 235k and woke up with AK on the cut off.  The action folded around to me and I min raised (80k) as I had done the previous 2 orbits without great hands.  The button decided to make a stand and shoved in for 100k.  The blinds folded and I instacalled to see I was in great shape against his Ace Ten offsuit.  Flop ran out A84 turn J and river TEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    3 outter for the chip lead….

The hardest thing for me to do in these situations is maintain my head and just realize ok that sucked but I still have chips and need to keep focused.   I did just that and stayed patient because I realized that I needed to have a hand the next time I raised because my stack wasn’t deep enough to raise and then fold.   4 orbits later I woke up with AJ and reraised an aggressive players open and he called with QJ and I somehow held up and was back in business.

As far as goals for September I am doing pretty well.  I have been fairly active playing tennis 3-4 times a week and using my workout machine.  Poker wise my goal for playing 50k in buy ins with a 40% roi.  I currently have 16k in buy ins on stars with a 121% roi and almost 13k in buy ins on Full Tilt with a -44% roi.  So 2/3 the way thru the month I have approximently 39k in buy ins with a 38.46% roi.  I am well on pace for my goal in the month and having the goal has been a good way to keep me motivated.

Today was overall a decent Sunday besides the Bears blowing what looked like a good win against Carolina.  I had 3 final tables one on each of the 3 sites I play on.  I took 7th on Full Tilt in a 75 buy in 700 person tournament for an outright win in the UB 20k  and a 6th place finish in the 35k on stars.

It was a very confidence inspiring day because It appeared I was running good again and I was confident I was playing well .  It will hopefully be a good segway into the week and maybe I can scoop a big win in something!!

My Volume goal is a little below where it should be but I can amp it up a bit toward the end of the month hopefully.  Time for bed though…..

I’m so excited refreshed and ready to rumble tommorow.  Expect big things!! I have been running very poorly on Sundays as of late but am feeling good for tommorows lineup.  If I don’t do well tommorow I am thinking I might change it up this week with some live poker and grind it out down on the strip.  Lately I have been questioning a lot of my plays and second guessing everything but that is pretty common for a poker player durning a downswing.

I haven’t played too many WCOOP events but have cashed in 3 so far with a final table in the 6 max mixed Hold Em event my first time ever playing a mixed hold em event ever.   I really liked the change of pace and the field was rediculously difficult with MrCasino, Ruthless and IamHiv at my final table.  I ended up taking 6th :(.

I’ll have a follow up blog with my results hopefully Monday.   Go Bears!!!

I was watching the 2003 WSOP tonight and saw this hand that I had seen in 2003 but forgot about. There are 10 players remaining in the tournament and Chris Moneymaker opens up AQ and gets a call from Phil Ivey and another player. Ivey has 99 and decides to come along as does another player with TT. Well the flop comes out QQ4 and Moneymaker makes a bet at the pot. Ivey thinks his 9s might be good and calls and at this point the other player lays his tens down assuming one of the players probably has a Queen. The turn card brings a 9 giving Ivey the full boat and Moneymaker 4 outs. Moneymaker bets and Ivey goes all in. Moneymaker like anyone calls and the hand essentially played itself out. Well moneymaker goes on to hit the Ace on the river and win the tournament as we all know. This sparks the poker boom….

Anyway I was thinking about the hand and was like damnnnnnnnnnn that sucks for Ivey he probably coulda had a good shot at taking that down if he wins that pot. I was starting to feel bad for him when I realized fuck that. Moneymaker winning this tournament gave so many amateur players like Moneymaker the idea that if he can do it so can they. Which in turn helped to make Ivey the multi multi millionaire he is today. So that super painful moment and suck out that he faced while devastating for him at the time made him way more money then even winning the tournament probably would have…….

You could argue that it was only a matter of time before poker would get big and the title of Main Event Champion is worth more than money. That and the added bankroll woulda got Ivey more prestige and money then he has now, but I guess we won’t know just thought it was a cool way to think about something shitty happening and a “bad beat”.

As far as poker still running awful deep in tournaments but I feel it starting to come around here very soon!

Wow I’m excited!!  Tomorrow is a huge day because not only is it Sunday with the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker)  going on but it is also the first Sunday of the Nfl Season!!!  Nothing beats multitabling 8 games while watching the best sport ever on NFL Ticket.  So pumped for that!

As far as my goals go we are 6 days into September and I have close to $6k in buy ins with $8300 in cashes so with 1/6 the month finished I’m on pace for 36k in buy ins and 35%roi.  This is pretty good considering I haven’t played a Sunday this month and sundays are huge for buyins.  So I would say I’m on pace to come close to my September goals.  On the weight loss side I have logged 4 - 1 hour sessions on the workout machine.  All I need now is a huge sunday in poker and the Bears to beat the Colts week one and everything will be wonderful that isn’t asking too much is it?