I was very much looking forward to getting the 2013 SFPT season underway, and thus was happy when six others were available on the last Saturday of January to kick things off.
Rather than go into a blow-by-blow recap, I'll provide the facts: I finished second (to Tom), and though my initial recation was that my heads-up play was poor, in retrospect, it wasn't that bad. If I made a mistake, it was that I wasn't aggressive enough, especially in the big blind. There's a lesson there for next time.
Overall, I think I have quickly moved beyond my every-tournament goals of "just play well" and "don't make an ass of yourself". It's been so long since I've made a bad play, that I don't even remember the last one. As long as I stay focused, which I have been, I won't make bad plays.
So, I need new...let's call them "recurring goals". For SFPT purposes, that has to be "win". Plain and simple. I want to get out my mindset of worrying about the Points Championship, because if I win, that will take care of itself. As a sub-goal, I need to focus on getting my chips in when I have the advantage, and letting the math do the work. As Andrew Robl said to Doyle Brunson in a tweet the other day, "it mostly comes down to winning the flips, can't be taught".
So, as long as I can get my chips in when I am in a coin flip position at worst, I will be fine in the long run. At least, that's what I can tell myself.
Up next: TBD. Oscar and I will be working on the re-build of the table, but we should have it done for a tournament near the end of February if all goes well.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
FT and the SFPT
After a 32 day absence, I hit the virtual felt again this morning for a 27 person SNG. It didn't take long before the tournament was down to 18, and not much longer after that before I was put to my first big decision:
With pocket queens, I decided to slow-play and simply called the big blind. There were two other players, and the flop came Ac/4c/Qh. The first to act checked, and the second went all-in, putting me at risk. I debated - they could have aces under, or a flush draw, but trip queens is a strong hand. I decided to call, as did the other player in the hand (who was also at risk).
It ended up being a good play: the board ran out and I tripled up to over 5k.
It was down to six-handed when I made another move, doubling as the second-shortest stack when I moved in with K/J diamonds and a jack on the flop. That too held, moving me into a solid third place (with a big gap between third and fourth).
That double was made against a player I dubbed "the pusher", who by that time was going all-in literally every hand. It was obvious he was going to get caught, and eventually did. The remaining five were probably as glad to see him go as I was; I know the player who knocked him out was, as he commented "about time".
Down to four-handed, I made a move again and briefly became the chip leader for a few hands. That fact itself obviously doesn't mean much, but it did mean I was right in the thick of things.
The short-stack was soon eliminated to make it a three-handed affair, with me in second place. I took a calculated risk against the player to my right, and got nailed: my club flush 9/5 under lost to his club flush, J/8 under.
That made me the short stack by a huge margin, but then, a surprise: the player to my left made a move and was KO'd by the guy to my right. The good: I was heads up. The bad: he had me covered by 6:1 or better.
Time for the patented Tina Pagano All-Or-Nothing Strategy. Before I knew it, I was running hot: K/Q diamonds led to a flush and a double, then K/J spades gave me a jack on the flop and another double. The very next hand, I called from the big blind with pocket nines, got trips on the flop, shoved, was called, and it held. All of a sudden, we were almost exactly even.
Things tightened up from there, and I eventually took a lead by getting more aggressive with middle pair bets resulting in folds. My next all-in was the end: Kh/Jc, calling a push. The other guy had 5c/6c, and it was a race, but the board ran out to trip 10s. My king played, and that was that - my second straight 27 person win.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The 2013 SFPT season kicks off this Friday, with what (so far) is a seven person field. If all goes well, this will be the last tournament with the old table; as Oscar and I are finalizing plans for the new table which we hope to build sometime after the Super Bowl. Personally, I can't wait to get back to the felt - I'm riding pretty high after my Turning Stone experience, and I'm looking forward to hopefully bringing down a few titles in 2013.
With pocket queens, I decided to slow-play and simply called the big blind. There were two other players, and the flop came Ac/4c/Qh. The first to act checked, and the second went all-in, putting me at risk. I debated - they could have aces under, or a flush draw, but trip queens is a strong hand. I decided to call, as did the other player in the hand (who was also at risk).
It ended up being a good play: the board ran out and I tripled up to over 5k.
It was down to six-handed when I made another move, doubling as the second-shortest stack when I moved in with K/J diamonds and a jack on the flop. That too held, moving me into a solid third place (with a big gap between third and fourth).
That double was made against a player I dubbed "the pusher", who by that time was going all-in literally every hand. It was obvious he was going to get caught, and eventually did. The remaining five were probably as glad to see him go as I was; I know the player who knocked him out was, as he commented "about time".
Down to four-handed, I made a move again and briefly became the chip leader for a few hands. That fact itself obviously doesn't mean much, but it did mean I was right in the thick of things.
The short-stack was soon eliminated to make it a three-handed affair, with me in second place. I took a calculated risk against the player to my right, and got nailed: my club flush 9/5 under lost to his club flush, J/8 under.
That made me the short stack by a huge margin, but then, a surprise: the player to my left made a move and was KO'd by the guy to my right. The good: I was heads up. The bad: he had me covered by 6:1 or better.
Time for the patented Tina Pagano All-Or-Nothing Strategy. Before I knew it, I was running hot: K/Q diamonds led to a flush and a double, then K/J spades gave me a jack on the flop and another double. The very next hand, I called from the big blind with pocket nines, got trips on the flop, shoved, was called, and it held. All of a sudden, we were almost exactly even.
Things tightened up from there, and I eventually took a lead by getting more aggressive with middle pair bets resulting in folds. My next all-in was the end: Kh/Jc, calling a push. The other guy had 5c/6c, and it was a race, but the board ran out to trip 10s. My king played, and that was that - my second straight 27 person win.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The 2013 SFPT season kicks off this Friday, with what (so far) is a seven person field. If all goes well, this will be the last tournament with the old table; as Oscar and I are finalizing plans for the new table which we hope to build sometime after the Super Bowl. Personally, I can't wait to get back to the felt - I'm riding pretty high after my Turning Stone experience, and I'm looking forward to hopefully bringing down a few titles in 2013.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Breaking the Seal Again
As I've mentioned before, my grand total of live cash game experience is a spur-of-the-moment session at Terrible's in Las Vegas two years ago, where I profited a grand total of $8 in a limit game. So much has changed since then, not the least is that (in comparison to 2010) I have a much better idea of what I'm doing.
Ever since I decided to take the game more seriously, I determined that I would need to go into my next cash session with a plan, a goal, a loss limit, and a time limit. These would be determined by each session, with plenty of variables each time.
Fast-forward to last Saturday, when Tina, Matt, Danielle, Cuffe, and I made the annual casino trip for Cuffe's birthday. I had my bankroll planned out, and $100 of it was earmarked for poker. Last time I visited The Stone, I wanted to play poker but basically wussed out. I was determined to not let that happen again.
We arrived at The Stone just before four, and were planning on playing bingo at 6:30. No time like the present - Tina and I both decided to hit the poker room and play until then. Surprisingly, there were two seats available, and we sat right down with $100 buy-ins and got right to work at 1/2 NL. My goals:
Play smart, don't chase
100 loss limit
3 hour time limit
I ended up playing for about two and a half hours, and I was very happy with the way things went. Mainly, I didn't make any stupid plays and didn't embarrass myself. The cards were slightly on the poor side; I can't count how many times I had A/6 or worse. I had to laugh and also pat myself on the back a little bit, because if I had been playing two years ago, I would have played all of them just because of the ace, and busted in like 20 minutes max.
I recall three hands in particular:
One: I had Ah/2h, and called a pre-flop raise to 6 (not a terrible play IMO because of suited connectors). The flop gave me a nut flush draw, and thus I called the only other player left in my hand (the guy to my immediate right, who was pretty cool) when he raised to 10. The turn bricked, and when he raised 30, that was it for me - I wasn't about to piss away that much of my stack on a draw.
"30 was enough to get me out," I laughed afterward.
"Was....25 enough?" His (obviously drunk) friend to his right asked.
"30 was enough," I repeated with a laugh. In hindsight, I think this exchange established me in their eyes as someone who knew what they were doing. (I sure as hell was already ahead of the game in that regard compared to some others at the table, who were too busy having side conversations and had to be reminded when to bet by the dealer, and when they did, bet wrong because they didn't realize someone ahead of them raised.)
Two: I raised to 10 pre-flop, and got three callers. The flop came 9-10-2, and I was first to act, and raised another 10. Two people folded, but one woman thought about it for a while, then spied my stack and put me all-in for my last 24.
"You got a big pair?"
"Yeah," I said, flipping my kings. She shook her head and flipped A/8. I knew what was coming - an ace.
Only, it didn't - I faded the last two streets and doubled up, getting me back around 75.
Three: Again, I raised to 10 pre-flop and this time got two callers, including the same woman. The flop was similar garbage, and having both players covered, I raised all-in for about 40. The first to act (a young girl who was actually carded by the dealer and looked like a young Natalie Portman) immediately folded, leaving action to the same woman. Again she debated, again she called, again she asked "got a big pair?"
Again, I answered "yeah", this time flipping over queens. They held, and suddenly I was firmly in the black with just over 150.
Only one other hand stands out, my only other pocket pair of the session. I had nines, and was hoping to limp and get lucky, but the guy to my right raised 30 preflop and it was a no-brainer to fold. I did have a few other situations where I got to see a free flop, but none of them panned out.
I tightened up even more after that, and by the time Tina was ready to go (unfortunately, because she'd busted out), I had a profit of 52. Nice!
Time to break it down:
What went right:
Obviously, it was a good session; I hit all my goals, and most importantly, I have the confidence to get back at it again.
Total time: 2.5 hours
Total winnings: $52
Career bankroll (cash games): $60
Ever since I decided to take the game more seriously, I determined that I would need to go into my next cash session with a plan, a goal, a loss limit, and a time limit. These would be determined by each session, with plenty of variables each time.
Fast-forward to last Saturday, when Tina, Matt, Danielle, Cuffe, and I made the annual casino trip for Cuffe's birthday. I had my bankroll planned out, and $100 of it was earmarked for poker. Last time I visited The Stone, I wanted to play poker but basically wussed out. I was determined to not let that happen again.
We arrived at The Stone just before four, and were planning on playing bingo at 6:30. No time like the present - Tina and I both decided to hit the poker room and play until then. Surprisingly, there were two seats available, and we sat right down with $100 buy-ins and got right to work at 1/2 NL. My goals:
Play smart, don't chase
100 loss limit
3 hour time limit
I ended up playing for about two and a half hours, and I was very happy with the way things went. Mainly, I didn't make any stupid plays and didn't embarrass myself. The cards were slightly on the poor side; I can't count how many times I had A/6 or worse. I had to laugh and also pat myself on the back a little bit, because if I had been playing two years ago, I would have played all of them just because of the ace, and busted in like 20 minutes max.
I recall three hands in particular:
One: I had Ah/2h, and called a pre-flop raise to 6 (not a terrible play IMO because of suited connectors). The flop gave me a nut flush draw, and thus I called the only other player left in my hand (the guy to my immediate right, who was pretty cool) when he raised to 10. The turn bricked, and when he raised 30, that was it for me - I wasn't about to piss away that much of my stack on a draw.
"30 was enough to get me out," I laughed afterward.
"Was....25 enough?" His (obviously drunk) friend to his right asked.
"30 was enough," I repeated with a laugh. In hindsight, I think this exchange established me in their eyes as someone who knew what they were doing. (I sure as hell was already ahead of the game in that regard compared to some others at the table, who were too busy having side conversations and had to be reminded when to bet by the dealer, and when they did, bet wrong because they didn't realize someone ahead of them raised.)
Two: I raised to 10 pre-flop, and got three callers. The flop came 9-10-2, and I was first to act, and raised another 10. Two people folded, but one woman thought about it for a while, then spied my stack and put me all-in for my last 24.
"You got a big pair?"
"Yeah," I said, flipping my kings. She shook her head and flipped A/8. I knew what was coming - an ace.
Only, it didn't - I faded the last two streets and doubled up, getting me back around 75.
Three: Again, I raised to 10 pre-flop and this time got two callers, including the same woman. The flop was similar garbage, and having both players covered, I raised all-in for about 40. The first to act (a young girl who was actually carded by the dealer and looked like a young Natalie Portman) immediately folded, leaving action to the same woman. Again she debated, again she called, again she asked "got a big pair?"
Again, I answered "yeah", this time flipping over queens. They held, and suddenly I was firmly in the black with just over 150.
Only one other hand stands out, my only other pocket pair of the session. I had nines, and was hoping to limp and get lucky, but the guy to my right raised 30 preflop and it was a no-brainer to fold. I did have a few other situations where I got to see a free flop, but none of them panned out.
I tightened up even more after that, and by the time Tina was ready to go (unfortunately, because she'd busted out), I had a profit of 52. Nice!
Time to break it down:
What went right:
- Didn't play any stupid hands
- Didn't chase anything
- Took advantage of strong hands when I had them
- Made decent reads on people (guy to my right was a good player, his friend was loose but seemed lucky, guy to my left was a good player and didn't play bad hands)
- Could have taken some more chances, especially instead of checking through with one other player post-flop (maybe could have stolen a pot with a mid-range bet)
Obviously, it was a good session; I hit all my goals, and most importantly, I have the confidence to get back at it again.
Total time: 2.5 hours
Total winnings: $52
Career bankroll (cash games): $60
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