PokerVT

I have been waiting for a long time for this. Daniel Negreanu has been putting together a training site since last year. He has signed quite a few top professionals; including Annette_15, Paul Wasicka, JC Alvarado, Adam Junglen, and Kirk Morrison. From what I have read of the early reviews, this is going to be a great teaching tool. Unlike Cardrunners and some of the other sites, this site is going to be more interactive.

With most of the other sites, you are given a selection of videos and you basically get to see what they are doing while they talk about their hand and their opponents. However, with PokerVT, they are going to have quizzes and games that will also teach you different aspects of poker. There will also be ways to determine your personal poker knowledge, and it will then guide you to different sections to teach you what you need to know. I am really excited about taking the site out for a test run and seeing how much it can help my game.

I feel that I am playing well, just unlucky right now. Last night, I donked off quite a few tourneys and am down about 7 buy-ins. I was pretty card dead throughout most of the tourneys, and after taking a beat in an early tourney, I was playing too tight and too timid. The hand came down like this:

I have AA in middle position. A loose passive player limped, like he had been doing with most hands. I raise to 300 with the blinds at 25/50. The player to my left calls, as does the limper. The flop came J-6-7 with two diamonds. I had about 1800 when the hand started and the limper was the chip leader with 2200. He checked the flop, and I bet out 650. The player behind me called and the early limper minimum raised. I pushed in and the limper called. He showed QJ off. A jack hit the river and I was gone. It was a bad play on his part for two reasons. First, by limping out of position, then overvaluing top pair on that flop, there are not many hands you can be beating against two players. The only hand he can really be beating is a bluff or two overs like AK. If I have AK of diamonds he is a big dog, if I have AA or KK he is a big dog. If I have 89 of diamonds, again he is a big dog. The only real hands he can beat are J10 or a flush draw with no other pair or draw. Sounds reasonable, but remember that this is a raised pot from a player who has only shown strong hands and hasn't played back at him. Second, if he misses his hand, he has risked most of his chips on a play out of position. I knew what he had when he checked it to me. I knew he probably had a hand like KJ, QJ, or possibly a flush draw. I would have been happier if he showed at least QJ suited for the top pair and the flush draw. At least then he would have been the favorite to win the pot. But to make this move with QJ off is just stupidity. So that put the wheels in motion for the rest of the night.

For the remainder of the night, I kept getting the money in with second best, which is not like me. I was not three betting like I should and was playing too timid. I kept seeing players call my raises with very marginal hands and started limping too much. In the blink of an eye I was down almost 10 buy-ins. I would get short and push with AQ, AJ, QQ, JJ, and kept running into AK and KK. It was so sick. SO I played one final game and ended up winning that one to be down about $160 for the night. I decided to call it a night. I am still well within my bankroll to be playing at this level, so hopefully tonight will go better. I just have to remember to play position better and stop playing so damn timid if I take a beat. If they want to call my raises with marginal hands, we'll just have to play a flop.

On a final note, I noticed that while I was playing tentative, I was not three betting and shoving like I should have. I had this little voice in the back of my head that kept yelling at me, "You're going to lose." One hand in particular, I have 10's in middle position with 5 players left. UTG raises the pot. I don't know if it was intuition or just stupidity. I decided to fold the hand, figuring the best I could hope for was a race. Nobody called, but I just thought he had AA or KK. I don't know if it was a good fold or not, but the old me would have at least called and seen a flop, possibly would have re-raised or shoved. That's just what last night did to me. I kept getting second best, so I thought it was going to be second best again. So I'll just have to play aggressive and keep watching my opponents.

Antonius versus Brunson

This is going to be the most interesting story throughout the summer. In case you haven't heard, Patrik did an interview with Card Player magazine late last year. During the interview, somebody told him that Doyle had said he would swim across the sea to play him heads up. Basically saying that he thinks Patrik is a fish. So Patrik shot back in the interview, which then got published, by saying he would play him any game for any stakes. Big mistake Patrik.
Patrik Antonius is one of the great players on the planet. He is without a doubt one of the most talented and feared players. However, he is letting Doyle pick the games and the stakes. Patrik is a no-limit hold'em and pot limit omaha player. He can play the other games well, but not to the level that Doyle can. If you saw the WPT tourney that Doyle won, he had a hell of a call against Patrik. The hand came down like this:
Three handed, Doyle is the short stack. He has a little over 4 million, and Patrik has about 6 million. The blinds are 150,000/300,000 with a 50,000 ante. The button folds and Doyle limps with 33. Patrik takes a second, then declares all-in. It appears that Doyle snap calls him with 33. Patrik has this look on his face like somebody shot his dog. He then whines about the call. He even goes so far as to say, "How can you make that call with threes?" He says it over and over and is almost indignant. Finally, Doyle quips back, "We're playing poker son, not solitare." Classic Doyle comeback. The flop and turn brick, but on the turn the board pairs, giving Patrik 6 more outs. He bricks the river and is still befuddled by the call. I'm sure there were a couple of factors that influenced the call by Doyle. The first of which is that he knew Patrik is a maniac, loose player and he was probably in a race situation. The second factor was that he was sick and tired of Patrik trying to run him over. If you have read Supersystem, you will know that if you push on Doyle, he will push back. He'll let you get away with it once or twice, but he is coming if you keep it up.
So, they are working on a heads up match. Rumors are floating around that they will be playing for a minimum of $1 million, and some have even speculated that it will be a series of 7-10 games for $1 million each. In his blog, Doyle said that it will be a cash game and not a freeze out. So that is another big plus in Doyle's corner. He plays the biggest game in the world on a regular basis and I'm sure he will not pick Omaha or Hold'em. So that is another big plus for Doyle. So it will be interesting to see if they televise this landmark event and who wins. Doyle has also stated that if Patrik beats him, he will retire from poker. He said that he will move to Montana and live the rest of his days on his 110 acre ranch. That will be a sad day. But the new guard has to take over someday. I personally think a match between Ivey and Brunson would be more fitting.
I just read tonight, that the Antonius-Brunson feud is also spilling over onto the golf course. Brunson challenged Antonius to a round of golf for $100,000 a hole. He told Patrik he has from now until the end of August to accept the challenge. The verbal sparring going on between these two is very fascinating. You should read both of their blogs. It is quite good reading.

Ironman Freerolls

I just got done playing the Ironman freerolls. I played in the Bronze Ironman and the One-a-day. In the one-a-day freeroll, not many players actually played. The total field was almost 1,000; however, about 70% of the field didn't even sit in. The same went for the bronze ironman. If you pull up the hand history, it will tell you who is sitting out. 6 of the 9 people at the table were sitting out. So it made the opening stages of both tournaments kind of hairy.
In the one-a-day, I slowly built a decent sized stack and was doing well. I sat at the same table for most of the tournament and built my stack to over 6,000. We got down to the money bubble and I just sat out for about 10 minutes waiting for all of the people who were sitting out to get blinded out. Once that was over, I got back to business as ususal. I ended up running my JJ into A10 and losing. I cashed for a whole $3....woohoo. I am never going to play this tourney again. The prize structure is not worth the time or effort. First place was about $200, and they paid out way too many places.
The Bronze Ironman went a little better. I final tabled the ironman. I was playing really well, especially for not getting many hands. I got a few premium starting hands, but got most of my chips from playing position and from 3-betting before the flop against weak opens and making timely c-bets. I don't know how many times I saw somebody open the pot, then check the flop. Suddenly they bet the turn when a rag falls. They would eventually show down a decent ace but no pair or just two big cards. You have to tell a story with your bets. Don't check the flop, then suddenly try to portray strength with a rag. I had to two barrel a guy who floated me. I had AJ suited. He limped on the button, and I raised him from the BB. He limped for 1,000, so I raised it to 3,600. The effective stacks were about 125,000. He called, the flop came K-6-6 rainbow. I bet out 6,400, he flat calls. I knew that if he had a king or pair, he would have raised me on that flop. So I bet out 12,500 on the turn, he thought about it and folded. SO I was cruising along a doing well.
Until, I ran into a LAG....lol. I had about 150,000 and raised to 28,000 with AK. The blinds were 5,000/10,000 with 1,000 ante. We were 7 handed, and he shoved for 92,000+. I called, he showed 44 and I had AK. I lost the race and was crippled. I shoved the next hand with KJ suited and lost to AJ...I hate it when you are playing well. Lose a race and then out within a hand or two. I can understand his play with 44 but I think it's a little too risky for his effective stack size. The best he could hope for was a race. I know that might sound a little too tight, but seriously. If I'm raising with 77+, or any two cards bigger than a 5. But, you have to win those races to win tournaments. I could have folded and waited for a better spot, but I knew the range of hands he had, and knew that you have to win the 60/40's and 50/50's from time to time.
So I cashed for a whopping $3 in the one-a-day and $175 in the bronze ironman. SO hopefully I'll do better in the next one. Like I said though, I am not playing in the one-a-day ever again. That was such a joke of a freeroll. Anyway, good luck at the tables.

So Funny

It's so funny, everytime I have written about the success I have had, variance has started the very next game I played. Yesterday was no different. I had been running well for about a week. I decided to blog about my successes so far, and wouldn't you know it. I got cold decked in a couple of tourneys, and just couldn't win the others. I was getting short and pushed with AK, wouldn't you know it, the SB wakes up with AA. 4 handed and I run into AA. The sheer likelihood that somebody has AA when you have AK is pretty unlikely, much more so when you are 4 handed. But those are the breaks.
In the other tourneys, I lost QQ vs. 88, KK vs. QJ off, AA vs. K10 suited, and QQ vs. A5. So I kept getting my money in good, it just wasn't holding up. Unlike the last downswing, I decided to call it a night and not press my luck. Last time I dropped a little more than 10 buy-ins. I'm only down about 3 right now. So I'm going to get back at it tonight and see what happens. Hopefully all will go well.

New Books

I just ordered some new books through Amazon. I have read so many books, and I know that a lot of people would say that it's not constructive, or maybe even counterintuitive. However, one of the things I take from each book is something that will add to the style I play. I also try to understand the way some other people approach the game. My philosophy is that if I understand how other players approach the game, then it will be easier for me to understand why they play the way they do.

So I bought some books on various topics. I pre-ordered Daniel Negreanu's new book Power Hold'em. I have a feeling this will be the new version of Supersystem. He has gathered some young guns and some very prestigious pros to help write the book. I have enjoyed reading his articles, his blog, and have utilized a lot of advice he has given. In fact, because of Negreanu I play a lot of small ball poker. To me, Negreanu is definitely in the top 5 of the best poker players on the planet. Of course, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, and Allen Cunningham are in that list as well. You may not agree, but I would put Joseph Hachem in the top 5 right now as well. I love the way he approaches the game and his style. He will be one of the greats in no time.

I bought a couple of books on tournament strategy. I got Gus Hansen's book Every Hand Revealed. I think this will be the most interesting read of all the books. Gus details every single hand he played and why he played from the 2007 Aussie Millions. He won the tourney and this book will give a great insight into one of the great poker minds. The funny thing about Gus is that everybody has him pegged as super loose/aggressive. However, what they don't realize is that he is a mathematical wizard and strategist. Everything he does he has a reason for doing. He has won 3 WPT titles and the Aussie Millions. I think he knows what he is doing. Not only that, but he is also a backgammon master. The other tournament book I got was the classic Sklansky on Tournament Hold'em. I have heard that this is the ultimate tournament book. So again, it will be a great book to read. Especially since I will be playing a lot more tournaments.

I bought a couple of books that relate to cash games as well. I loved the Harrington on Hold'em series. So, I decided to buy his series on cash games. It's a new series of books, so I am very interested to see what he has to say. Harrington is a great player, especially in tournaments. So I am intersted to see how he approaches a cash game and how it differs from his tournament strategy.

Finally, I bought the book How to Think Like a Poker Pro. I have read a couple of different reviews on the book and love the psychological aspect of the game. I feel that if you can get a good grasp on the psychology, especially your personal psychology, you will have a huge advantage over your opponents. Controlling your emotions and keeping yourself calm in a difficult situation is a big key to success. So I am interested to read this book and see what other peoples thoughts on the subject are.

So that is what I will be up to over the next few weeks. I'm going to try to up the number of tourneys I play and try to get into the FTOPS. Other than that, it's business as usual. Good luck at the tables.