Rebuy-Mania in Linz

Went to Linz for the €20 Rebuy-Tournament at the CCC to polish my game before Schenefeld next weekend. Due to the bad weather I decided to take the train instead of the car and had a nice trip that gave me the opportunity to re-read the important parts of Phil Gordons "Little Blue Book".

I got the craziest table of 86 players with a total of 26 rebuys in 60 minutes. Next "best" table was "only" 21 rebuys. I had to rebuy for two times and took the add-on. The total prize-pool was short over €6,000 (the biggest they had in the three times I played this tourney)

This was one of those tournaments were I didn't get much cards to play. But those cards I got were really great: 3x Aces, 1x Oueens and 3x Jacks (Hope there are still some pocket pairs left for next weekend).
Unfortunately that was the majority of all playable hands I got in 4 hours. More worse, due to the crazy playing style in the rebuy time my action was somewhat limited. Fortunately especially my Aces paid off big two times (but even then my raises didn't get much respect).
I ended the rebuy time below average with 8,000 chips. Our table broke and at the new table I was able to pump up my stack to 42,000 chips (very decent at that time with blinds 1,000/2,000) and was even chipleader at my table for some time. But then the blinds hurt more and more with nothing to play. With several short stacks at my table I had to let go some medicore playable hands against all-ins in front of me. So my stack went down and down and down.
Went all-in with JJ and 12,000 left (blinds 3,000/6,000), got called by KTs and a King came on the flop ... out on 17th (with 9 getting paid).

Too bad the Jacks didn't came two rounds earlier. That was a perfect example why you should go all-in early enough. With just 6,000 to call for a 21,000 pot the guy with KTs (and a big stack) made the right move. Nothing to complain here for me. Two rounds earlier I had a 21,000 stack. In that case he had to call 17,000 for a 31,000 pot (and I doubt he would have done this). Not a good day for Jacks as I lost big with them two times today.

Overall I was satisfied with my play and what I made out of my limited opportunities. Not much to complain (except that I didn't win any money of course)

Read more...

No. 1 of 1,420,000

I like to thank all the readers of my blog and homepage because it's mainly your traffic that made it possible!

If you use the terms "Shadow", "Poker" in a Google search you get 1,420,000 results. And the first result you get is ... this blog! Even my homepage can be found on 4th place.

I know how hard it is to get even listed in Google. But getting that placement with just two search words that aren't that specific at all is awsome.

Read more...

Cashgame vs. Tournament

Tonight I had a nice live cash game with some friends. There were some more experienced, some rookies. Some are having jobs related to poker (but no professional players), some not. It was a bunch of people you wouldn't expect sitting at the same table playing against each other - so it may be good that we don't have a photo this time ;-)) It was an interesting and funny evening and beside playing some $1/2 NL Hold'em we had some very good conversations. But this evening showed me again something I already knew: I'm much better in playing tournaments than in playing cash games.

There are two reasons:
1. I like an aggressive style of play with lot's of selective action. This works fine for tournaments but creates a much to loose style during cash games.
2. Changing gears. Beside the aggression I'm willing and able to change gears in a tournament to protect my tournament life. I'm not very good doing the same in cash games.

At the beginning I was up about $150 due to some nice draws that hit either on the turn or the river. I don't think I overplayed them but the odds I got there had been at least borderline and I doubt that I would have played these draws the same way in a tournament. I even flopped my second straight flush in my life. Made a small invitation bet as we usually got some callers everytime. Unfortunately not this time and I didn't get much out of that monster. I didn't get a lot to play after that. To make things worse I had to fold several times after the flop or turn because I didn't hit anything (or enough) to donate more to the pot. So my stack went down to $38.

Then one key hand came up: I can't recall the action completely but the important point is that I was facing an oversized bet in front of me after the flop. The flop wasn't very scary for my AJ and it was clear that he tried to represent either Aces or Kings. I decided that this bet size smelled fishy. I never would have bet the whole amount but my all-in was only a small fraction of his bet. Unfortunately I oversaw two very important things. First: This bet wasn't directed at me. It was directed against the third guy still in the pot (with a much bigger stack) who was calling a lot of bets. So the oversized bet made sense and smelled less fishy. Second: Even if I thought the first one hadn't Aces or Kings I should have considered that the other guy will either fold or had me dominated (e.g. AK) if he calls. So I don't had any implied odds to take into account. The third guy folded and I faced indeed two Kings. No help for me.
To make this call in a tournament I would have been either 150% sure that he was bluffing or I would have been so super-shortstacked that this was my only option anyway. In almost all other cases it would haven been a fast muck.

Somewhat later I lost another big pot with a board of AKQ7A. I was holding Ax. Not only did I fell in love with my pair of aces (small kicker) to much but more worse I was so happy about my set on the river that I didn't consider that I could run into a full house. My opponent played his pocket kings very well still offering a good price (as long as I didn't put him on the set of kings). But again I'm sure I wouldn't have made this play in a tournament. At least it never would have been that costly.

At the end I was down $200 and had learned things I already knew. But it's good to rehearse them from time to time.

Read more...

New Passport, Old Memories

Today I got my new passport. And before discarding the old one I browsed through all the visa stamps in it. I tried to re-create the reasons for all the trips from my memory. Since early 1999 I went to the United States over 20 times. The first trips weren't gambling related at all. I was there for business, the honeymoon with my former wife, a dance competition ... and a dance workshop.

The trip to the dance workshop in June 2005 was the one that changed my life. The funny part is that it was just by chance. It was just a two day side trip to Vegas because my dance partner had some business meetings. This wasn't my first trip to Vegas and it was like the last two times: Enjoying the city, the entertainment and some slot play (for small money). And of course I lost some money. On my way back to L.A. I found THE book in a bookstore at McCarran airport: Ed Thorp's "Beat The Dealer". I read the whole book on my flight back to Germany and I was caught by the Black Jack bug.

I studied a lot. Found Stanford Wong's webpages and made my first Black Jack related trip to Vegas in September 2000. I ended the week with a whooping $12 win and felt like a big winner. Since then till January 2005 I made more than 10 BJ related trips to Vegas, Reno, Tunica, Biloxi and the Indian casinos in California. Sometimes I was able to combine the trip with some business but the main purpose was always "BJ".
I had good times, I had bad times ... but the trip I remember most was a four weeks trip through all the gambling places mentioned above. That was a great time (the big wins I made on that trip helped of course). Unfortunately this was an all-time high for a very long time and "standard deviation" showed her ugly face (some call her "Lady Luck" for some reason). It took me almost two years (and three frustrating trips) to reach my next all-time high ... just to get slapped in the face again by this "nice Lady".

But there is always a reason for something. On that trip in early 2005 I decided to take a break from Black Jack and take a poker lesson in the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. And after doing a lot of reading and brainwork I was caught by a new bug. Three months later I made a poker only trip to Las Vegas in May 2005. That's were this blog started...

Read more...

Another small success

After I busted out quite early in the last poker-tester and openBC tournaments I made it to the final table in todays poker-tester tournament.

There was a reason for my failure in the past. I played very aggressively but was overbetting several times ... building big pots out of position. Avoiding this mistake helped me in Schenefeld as well as today. I'm still aggressive and you have to find an unraised pot if the Shadow is involved. But I do care much more about position now. If you don't know what I'm talking about I suggest to read Phil Gordon's Green Book or his Blue book (or both if you don't know either).

We had 46 players this time. And I made 6th place with 9 being ITM. And I busted Cort with KK to collect the bounty! Unfortunately I was falling back into my old mistakes (see above) and was busted with A10 vs. AK by the eventual winner of the tournament. I should have waited just two more rounds (and I had enough chips to do so) and I would have made at least 4th, maybe 3rd place. Position, Position, Position!!!

Read more...

Tuesday Tournament in Schenefeld (€200+10)

As always I love to combine business and fun. I had to go to the northern part of germany for a two-day business trip and decided to make it to Schenefeld again.

This time they had 26 players on 3 tables. Due to some traffic jam because of a concert (George Michael) several locals arrived late and the managment decided to start the tournament about half an hour late (which was o.k. for me). I knew several people from former tournaments - including Jan and Katja. Katja was on my table and I hoped for some interesting play ;-)) We had been on the same table for some time during the "Deep Stack Tournament" but didn't play much hands in that time. Unfortunately Katja was somewhat unfortunate and busted out early. That's always the problem with this kind of tournament (15 min. blinds, doubling every level) ... you have to take some risks or you will be behind quite early.

I was a little more lucky to pick up some medium pots. Therefore I was able to maintain an average (or slightly above average) stack for most of the time. There was one key hand for me that I won't describe in detail for obvious reasons: I was in the big blind with a hand that usually doesn't allow to call a raise. UTG just made the minimum raise and I decided to call that one. I wouldn't play this kind of hand in better structured tournaments but as said before in this tournament you have to make some speculative moves (especially when you get them quite cheap). The flop was a poker players dream as I flopped a straight that couldn't be seen easily by my opponent. Unfortunately the turn made a flush possible. River was meaningless. Finally I was faced with the decission to call a raise from my opponent on the river. That was a tough one as I could have faced either a higher straight or a flush. Due to his betting pattern I expected him having trips or two pairs but I couldn't be sure. Most probably I would have laid down that hand in a bigger tournament as I had to risk the most part of my stack on this hand. But in a structure like this there was no way I could get away from this hand. And I was rewarded as he had the lower straight.

As the blinds started to bite even my average stack I was dealt AT in the BB. Two people (who I had covered) went all-in in front of me. Usually that would have been a classical fold. But I expected both to play with medicore cards and considered the possibility that I was ahead at this time. With the big blind paid already and the opportunity to double up I decided for a call. I was right this time. Don't recall the cards completely but it was two face cards (no pair) for one player and something like Jx for the other. No help for either of us and Ace high was good. That put me into good shape. Still low comparable to the blind levels but good compared to the average. Think I was about 2nd to 3rd in chips at this time. That amount allowed me to sail into the money (5 players) as I was card dead for some time.

We lost player five and I busted player four. Had him covered with A8 vs. a low pocket pair as I made a 8 high straight. There's always some luck involved and this time I had the lucky end. Unfortunately I couldn't survive my next all-in (7,000 chips at 1,200/2,400 blinds) with J9s. Second place had me slightly covered and I was out on 3rd place earning € 950,- Not bad for two hours of fun.

This could be a great tournament but unfortunately the blind structure makes it a hard one. The tournament started last year as a STT. The blind structure was o.k. for that. But with three tables they should add at least two levels in between to make it a really good tournament. I know that this is a time issue as they only have a total of three tables. But maybe they get one day rid of the two Black Jack tables in front and permanentely add one or two poker tables!

They will host another "Deep Stack Tournament" (€500+40 / 5,000 start chips / 45min levels) with up to 70 players on December 2nd/3rd. Hope I can change my time schedule to play that one!

Remark: Hamburg is no definately on my list of preferred travel locations: They have poker and now they also have Starbucks here. :-))

Read more...

FTOPS Satellite at FullTilt

The "openBC tournament" was uneventfull (at least for me). Went out 14th of 14 after my bankroll had shrinked fast due to some more or less severe bad beats.
So I decided to try a satellite for one of next weeks FTOPS events at FullTilt Poker.

Didn't get much in the beginning, was lucky one time to catch a three on the river after being all-in with 33 vs. 66. After that I got some good cards and could pull some good moves. At the final table I went out 8th of 90 with this hand: Was dealt JJ in the big blind. UTG (who had about double of my chips) called, everybody else folded to me. Went all-in (with 5xBB left) and was called by UTG with 44. A four on the flop and another one on the river sealed my fate. Still some money but no seat for next weeks FTOPS.
At least this was after a long time an online-tourney (except for the openBC & poker-tester tourneys) I really had fun with. Some things went the right way and I was able to pull some good moves and get respect (either as a big stack as well as a short stack).

A golden FTOPS avatar would be a great thing for sure (as well as the money to win) ... long way to go!

Read more...

Stardust Las Vegas is closing forever tonight

Just read a sad post on 2+2 telling that the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas closes his doors forever tonight.It was known for a long time that the Stardust is done and Echelon will follow but I wasn't aware of the actual date.

It wasn't one of the fanciest places and I don't have the best memories regarding this place as it's one of the few places that gave me the "we don't like your style of play" speech during my Black Jack times.
Nevertheless it's a place with great history. Some of the history and the man who influenced the Stardust in his early years (try to google Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal") can be seen in Martin Sorsese's "Casino" with Robert DeNiro. I will miss the big Neon-Sign displayed in so many films, clips, reports about Las Vegas. I will miss the race & sportsbook. Old but one of the best in Las Vegas.

Of course the new four billion dollar Echelon will help to make the North-Strip a great part of the new Las Vegas. But after 48 years another icon of the old Las Vegas will be gone.

Remembering Stardust
created by
"Vegas Today and Tomorrow"

Read more...

German Poker Championship sold out early

I still was undecided wether I play the German Poker Championship in Berlin or not.
Fighting for this title sounded good but the structure of the tournament isn't the best. At least that's what many people who should know told me.

But sometimes somebody else helps you to make your decision:
Just read an article at pokeracademy.org.uk that the event was sold out in the first hours of the signup period.

Well, maybe it shouldn't be ;-))
I have some other plans for some tournaments till end of december. I will let you know as soon as my plans are fixed.

Read more...