My plans for December

This December I will play at least two big tournaments. The first one is the €500 Freezeout in Bregenz on December 04th (Christmas Poker Championship). I'm really looking forward to this one as I always loved to play in Bregenz but wasn't able to play there for a long time now.

The second one is also a location I really like to play: Schenefeld will be the place of the Poker Olymp Open II and I am registered for the €600+50 Freezeout on December 13th.

Unfortunately my plans about going to Tunica again (WSOP Circuit) in conjunction with the Lotusphere in Orlando in January are on hold now. My current IT-project has changed dramatically. Therefore I either won't be able to afford travelling in January or won't have the time to do so (but earn some good money instead). Most probably those plans are on hold till mid December - making it a last minute decision for my travel plans.

Talking about Lotusphere ... you may remember that I discovered Second Life this January due to "Virtual Lotusphere". I didn't do much in SL since then but started to explore it again recently. I bought a nice piece of land (with great sunsets) and built a Skybox 500 feet above. So if you like to talk to me about poker you can meet me in SL too. You can find my home here: Shadow's Place. To enter my Skybox you need a special invitation. Just leave me an IM to join my group and I will give you a teleport up there. BTW - I tried to establish a poker-group in SL. But SL is very strict. They not only dissallowed any gambling (due to the US law), they also delete groups containing the word "poker". So I now created a group called "Shadow's Friends".

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Two more tournaments and no cash

On Saturday I played both of the tournaments at the poker-club. The first one ($10 Rebuy) was fairly small with just 20 players. I managed to become the chipleader at the end of the rebuy period (taking one rebuy and the add-on). Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep up with pace of the blinds and I went out in 10th position with three places paid.

Before the evening tournament (the $50 freezeout) I played an hour of 1/2 PL and again had this "out-of-turn-checking" guy at my table. While I was able to pump up my initial €100 buy-in to about €160 at my peak I finally lost a big pot to this guy.

With KK in the blinds I announced pot for a maximum raise. I got two callers including my nemesis (who had originally called from UTG). Flop was 469 with two spades. I bet about three quarters of the pot, one player folded but Mr. "I-have-to-pay-this" called again. Turn was a J of hearts and I bet another three quarters just to be called again. River was a four of spades. That wasn't good. But I had only a small portion of my stack left and was committed anyway. So I went all-in, got a quick call and was showed 78 of spades.

While it makes some sense tho call my bet here on the flop with a big draw I don't get it that he was involved in the hand at all (after I bet maximum before the flop), still stick to his hand on the turn and wasn't afraid of his opponent holding a bigger flush. Playing any two suited or any facecards and calling them down for the lucky hit later cost him his tournament life in the freezeout.

But there is another interesting story about this guy. We were involved in another hand during the cash game were I was holding top pair with ace kicker on a Kd-6h-Td-9d board. He had only called my bets till the 9 of diamonds on the turn. But as he bet the turn I was smelling a rat here and folded. He then showed QJ of diamonds for a straight flush. While the straight-flush gave him an additional €100 bonus from the house, betting the turn was the most silly thing he could have done. He had the nuts anyway but if an ace of diamonds would have hit on the river he would have gotten the big jackpot for a royal flush wich was I think about 20 times what he got for his straight-flush.

The €50 freezeout went quite good for me in the beginning and I brought my initial stack from 8,000 to 12,000. Unfortunately I made a critical mistake by overplaying a hand that I could have avoided. That hand brought me down to 8,000 again and out of the comfort zone with blinds at 200/400. Somehow I managed to stick in the game (even busting some shortstacks) and made it to the final table. Still shortstacked I was in survivale-mode but was able to bust another small-stack buying me another round of playing time.

Finally the moment of truth came with AJs in the big blind. A little earlier (with two tables left) the chipleader (about 5 times of the average) came to our table. Obviously this guy wasn't only lucky to get that much chips. He was indeed a fairly good player who also knew how to bully the table with his stack. While I avoided confrontations with this guy as good as possible, I was faced with a big bet from him (that would have made me pot comitted) while I was holding AT in the big blind. I was quite sure that he didn't have a monster here but it just wasn't the time and the place for someting that was a 50/50 chance at best. So I open folded my AT after I had taken a good amount of time. Now, at the final table it was us two again. As said before I had AJs this time and had 18,600 left (including my big blind of 4,000). I prayed for no raise in front of me but that was exactly what the chipleader did. He made it 16,000 and I had again a tough decision. We were 7 players left. 6th gets a bubble-ticket worth €50 and 5th place gets €92. I was on life support with a good hand anyway but what made it an easy all-in for me was that I felt that something wasn't right with the picture. Something told me that this was a clear steal. I wen't all-in and I could see from his face that I caught him here. Of course he had to pay the remaining 2,500 and showed T8 for two live cards. Flop was 972 for a perfect straight draw for him. Turn was another 9 and the river paired his hand with an 8. Oh, no! Out on 7th of 32 players.

On my way back home I decided that some changes in my play are required. In general I am fairly satisfied but I have one big loophole as I usually lose connection to the average or big stacks somewere in the middle stages of a tournament. Analyzing my play I came up with some reasons for that. These changes will most probably result in either earlier exits somwere in the middle stages of the tournaments or getting me bigger stacks going into the last tables. And, no ... I won't tell you which changes these are. You have to find out on your own ;-)

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Three mistakes cost me a big pot

Tonight I played at the Poker-Club in Salzburg again. They just flatened their tournament structure a little more (adding two levels in the middle of the tournament). This change makes the already quite good tournaments of the Poker-Club even better. The Patience Factor for the €100 tournament on Friday is now PF=13.74 (a 10% increase in game quality). This is now definately one of the best tournaments available between Salzburg and Munich (usually averaging about 50 players).

But due to the wheather conditions and another tournament happening in Salzburg at the same time it was only 34 players today. And the new structure didn't help me to make the final table. With blinds at 700/1,500 I had increased my 10,000 starting stack to almost 30,000. But the blinds and some unconnected flops had cut it down to 20,000 again when I was involved in an 11,000 chips all-in hand holding the nut-flush draw. With my AQs I had 15 outs (a pair would have been enough here too) but none of my outs fell on the river. I went all-in with AJo in the very next hand for my remaining 9,000 chips and was up against the pocket aces of the big blind. Went out 15th of 34.

After my tournament had ended I played some €1/2 Pot-Limit. I was still ahead after little more than 4 hours but the last hand I played really mad me mad. In this hand three mistakes cost me a pot worth at least €80.

The Situation: I was holding 66 in MP at a shorthanded table and raised to €7. Two callers. One on my left and one on my right. I can't recall the flop completely but it wasn't a very good flop for pocket sixes.

1st mistake: The player in front of me checked and before I was able to check, the player behind me announced "check" verbally. He was advised by the dealer that he had acted out of turn. Up to this point no big thing. I then checked and now this guy said: "Oh, if you both check ... I have to bet". What the hell!!!!

2nd mistake: I told the dealer that he verbally already decleared check and that he can't change this now. It doesn't matter if it was intentionally or not. But by checking out of turn he was able to "test" reactions and adapt then. This can't be done. In this case I think he has to stick to his original intention. But the dealer refused by telling me that as it wasn't his turn at that time the announcement wasn't valid.

3rd mistake: This was my mistake because I let it go here and didn't insist in calling the floor. Usually the dealer should have called the floor ... but as he didn't do so and continued with the game it would have been my right to call for a ruling.

To add insult to injury a third six fell on the turn. Well, I only invested €7 in that hand (the pot became big after I folded) but I'm still unhappy how the situation developed.

I talked to the floor after the hand and he told me that he will remind the dealers not to decide on their own when a floor ruling is needed. But of course there was nothing else he could do. We agreed that for a proper ruling in that case he should have been present at the time the situation happend.

Tell me what you think the floor would have decided if he was called at the right time! We will never know for sure but I'm interested to hear other peoples opinions.

While I often find it annoying that people call the floor for whatever reason everybody should still remember that he has the right to call for a floor decision. And even if the decision goes against you ... at least you know that somebody who is in charge made a final decision.

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Huge start but no cash at FTOPS VI - Event #1

Tonight I played the first FTOPS event at Full Tilt (6-handed NL, $750,000 guaranteed) and started with a huge run. In the first half hour I received KK and JJ two times and QQ one time as well as some other good startinghands. With the first KK in the 3rd hand of the game I doubled up as a maniac decided that KTo is a good hand for a raising war against an EP raiser. He was wrong ;-) The other premium hands paid off too and after that first half hour I had pushed my 3,000 chips starting stack to 9,000 being in the top 20 of the 3,676 inital starters. At the first break I was still in the top 100.

Unfortunately the streak stopped completely and I was reduced to several steals (which worked well due to my stacksize). I was also sitting on the slowest table of the tournament as we had a staller who waited for the 15-second time-out EVERY time he folded his hand. At the second break I had still a healthy stack but the dynamics at the table had changed. First two middle stacks went into a fight resulting in an elimination and the winner becoming a big stack too. After another elimination an even bigger stack came to our table and was seated next to me on my left. This reduced the so far profitable stealing opportunities.

Shortly before the third break I became shortstacked and waited for the right opportunity. That opportunity came with 55 in MP and a standard raise to 1,200 in front. I went in for 5,800 just to see another all-in behind me. The inital raiser folded and I was up against QQ. The flop brought a 5 and made me a set ... YES! But the river was a Queen ... OH NO! and I was out at 731st position of 3,676 with 439 making the money.

At least I outlasted all but one of the Full Tilt Pros (includig Andy Bloch, Eddy Scharf, Huck Seed, Erik Lindgren Rafe Furst and several others) as well as Annette_15. To bad there's no bounty for that ;-)

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I lasted longer than expected ... but not long enough

That was a weired start. First there was a rumor around that they go back to level 4 blinds (200/400) but then it was decided that this was unfair against the bigstacks. So instead they skipped tomorrow and play would go down to the winner today. Tough decision but with three bigstacks (74K, 45K, 30K) and more than 60 players close to average or below I would have preferred to step down with the blinds to make it a better tournament.

With my 5,800 chips I was around 60th position of 70 but a single double up would have brought me close to average and at 24th position.

Well, it wasn't meant to be so I had to deal with the 400/800 blinds. My moment came when an EP player raised all-in for his remaining 2,000 chips. I found AQ and called his bet. The big blind called too. Flop was Kxx and we checked. Turn was an Ace and he checked again. I went all-in for my remaining 3,000 and he folded. The all-in player showed JT. He was down to 3 outs for a straight and of course hit his Q on the river.

I managed to come back to 5,000 just to be down to 3,800 again due to the blinds. Just before the blinds arrived again I went all-in with K9 and was called by the same guy. This time I was behind against his AT but caught a lucky 9 on the river. Up to 7,600 I went into my final hand: EP raised to 3,000 (blinds 750/1,500) and I found KK in MP. I went all-in without hesitation being sure that he will call the remaing 4,600. He did and showed 77. Tough decision for him. If he puts me on two overcards calling is borderline. If he puts me on a bigger pair calling isn't correct. At this table I got two pots uncontested with an all-in and folded every other hand for almost half an hour. I think calling was incorrect here for him but I was more than happy about his call ... until a 7 hit on the turn. Out in 43rd position after a total combined playing time of little over 4 hours.

So in the past days my last hand in a tournament was KK two out of four times. Both times I was ahead when the money went in (and got sucked out).

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Survived Day 1 of the BPC ... barely

Originally the tournament was supposed to have 240 qualifiers on two starting days. But it turned out that a huge number of qualifiers decided for whatever reason not to show up for the final. While I don't get it that people pay €35 to play a qualifier and then decide not to play ... it wasn't bad for the rest of us as the value of our ticket increased now from €208 to €322.

With 155 players the Bavarian Players Cup had only one starting day but still pays 30 spots and a total of €50.000. The main part of the tournament was set up in the "Casineum" which is some kind of an event center at the Casino Innsbruck. As 12 tables filled the room completely they also used the 5 tables in the main poker-room. Unfortunatly I drew a seat out there. Not only was there no screen with the tournament information but it was also clear that these are the tables to break first.

Our table was very passive and we lost only one player till the table was broken after about 2 hours. I was so card dead that 7-9 looked like a monster to me. I maintained my stack but the blinds took their tribute. At the end of day one I had 5,800 chips (just 800 more than the startstack). And I never was beyond 8,500 today. I had only two real good hands: QQ and AKo. I had to play the first one very aggressively as I had 5(!) limpers in front of me. All of them folded. And I was shortstacked with AK and went all-in directly to pick up the blinds and the bets of two limpers.

With blinds starting at 400/800 on day two I am supposed to act soon. Either double up or it will be a very short day. The chipleaders have between 30,000 - 45,000 so they aren't away to far and the average is around 10,000. It will be interesting to see how fast people will bust tomorrow.

Talking about busting ... during the next to last level (300/600) they announced that the last level will be 300/600 again (instead of 400/800) as we lost players too fast. I had no objections to that and except for one or two big stacks none of the others had problems with that too, I assume. While I usually don't like changes in an official plan I think every change that is player friendly and allows more poker play is a good change. Too bad they didn't think about that earlier. I ran the Numbers through my Patience-Factor Calculator and the additional level changed it from 9.22 to 10.05. This shows how even a single added level can improve the PF at a factor of 9%. BUT, if they kept the original structure and would have raised the blindlevels to 45 minutes they would have reached a whooping PF of 15.0. Which would have created a great tournament structure.

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Just arrived in Innsbruck for the BPC

I just arrived in my hotel in Innsbruck and have some time left before I have to go the the Casino for the BPC registration and seat-assignment.

So how was my weekend? The short version: Not so good!

It started quite good as the rental car I got for my trip was much better then the VW Golf I had booked. For the same price I got an Alfa Spider Convertible. While it defininately wasn't the weather for driving topless it was still a nice day to drive with that type of car. So this was the fun part of my weekend.

My first tournament (the €30 freezeout) was quite uneventfull. I played only a few hands because of the lack of opportunities. But those I played payed off and I managed to make it to the last 11 of 34. Unfortunately I became the final table bubble-boy. Shortstacked and with the blinds two rounds away I decided that any pair is good for a push with no raising action in front of me. I got my pair ... but it was a low pair (2-2). I pushed and one player behind me called and had me slightly covered. He showed 7-7, no help and I was out. Still not sure what some people think. Of course 7-7 is a good hand to raise all-in but it isn't a good one to call an all-in (especially against an obviously tight opponent). I could have understand his action also with a big stack. But risking almost all of his tournament life here is very brave. But who am I to complain? He went to the final table ... I didn't :-(

The evening freezeout was a €100 double-chance. So you start with 5,000 chips and either re-buy once for 5,000 or wait for the add-on after one hour and receive another 8,000 chips. In that kind of tournament I prefer to maintain my stack till the add-on and start with real poker after that. And the good structure offered here allows to do that easily. Unfortunately I never really came ahead. My high point was around 18,000 chips (still a healthy stack in that structure after 2.5 hours). It was at that time when Michael (a good player from Munich) came to our table with 19,000 chips. He knows some of my playing style and saw me aggressively play (and win) hands two times at that particular table before this hand happend: I received QQ in MP and made a standard raise (which was 1,800 at that time). It was folded to him and he pushed all-in. It would have been possible to call this against a lot of players in this tournament. But not against Michael. I open folded my QQ getting some "wow's" from the other players and a reaction from Michael that confirmed me that I was behind here. He later told me that he had Kings (and I have no reason to doubt this). With the blinds going on and only small pots to win for me I was at 17,000 an hour later. With blinds now at 900/1,800 my stack wasn't healthy anymore. In that situation AKs is a monster hand. Even with a single raise in front. Again I went into a "fight" with Michael who made a standard raise to 5,400 from MP. I was almost sure that he wouldn't fold to my all-in because with 13,000 chips left after his raise he was almost pot-comitted. Maybe I wasn't thinking about that fact enough. But on the other hand the blinds were close to coming again and the next level wasn't far away. I pushed, he called ... and had Kings again. One of the only two hands I didn't wanted to see. A heart on the flop and another on the turn gave me a flushdraw and some hope. But no help on the river and I went out on 21st position of 44. At least this time somebody who understands the game got my chips (and hopefully used them well). I decided to call it a night and skip the cashgames.

Last night was the Sunday Million at PokerStars and I was happy to be able to play it again after a long time. But shortly before the start (and too late for a decision to unregister) my computer made some problems (showing 100% load on the CPU). I restarted my machine and still had the same problems. So I had to play in a very hostile environment. It's tough to raise when it always takes several seconds to mark the amount and punch in the number. Of course it took another few seconds before I could push the button then! I maintained my stack of 10,000 chips until 10 minutes before the first break when I got Kings. With blinds 150/300 I raised to 900 and got one caller. Flop came 972 rainbow. I bet 1,100 and he re-raised to 2,500. I ws sure that I still was ahead and pushed all-in for my remaining 8,000. He called and showed T9o for a pair of Nines and a crappy kicker. What the hell did he think I would raise and bet here? But again who am I to complain? He received a Ten on the turn, won the pot ... and I was out in 5,208th position of 6,398.

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It's been a long time...

...since I made my last post.

But you didn't miss anything. I was quite busy with a new project in my main profession as an IT consultant and didn't play much poker at all since I came back from the IPO in Dublin.

But there will be much poker play in the next days! Today I am going to Salzburg playing the double in the Poker-Club. They now offer two tournaments on Friday (€30 Freezeout at 2pm and a €100 Freezeout at 8pm) and I will play them both.

On Sunday I most probably play the Sunday Million on PokerStars and from Monday to Wednesday I will travel to Innsbruck for the Bavarian-Players-Cup Final.

So stay tuned for more to come in the next days!

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