The Cooler of the Month

I don't post hand histories quite often ... especially not when they contain bad beats. Usually no reason to complain. If you play enough poker you receive bad beats and you give them. But that one is really the "Cooler of the Month".

It happened in a $1.11 rebuy satellite for the $109 Low SCOOP Main-Event. I was below average at the end of the rebuy period but managed to make my way up to over 60k then. At this time this was 22nd position with about 80 of 363 left. 14 tickets + a $97.07 cash prize were awarded.

Flopping a flush with an open-ended straight flush draw, betting every street and get beaten by runner-runner deuces for a full house by somebody who calls down the board with just a pair of 77s.

Sometimes poker can be a cruel game :-(

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An answer, a bad beat, a sick limit game and flying with Niki Lauda

Little did I know how interesting and long that day would be after I woke up at 11am in the morning. Started very relaxed and finally decided to take the convinient route and play the €30+5 bounty at the Montesino.

The tournament started o.k. and I won some small pots. We had started with 4,000 chips and the levels lasted 20 minutes. During the 50/100 level the following hand happened: I got dealt 99, raised and got a customer. Flop was Jh-9s-2s. Didn't wanted to chase my customer away so I checked. He bet 500 and I check-raised to 1.5k. He thought for some time and finally went all-in. I called immediately and he showed Js8s ... telling me he had to do it because there are so many outs. Yep, and of course he hit the flush on the river. I had a few chips left which went in on A8 and I was out after less than an hour.

So I got the answer if I played it correctly yesterday in a similar situation. And I know I played it correct today too. No reason to run into a better set or a lucky hand yesterday with such a deepstack. No reason to back-off here today. Double or out with that kind of structure.

I took my €20 voucher for the limit cash-game (which was given to the first 20 out of the tournament) and played some 2/4 limit. Ah, its's been at least two or three years that I hadn't played limit poker. Took me some time to get warm with the game but then it took of ... arrgh down! In just one hour two straights got rivered by flushes. Another straight got rivered by a full house and two pair got rivered by a straight. While I lost big pots in big hands others won big pots with marginal hands (one pair, ace high). Seems I got bad beaten again.

Time for a break and something to eat. Went back to the game and jumped into the sickest and most hilarious limit game I ever played in my life. It was already a nice and loose round when two elder guys from Vienna entered the game. Imagine them as a friendly version of Waldorf & Stettler from the Muppet show. But it became even better. After some time Nushin (one of the Montesino poker dealers) entered the game. She owned the table from the first second. Not neccesarily because she won so much. In fact she got very unlucky some times. But her charm together with the "Waldorf & Stettler show" made it one of the most entertaining poker games I ever played in. If you want to play with Nushin - she's one of the bounty-girls at the Montesino bounty-tournament on Feb. 25th. But beware ... her war name at the tournament is "Man Eater" ;-))

But it was still a poker game ... a very loose poker game. There was almost no folding before the flop and quite a good number of hands that got capped pre-flop. Almost no pot was below €60 at the showdown. And believe me there was a showdown! The whole game lasted more than 6 hours and I went straight back into my hotel packing and leaving to the airport ... together with a nice €178 win :-))

So I entered the flyniki plane at 6am in the morning and big surprise: There was former Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda standing together with the stewardesses. I already knew that he likes to fly the planes from his own airline from time to time. But it was kind of funny to be now able to say that "Niki Lauda himself flew me back to Munich". A nice ending for a very unusual and interesting Sunday.

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Deepstack at the Montesino

This tournament started with a tough laydown. Early in level 2 (50/100) I flopped a set of sixes on a 6-T-2 flop. I had already raised pre-flop and now checked to the guy next to me. He makes it 500 and I check-raise him to 1,500. He then re-raises me to 3,000. What? I decide to see the turn with the intention to slow down. A Queen on the turn and I check. He now goes all-in for 10k which basically puts me all-in too.

Can you lay down a set here? To be honest if you had asked me that question in the past the answer would have been "No way! If you go broke on a set than it shall be." I'm not sure anymore if you can be that extreme. You have to recall the action that happend.

I was in the small-blind and he was in the big blind. If he just put me on a pre-flop steal move (which doesn't make sense in that level anyway) he most probably would re-raise me pre-flop. He then re-raises my check-raise (which already showed strength). But he does it only with a minimum re-raise. He must consider that he most probably doesn't make me fold that way. The only thing that didn't fit into the picture was the all-in which was still a bit too high for a 6,5k pot. Another factor is that I had absolut no read on this guy at this time.

There's no solution for this riddle. I never found out what he had as I open folded my set (again creating a nice discussion). He either had the set of Tens or way overplayed AA or KK. Another possibility could be QQ (overplaying on the flop but hitting the turn). He showed little reaction but from the little I got I tend think that I was right. He more looked impressed then releived about my fold. I later saw him luring an opponent into a big put with the nut-straight.

If this was a low-stack tournament I would have called instantly as you can't pass on those opportunities. But we were at the start of level 2 in a 15k, 40 min. tournament and even after giving up my hand I still had about 10k left. There's aboslutely no need to go broke with middle-set if there is a slight chance you're beat. The funny thing is that my open-fold labled me as a rock and for some time I was able to take down a lot of pots on the flop by showing the right aggression. Even more funny those who cried out loudest that they never would have been able to fold this hand were gone latest after level 4 (with hands like TPTK vs. small set etc.).

My time came when I got paid-off big with a well disguised set. Hit my set on the flop but the board again was dangerous. Blank on the turn and check-check. I now prayed for the board to pair and exactly that happend. He bet, I raised him and he called :-)

Somewhat later I took down another big pot with a straight that I already had hit on the flop. Up to 27k at this time. Unfortunately I had to give back a bunch again when I hit my TPTP on the flop but my opponent hit his TPTK on the turn. That hand was kind of nasty and the way it went I could have either lost a lot more if I bet the river or take it down (as the board looked dangerous for my opponent too).

So the most time of the next levels I bounced between 17k and 24k. But finally my stack slowly went down to 12k while the blinds went up to 600/1,200 (75). In the meantime I had to change the table and was faced with an all-big-stack table. I survived three all-ins. With two of them I just picked up the blinds and antes (and a small bet). With the third one I was extremely lucky: I had AQ and was called by AK. Ouch! Flop is J-J-2. Turn: 2. River: J. Split-Pot :-)

Finally my remaining money went in with AT and I got a customer with QQ. The flop was extremely good for me wit 7-8-9. I now was about 44% to stay in the tournament. But no help on turn and river. Out on 77th position of 142 players.

The deepstack at the Montesino is a very good tournament. Not only does it have a very good structure that allows for a lot of play but it also has a lot of players in it that don't know how to move a big stack. Not neccesarily bad players in general but open raises with 400 during the 25/50 level or 4,000 at the 400/800 (50) level are just ridicoulous ... and a waste of important chips if you are running a marathon instead of a sprint. The dealers are slightly better then in the past but still lack somewhat in quality and speed (compared to the CCC). Having a decent hotel (Roomz) around the corner is very nice and convenient. The Montesino offered a small selection of food for the players in the event which was nice too.

Haven't decided yet if I play the Montesino €30+5 Bounty Freezeout or the $20+4 Freezeout at the CCC (which has a slightly better structure) tonight.

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No FTOPS cash this time

Arrived in Vienna and played the 6-handed FTOPS event #20. Had to sit in the lobby of my hotel as the WLAN reception in my room was very bad. Why the hell did I even bother to ask them before if there's good reception in the room? :-(

Ran o.k. in the beginning but during the second hour I shifted a little downwards. And finally got all my chips involved in a hand. That final hand was somewhat tricky as I had hit a pair of Jacks on a J-Q-K-x-x board with AJ. I had it played like a straight all the way and finally was all-in on the river. I was sure that he didn't made the straight and didn't hit the King either. Most probably the Queen with a good kicker. So trying to buy the big pot was a decent option.

My opponent thought for a long time but finally decided that it was o.k. to call for half his stack with middle pair and ace kicker. Well, it was obviously ... but still amazing how much risk people take by calling those dangerous boards. At least he didn't insta-call.

So I went out in 1,422nd position of 2,360 after about 100 minutes. Still like the way I played here in general so not much to moan about ... except bad opponents ;-))

At least I now get enough sleep before the Deepstack at the Montesino which will kick off in 18 hours.

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Still running that last hand through my head

Sitting at Starbucks at foggy Dublin Airport and for the whole night and the whole morning I can't get this dammned exit hand out of my head. Did I made a mistake here that cost me my tournament or did I do it right?

Well, I finally came to the conclusion that the answer is yes and no! ;-)

If I played this hand a thousand times it was a crucial mistake not to take the free card he offered me by checking his hand. Why? By betting here I usually want to aquire one of two goals: either make him fold or gain information. But knowing that he is a gambler I should have known that my percentage to make him fold had been reduced drastically compared to other opponents. On the other hand a bet or an all-in from him doesn't really gain me information. It could either be a hand or a total bluff. So the money invested was invested on the wrong spot. Therefore generaly I played this hand wrong against this specific opponent.

But ... if I had played it correctly and checked ... the Jack on the turn would have then created the same outcome. If he checked again I then had bet and of course called his all-in (I doubt he had folded). If he bet I would have pushed against him (and again he wouldn't have folded). So in that specific hand I was doomed from the moment I played it.

There was only one way to avoid this desaster: Not playing this hand at all. But being on the button with AJ and everybody had folded to me in a seven-handed game this wasn't an option ... not with still 5 players left to the money.

Lesson learned but somewhat relieved that my "mistake" wasn't deceicive for the outcome of the tournament. Hopefully I can now get this hand to a rest and look forward as I gained so much positive from this weekend for future tournaments.

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Only 15th place ... very dissapointing

What a start of Day 2: First hand 88, a raise in front, I go all-in and get a call from KQ. Up to 25k. Next hand TT, picking up the blinds and antes with another all-in and up to 30k. Next hand TT again, shortstack goes all-in to my right with 10k. I go all-in, everybody folds. He shows AA. Flop comes T-7-7, Turn is blank, River an Ace :-(
Back down to 20k.

Make it up to 30k later on and finally get 77 in early position. Make a raise get a caller. Flop comes 7-2-x. I check, he bets and I go all-in. He thinks for some time and then decide that he wants to gamble. He shows J2. A Jack on the turn but no further help. Up to 70k (that't the stack on the photo btw.). Blinds already at 1,500/3,000 (300).

Now I make two crucial mistakes. Again I'm involved in a hand with Mr. Gambler. I raise with AKo and he goes all-in for about 45k. I decide to open fold and I'm now obviously tagged as very tight. Allows for some nice steals but Mr. Gambler still doesn't care. I raise with JJ, he calls. Flop comes 7-7-A. I bet and he goes all-in. I decide to fold (not showing this time) and he shows 55 and I am back down to 55kl

Looking back I would says in both cases a call of his all-in would have been o.k. Both had been borderline but would have been o.k. against this player. Unfortunately I choose the wrong spot: Again I rased with AJ from the button and he called. I'm sure he would have re-raised me with a reasonable hand. So the flop of 4-6-K doesn't look too bad. He checks, I bet and he goes all-in. I am sure he doesn't have the King and tries to get me from the hand. I hadn't too much left but still fold equity. I decided to take a stand. Unfortunately he had called my raise with 46o. Unbelievable. Turn was a Jack and every Ace, Jack or King would have made me the higher two pair. Still 16% ... but no help this time. I was out on a very dissapointing 15th place.

Decided to play todays side-event but better would have backed-off. Got the worst possible table with the worst possible players (with one exception). They raised and re-raised with every garbagge. If I only would have hit my hand strong at least one or two times I definately would have been the dominating chipleader there. Finally with the blinds 150/300 (25) and 5,500 left I got dealt Q9d in MP. I just called (a raise would have called or re-raised anyway). A raise from the SB, fold to me and I call as I am sure he doesn't have a big hand. Flop comes A-x-x with two diamonds. He bets, I raise all-in and of course he calls with A4. No diamond on turn or river and I'm out in 57th of 84.

Looking back I have to ask myself if I should have played the first event slower after I got back to an average stack. My answer to this is no. I didn't get my big stack by playing slow. I lost a good bunch of my stack because I slowed down. At the end I just choose the wrong spot for taking a stand. This can be improved ;-)

At least I beat out 69 others in that event and had to be lucky only one single time in the whole tournament (when my T8 hit against JJ yesterday). I made my way up to average from being the second shortest stack on my very own. So still dissapointed about my finish but happy with the way I played on the most part.

Will be flying back home tomorrow. Have to work Tuesday till Friday. On Friday evening I am flying to Vienna. Playing the FTOPS Shorthanded in the evening in my hotel room and then the Montesino Deepstack on Saturday (and hopefully Sunday). But no Poker from Monday till Thursday. I think I need to recover a little from this weekend.

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EDPC Side-Event, Day 2

Day 2 is less then 2 hours away. Not revealing much secrets I I say that I will most probably act very soon. If I'm out early today I will play tonights side event (6pm GMT/7pm CET). If it is a longer fight I might skip that one. There's nothing worse then entering a big tournament after you got busted from another big one just shortly before.

The good news for today is the seat-selection. I am in seat 9 ... in general I hate this seat but if they keep with their usual procedure then I start today on the button! :-) The bad news is that the SB and the BB have 41k and 73k respectively. At least that gives me the maximum options to act. Having no fold equity left there isn't much of a difference if I move in with 11.4k or 10k.

Here are the chips counts and seat selections for today:

1 Cat O'Neil 42000
2 John Farley 38700
3 Vincent Burke 121500
4 Tom Cunningham 69400
5 Colin Stuttard 66800
6 Richie Lawley 46500
7 Jude Duffy 106400
8 Jordan Van Gestel 18900
9 John Clancy 12400

1 Lenoir Pierre 41800
2 Thang Nguyen 73600
3 Nicky Power 69600
4 Rob Taylor 34000
5 Karen Muir 14400
6 Ciaran Burke 37300
7 Cormack McGinty 20500
8 Eamonn O Reilly 12200
9 Harald Gaerttner 11400

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Survived Day 1 of the EDPC side-event, but only 11,400 chips left

What a tournament: Some of my best poker ever, my most costly play, another luckbox hand and a real idiot. Unfortunately only 84 players bought in for the tournament. Expectation was more in the 100+ range. But still a nice prizepool for 9 guys (or girls) between €1,000 and €14,000.

Sorry folks, but I can't tell much about hands I played in this one. There's a huge number of hands that went without a showdown (either won or lost) and I can't tell the competition more about it. Lets just say I forced some really tough laydowns and some of these hands would have looked very interesting on TV ;-))

The whole thing was a real roller-coaster for me but finally I made my way up to 30k when Derek "The Clamper" Williams came to our table. I knew he was one of the better players in that tournament so getting involved in a hand with him required caution.

We exchanged some smaller pots with not much harm being done. But finally got involved in a big hand heads-up. I had Top Pair, Top Kicker and the pot had been grown really big until the river. The river put a possible flush on the board. I was sure he didn't have the flush but my problem was that there was quite a good chance that I was way behind against a set. So I decided to bet once more, he hestitated but finally called and showed the set. He later told me that he almost had folded his hand.

So did I play this hand correctly or was it a big mistake? I'm still biased. I think I could have slowed down on that hand on the flop (and giving it up without much harm). After I still played it on the turn it was then correct to go for it on the river. After that hand I was down to 15k.

In this tournament I was definately more then ever before balancing on the edge of perfect pressure and overpushing. I tend to say that this play against "The Clamper" crossed the line slightly and could have been avoided.

Unfortunately I never really recovered from that hand. With just 10k left I later went all-in from the button with T8 and ran into JJ from the big-blind. At least it wasn't AA this time ;-) But again I hit a perfect 8-x-T flop and magically survived.

From there I was absolutely card-dead and my stack went down from 22k to 11,400 chips. Day 1 is in the books, 18 players left, average is 48,000 and the next blinds will be 800/1,600 (200). Another miracle is needed tomorrow if I want to become one of the nine players in the money. Play continues at 3pm(GMT)/4pm(CET)

About the idiot: Every tournament seems to have one ... and this time he was at our table. This was really one of the most annoying poker players I ever met. He tried to bully the table from the first hand. It worked for some time and after it didn't work anymore he changed to being insanely lucky. Nothing against an aggressive player but this guy was hated by the whole table for a reason: He acted like a real A****. He later got punished with a one round sit-out for using the f-bomb extensively (after already harrasing the table, the dealer and the floor for some time). Some time after that he got a two round sit-out for using the f-bomb against the young lady next to him. You can imagine how happy everybody was after she busted him piece by piece: First with AK vs. A8 and then with AK vs. A9 ... everybody's luck runs out sometime! And everybody should treat good luck like what it is: a real gift. This kind of guy will never understand this.

And here's a little video of the venue. It starts with the running tables of the main-event and then goes over to the empty tables for the soon to be started €500 side-event:

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Another day that could have had a better ending

Woke up late and missed breakfast. Just awake and already the first bad beat of the day - nice start :-( Fortunately I found a Starbucks in Tallaght just 10 minutes away with the LUAS (there's not much around here at the hotel ... except lot's of traffic). So I enjoyed the nice morning as the weather totally changed. It's still cold but sunny with just a few clouds.

At 2pm the EDPC main-event started without me but 154 other people. Too bad they got about 50 cancellations due to the weather conditions till yesterday. On the other hand that might give an option that we have space for more then the expected 120 seats for tomorrows event (which I will definately play). Some very decent players at the main-event, including Padraig Parkinson, Noel Furlong and Surinder Sunar. Was a bit surprised that Padraig Parkinson was away from the table for almost the whole first level talking to friends. I know that the 25/50 level isn't a big one with 50k starting chips ... but just coming from a workshop that thaught me how well this time can be used for observing the people at your table this puzzles me a little. But maybe he knew most of his opponents already from the local scene.

For me it was the consolation round at the Sporting Emporium (€40 with one Rebuy or Add-On). I was a little dissapointed that they only got 31 people. Last time I played here (Feb 2008) we got over 50 players. Was the short stack most of the time (needed the rebuy) but managed to get at the final table with a decent middle-sized stack. Was able to pressure the rest of the final table and even add some more to my stack here. Finally I called an all-in from a short stack. She had 14k left (had gotten a brutal bad beat some time before) and I had 36k. It was AK vs. AQ but the young lady found another Queen on the board. Now I was the short stack. Managed to maintain my stack for several rounds but finally at the 1,500/3,000 level my remaining 13k went in with 22 shortly before the blinds reached me again. Was called by the chipleader with T2. Looked good until a Ten hit the board on the flop. I was out on 7th place with four getting paid between €260 and €880.

Well, I don't mind the hand I lost against AQ. She was a decent player, took her chance and got lucky (after she got very unlucky before - against the guy who took me out). But the last hand was cruel. This guy wanted to leave for some time because his brother didn't wanted to wait any longer for him. But he got lucky almost all of the time. While I then waited for my taxi he left the casino. Unbelievable! He obviously donked off his massive chiplead (over 50k) in just a few hands after my exit and ended up out of the money.

At least I know I played a very good tournament. Can't buy anything from that but feels a little better knowing that I haven't made anything wrong here.

Oh, and here's a little none poker-story about how friendly people are in Ireland: While traveling with the LUAS I got into a ticket check 2 out of 3 times. The second time there was a family that obviously made a mistake and was missing some 80 cent ticket for the youngest child. They didn't get fined ... they got told to pick up a ticket at the next stop. And even so the next tram was just 7.5 minutes behind the control-guy told the driver to wait for them so they could continue their trip in that tram. I have to see this kind of customer service in Germany yet!

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Good luck and bad beats in Ireland

My trip to Dublin started with a portion of good luck - also I didn't know about this until the evening. When I talked to Michael Lacey (the organiser of the event) he told me that they had shut down the Dublin airport due to weather conditions for several hours shortly after noon. Our flight had been landed at 12:35pm and the main runway had been closed at 12:50pm.

Several players arrived late or even didn't made it at all today. But the satellite still got a good field of 113 runners. After the dust had settled and people had done their one rebuy and/or one rebuy add-on it turned out that this tournament would award 16 seats for the main-event. Not bad!

I had a bad start overplaying Jacks. Tried to pretend that I had hit with Ace-high ... bad idea when your opponent holds AK. Was almost on the need of my rebuy but hit two times and managed to keep my stack at around 1,500 for a long time. Finally I needed my rebuy. During the next to last hand of the rebuy time I was dealt QTs. There was a raise and an all-in from the guy on my right. With only 2,500 chips left behind I was willing to gamble here. Either double up and taking the add-on or busting out and not taking the add-on. But the original raiser went all-in too and I even had the opportunity to triple-up. And my position wasn't that bad as I had live cards vs. AK and AK. Flop comes Qxx :-) Turn K :-( River Q :-)))

The guy on my right almost exploded and couldn't understand how the hell I refused to respect his all-in. Seems he didn't get the point of my move. Including the add-on I was back to a decent M=20 stack. Unfortunately I lost an important hand against exactly that guy with almost exactly exchanged positions. Everybody folded to him in the SB. He asked if I call in case he goes all-in. Of course he got no answer. He went all-in and I called with AKs from the BB. He showed T3s and hit his 3 on the turn. Too bad ... but that's Poker.

From there I didn't get much playable and my stack went into danger-zone. Can't recall how many times I went all-in. At least 10, maybe more. Never got action (and most times I was happy about this) but therefore never really came forward. In that time I had to change tables twice.

Finally with 52 of 113 left I again put my stack of 4,600 on the line. Blinds already had reached 500/1,000 (100). Unfortunately this time I got action and my QTs was dominated by KTs. No help and out! Isn't that funny? QT saves me and then breaks me in that tournament.

So no main-event for me tomorrow but most probably a smaller event at the Sporting Emporium.

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Back to Baile Átha Cliath

Unfortunately I missed the International Poker Open in Dublin last fall. But now I'm finally back for the "European Deepstack Poker Championships". Unfortunately they don't have a six-handed event like last year ... but it's still very deepstacked. There's a rumor that they will do a short-handed festival later this year. I love this idea!

The current weather in Dublin is horrible. It's cold with a mix of snow and rain. I'm more then happy that I choose to stay in the hotel were the event takes place. It's somewhat outside of the city but can be easily reached by the LUAS (Dublin's tram system).

Didn't feel too well for the whole day for some reason. The bad wheather didn't help either. But after I checked into my room, got a real hot shower and a chicken ceasar salad for dinner I now feel good and prepared for the first tournament.

Tonight there's a supersatellite for tomorrows main-event. Hopefully I can qualify for the main-event (which has a €1,500 buy-in) ... if not I will play the side events. Already checked out the room and made my initial buy-in for the satellite.

There's quite good wireless reception here in the hotel (and it's for free). Hopefully this is also valid for the conference center and I can twitter my updates again.

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An evening with Vanessa Rousso

Ah, couldn't resist to use that headline ;-) But this was indeed a very remarkable evening. A few weeks ago I read an article about a workshop with Vanessa Rousso to be held in Regensburg. I talked to Stephan Kalhammer, who was the organizer of this event, and it sounded indeed very interesting. The topic was "game theory".

So I went to Regensburg today first enjoying the nice weather in the old town before attending the evening workshop. It was a small but good crowd of people that consisted of some players that had been playing poker for 2-4 years, a PokerStars Supernova, a laywer from a well know law-firm and professional poker player Hans-Martin Vogl.

Vanessa turned out to be not only a very nice and likeable person ... she's also a hell of a teacher. That kind of a teacher were you don't want to miss a single word because every single word seems to be important. When she's teaching you really tend to forget that she's only in her mid 20's. She makes the very theroretical topic of "game theory" very visible and understandable. For every theory she seems to have a real-live example that helps to understand the point she wanted to make.

More then once I realized things I already do in my game but this workshop helped to put all those small pieces together into a bigger framework. What I've learned today won't change my game in general but I will be much more aware and conscious about several things I do and others do.

So if you ever have the opportunity to get a poker lesson from her - don't miss it!

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