Online Play…
Been playing on Full Tilt for the past couple of weeks and noticed a pattern. Whenever you play casino games during day time in Europe the games tend to be much more calm and civilized. As soon as some americans sit down onto the tables all hell breaks loose. I am not saying that everybody in Europe plays quiet poker while American’s dont but that is something that I have noticed as of lately…We like to gamble much more over here I guess and make guttsier calls then most, in other terms are bogger “fishes” then most lol…So something to keep in mind when you are picking out a table to sit down and play at online…
Posted by Jared on 01. 05. 2009 in Cash Game Poker, Poker Advice. And No Comments .
Horrible Luck…
So after last night I’ve decided not to play for the remainder of April and hopefully return to some better cards in May. I went by the casino to play cash games last night again and was doing ok for the most part. Then the dreaded Hold’em hand came. I was sitting in small blind and got dealt KdQd so threw in a small raise since no-one else raise before me. Got called by two people and flop came out Ad10d8d. Having flopped the nut flush and a royal flush draw I felt I was in great position to take this pot down so decided to slow play it a bit, I checked and got the action which I wanted. Player after me bet a hefty amount and the player behind him went all-in. I knew that I was up against a set of some sort and maybe a straight in the other mans hand. I obviously called and so did the other player. when cards were flipped one had a set of Queen’s and the other player went all-in with 3d5d…
I was feeling great and hooping that the board wont pair and ill take down the pot then the turn and river came out 2d and 4d!!! Are you kidding me like??? I was like a 95% favorite to take that pot down after the turn and I loose to a runner runner low straight flush. Obviously I was a bit upset so I decided to take of the rest of April, get my composure back and return with a vengeance. It’s not that I have been playing bad that is why I’m not really stressing too much about it, just the other players have been getting way too lucky against me these past 2 weeks. So hopefully this nonsense blows over and May will be a good month. Instead of a complete rest I decided to test the water in another field: sports betting. I found a very reliable interactive gaming site for the best sports betting on the net. It became a good month after all.
Posted by Jared on 24. 04. 2009 in Cash Game Poker, Casino, Key Poker Skills, Poker Advice. And No Comments .
Having Some Fun at the Final Table…
Went to play in a small freeze-out tourney yesterday after a long weekend. The whole game was kinda blah, didn’t pick up on any big hands and just stacked up some chips through good play and big bluffs. It was only a 28 person tourney so went by pretty quick. In about 3 hours it was down to 8 people at the final table. Average stack were about 7000 and I had 1800 in chips. To be honest I just got bored and started playing the final table like if I was playing online poker. I must have went all-in about 12 times in a row and I’m not exaggerating…By the time my all-in barrage has ended I had 7800 in chips, all coming from picking up the blinds. Some of the guys got very aggravated as others which were more experienced players at the table kinda knew what I was doing, they just didn’t have reasonable hands to call with.
After skipping a couple of hands I picked up pocket 10’s and went all-in again and got a call from A,10…No Ace came out and that was the first person out from the final table. Having close to 13,000 in chips in front of me now and some breathing room I took out 4 more people in the next 30minutes and once it came down to head’s up play me and the other guy just split it. Must say it was the first time I played that loose at a final table but it was very entertaining. Loved getting under peoples skin with those moves but at the end they did it to themselves. Had they not been playing that tight I would have probably been the 8th person out, glad it worked out the way it did thoe 
Posted by Jared on 30. 03. 2009 in Key Poker Skills, Poker Advice, Tournament Play. And No Comments .
Bad Run lately
Been feeling a bit sick for the past couple of days and it has resulted in affecting my game in a bad way. Got knocked out of the tourney last night after only about an hour and sunday night lost some money in a cash game. Online has been the same story and I only have myself to blame. Playing way too many hands that shouldn’t even be played and very impatient with the betting etc. So the verdict is, DO NOT PLAY WHEN YOU AREN’T FEELING WELL…It wont give you a good result and will probably cost you a decent amount of money.
Posted by Jared on 17. 03. 2009 in Poker Advice. And No Comments .
Loosing Focus…
So was playing in a tourney of 50 last week. It was an unlimited re-buy for the first hour with a double add on before the break. I made 2 rebuy’s and an add on which isnt to bad, probably around the average of what players make in a tournament like this. The whole tourney was sitting pretty much on an average stack so wasn’t too stressed about not making it into the money. When there were two tables left I got AK suited. A player before me raised 2 times the blind and I re-raised double that. He called so I put him on a pair but not too high for he would have probably pushed me all in if he had KK or AA. Flop came out 7,6,2 rainbow and he bet what I raised before the flop. I went for the bluff and re-raised and my opponent pushed all-in…Obviously I folded but that took a decent size of my stack. After I threw my cards face up he showed me 99 so I made the right decisin after all.
I managed to build my stack back up to what it was before that hand but by then we were moving to the final table and the average was way higher than before. I was shortstacked at the final table but was determined to grind it out and so I did. I lasted until there were 6players left wihtout playing a single hand but the blinds were 800/1600 now and my total stack was 3800 so it was time to win some all-in’s…I got a bit lucky I must admit, sitting on big blind and having 2200 left I got JJ and got called when I pushed by the chip leader. He had K9 and I ended up winning with the Jacks. Then when I was sitting on the button I got AA and obviously pushed after there were a couple of callers before me. The other short stack called and I ended up winning with the total pot bringin me up to 24,000 with everyone elses blind’s that were in the pot.
This kind of made me loose my focus as I got excited and stopped paying attention to details of the game. There were 5 of us left and blinds 1000/2000, I was the big blind, chip leader right after me and after him a player who had 2000 exactly in chips left. I had Q6 and ended up catchin top pair on the flop and pushed in my chips against the chip leader in a reckless move. He called having Q10 and I ended up getting out 5th. If I had only paid attention that the next 2 hands have I waited the player with 2000 would have most likely been blinded out and I would place at least one higher and get at least $1000 more in prize money…Unfortunate but a valuable lesson not to get to excited over winning big all-in’s when they are really needed for if you loose focus the outcome turns out the same either way…
Posted by Jared on 25. 02. 2009 in Poker Advice, Tournament Play. And 1 Comment .
Caught the flu…
So I got a bit sick over the weekend and instead of staying home and getting some rest of course I went to the casino. I figured it was a nice place to just relax and do what I enjoy doing all in one. Very foolish decision on my part. To play poker you always have to be on top of your game. Calculate, read your opponents, play your position and most importantly be patient. It is hard for me to be patient when I am feeling fine but when you have a head ache and everything is spinning you just start making reckless moves at the table.
The only good thing out of going to play on monday night was that I entered a very small tournament and didn’t loose much money. When I sat down at the beggining everything seemed fine, I was just playing my game and managed to build up my stack a bit. Then the break came and after smoking a ciggarete I started feeling a bit odd. My head was hurting a lot and I wasn’t concentrating on the game. This resulted in me calling raises with cards that didn’t even deserve to call the blind with. I just ran out of patience and in a matter of about 3 or 4 hands I was out of the tourney. So with this said dont ever play while your sick for your patience and concentration wont be with you. It is always a big plus to be well rested before playing in a tournament since you will have to sit there for a few hours if you are planning on winning!!!
Posted by Jared on 18. 02. 2009 in Poker Advice, Tournament Play. And No Comments .