mystpoker.com: April 2008

mystpoker.com



Monday, April 14, 2008

EPT Monte Carlo 2008 - Day 1

Unfortunately, there will be no three-peat for me in Monte Carlo. I was eliminated about half way into Day 1. I'll recap some of the significant hands.

My table draw looked very good. There was one good German player across the table from me, and I didn't recognize anyone else, which is always a good thing. After I got a feel for the table, I started to employ my normal aggressive game. I think at one point I raised 7 or 8 straight hands. Nobody was playing back, and at the worst they were calling and then letting me control the size of the pot.

I slowly built up my original $15,000 stack to around $20,000 when the following hand came up during the second level. Keep in mind I was playing almost every hand before this. Blinds are $50/$100. Old tight Italian man limps UTG and it folds to me in MP. I make it $375 but this I actually have a real hand, KK. It folds to the good German player on the button. Now he knows I am playing a wide variety of hands, but he has been pretty much avoiding me and playing the pots I'm not in. He 3-bets it to $1475. Now I know a monster hand is going to happen, because I know he is fully expecting the possibility of a 4-bet from me. And I'm really comfortable because I don't think he would have made as big of a re-raise with AA. So now I'm licking my chops. It folds back to the Italian man and he quickly makes it $3100 to go. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I honestly only thought for about 10 seconds, said "wow", flashed my Kings to the guy next to me, and threw them in the muck. The German guy tanked for around 3 minutes and decided to flat call. The flop was 442, and the Italian man led out for $4500. The German guy again tanked, and flashed QQ before folding. The Italian guy proudly shows AA. I tell them I folded KK, and the German guy goes "You were stacking me. I would have never folded these to you." Damn it! Oh well, at least it only cost me $375.

I was still at $20,000 and I was dealt AQ on the button. The blinds were now $75/$150. I made it $425, and both blinds called. Flop was A82 all hearts. SB checks, BB bets out $1000, I call, SB folds. Turn is an offsuit Q, giving me top 2. He leads out again for $3000, and I call. Possibility of a flush is in my mind, but I'll wait to see what he does on the river. The river is an offsuit 3. There's almost $10,000 in the pot and I have $11,500 behind. He bets... $1000, lol. Now I am 100% sure he doesn't have a flush because he would have value bet more on the river here. I tank it for a bit and decide to bump it up to $4000. It's a pretty thin raise, but I think I would raise here most of the time because my image is so loose that he would never fold any hands, and I beat more of his range than I lose to. He thought for a bit and called, I showed my hand but he showed 22 for a flopped set.

Now I was down to $7500, but still in okay shape since the blinds were still low. I found KK in mid position again, and raised it up to $550 at $100/$200. The German player calls on the button, and the rest fold. The Flop is T84 with 2 spades. I bet $1000, and he calls. Turn is the Qs, putting a flush on board. I check, and he checks behind. River is an offsuit 2. It looks like a pretty good bluff spot for me, and I decide to bet $2500. He tanks for a bit, and then calls. I show my Kings and he taps the table and mucks.

Now I'm back up to $12,000. A couple of players limp and I find 22 in the cutoff. I also limp, button limps. The flop is T62r, bingo! 6 players in the hand, it checks to me, I bet $800, button calls, the rest fold. Turn is an A. I look at his stack, and he's got around $7500 left. I check, he bets $1600, and I make it $4000. He pushes all in and I call. He shows AT and the river doesn't help him. Back up to $20,000 we go!

Now my image has gotten to be a bit more solid, time to loosen it up again. The French player to my immediate left has been 3-betting me quite a bit when I open and I have usually been folding to him. I find T6off in the cut-off and make it $550. He re-raises to $1500, with another $7000 behind. It folds back to me, and I shove. He thinks for a bit and eventually folds. I show my hand, table starts laughing.

I take down a couple more pots with preflop raises, and on the very next orbit I'm dealt 88 in the cutoff. It folds to me, and I make it $550. Folds to the German player in the BB, and he makes it $1700. I just call. Flop comes 542. He bets $3000 and he has another $5100 behind. I thought for a while, and pushed all-in, hoping he had AK or AQ. He called with KK and won. Now I was back down to $13,000.

Soon after, my table broke and I was moved to a new one. I recognized a couple of players, but again it seemed like a decent table. On the 4th hand, I pick up As9s in the hijack. I make it $550, button calls, BB calls. Flop is T82 with 2 spades giving me the nut flush draw. BB checks, I bet $1100, button calls, BB folds. Turn is a red Q. I bet $3000, and button insta-shoves. I have another $8000 behind at this point, and I mucked. My table broke once again right after this hand.

For the next half an hour or so my stack fluctuated between $5000 and $8000 winning and losing small pots. I was down to $6500 when I picked up Ac7c in the SB. It folded around to the cutoff who made it $700 to go. Button calls, and I figure this is a pretty good spot to squeeze. I push all in for $6500, BB folds, cutoff quickly calls, and button calls all-in for $6000. The cutoff flips over KQ, and button flips over AK. Wow... no comment. So I pretty much need a miracle to stay alive here. Flop brings an Ace but that was all she wrote.

I guess it will have to be 3 out of 4 for me here in Monte Carlo. In other news, the side games have been going great. I also did an interview with CardPlayer TV and 103.7 BOB FM in Ottawa. I will post links and a full trip report in the next update.

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Off to Malta and Monte Carlo

I will start off this post with a video recap of last year's final hand from Gavin Griffin's perspective. I still puke a little bit every time I watch it, fast forward to around the 3 minute mark if you want to skip the boring part. ;)



The European Poker Tour Championship starts next week in Monte Carlo. Tomorrow I will be flying out to Malta, where Eurolinx is now based, to hang out with the crew and Team Eurolinx for a few days before heading to Monte Carlo on the 11th. I have just been informed that it will be 30°C all week (around 85°F for you Yanks), it will be nice to get out of this igloo we call home.

I have been anxiously awaiting this tournament all year long. Because of some obvious history, this is by far the most significant tournament of the year for me. To say I will not be satisfied with less than 1st place is an understatement. Do I expect to come in 1st? Of course not, I'm realisitic. I never go into a tournament with any expectations, because I quickly learned that you will come up with a lot more heartache than joy with that mindset.

Most of the people who are close to me know that the past couple of months have been pretty rough. I'm just thankful I have the friends and family that I have and their support has meant everything. I'm starting to go back to the gym and get active again. I had pretty much lost all motivation to do anything anymore and I'm trying to regain that. Being out of shape is definitely -EV.

I'm actually glad that I've taken some time off from poker. I haven't played much online and last night was my first time at the casino in over a month. There was no $5/$10 NL game so I didn't end up playing, I just hung out with a few of my buddies and talked some poker strategy. It's always good to take a small break before a big tournament.

In other news, the first two weeks of the Myst Poker Tour have been great! Both winners were actually good friends of mine. Week 1 was won by Mark a.k.a. "zachjackdad" and Week 2 was won by Shiba a.k.a. "The Savage". We had 125 people out to play last week and we expect it to be a complete sell out from around Week 4 and on. Unfortunately, I will be missing the next two weeks because of Monte Carlo. No need to worry though, since my man Niko is a one man show and will have no trouble running it solo. For those two weeks, the $50 bounty will be on his head. Let's see how he likes it when everybody is going at your throat and nobody folds a hand to you! :P

My latest article for CardPlayer magazine is out and is titled "Becoming the Chip Leader". You can read it here: http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/17405

Hooooooooooooooooooldplz1timekthx.