Tournament: $20+$2 SNG (these will always be single-table unless otherwise noted)
Finish: 3 of 9
Winnings: $36
Key hands: I'll give you two. I'm proud of my patience in this SNG. I followed the ABC approach in the early going that Collin Moshman perscribes in "Sit 'n Go Strategy." I wasn't able to catch much by way of cards, and I basically treaded water as the blinds got up to 100-200. But I did the short-stack ninja routine, and managed to survive long enough to catch JJ in the small blind. The big blind called my open-shove with Kd7d, and I got my double-up to 2100.
From there, I managed to steal just enough blinds to survive on the money bubble, and the player who doubled me up earlier bubbled in fourth place when he lost a coin flip.
I ended up busting a couple orbits later. I limped with QsJs in the small blind, and the BB raised to 600. I called, and saw a Q-8-x rainbow flop. I checked, he bet 400, and I check-raised all-in. He called with AA, and I wasn't able to catch up. Those suited cards were just too pretty for me to get rid of preflop, even though my opponent had been playing really solid poker. Once I paired my queen, I was pretty much married to it, given my stack size and the amount of $ in the pot. I need to be able to get away from that preflop.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Rough start
Tournament: $30+$3 SNG
Finish: 7 of 9
Hands I'd like to have back: All of 'em. Well, not quite, but I lost all four pots I played, and that was that.
Before I dive into analyzing this tournament, I should note that I'm reading "Sit 'n Go Strategy" by Collin Moshman, a well-regarded primer that deals exclusively with single-table SNG's. I've been playing poorly of late, and I'm looking to refine my fundamentals a bit.
First hand I played, with blinds 10-20, I got AKo in early position. The player UTG (under the gun) raises to 60, and I flat-call, mindful of Moshman's advice to keep pots small during the early blind levels. There are two other callers, and the flop came all clubs - I have the ace of clubs. Initial raiser bets 100, I call. Turn is a blank, check-check. River also misses me, I fold to his bet.
I didn't win the pot, but I feel I played the hand well, and probably avoided losing more chips than I might have.
Second level, blinds 15-30, I have Ac7c in the small blind. Hijack seat min-raises to 60, and cutoff seat calls. I fold, ignoring favourable pot odds, because I'm determined to avoid sticky situations in the early levels, plus I'd have to play the rest of the hand out of position. Flop comes A-7-7. I'm naturally devastated. Two players get all their chips in by the river - one holding A9, and the big blind holding 72. Ugh. I think my reasoning for folding was sound, but it's sure devastating when you see the flop come like that.
A couple levels later, blinds 25-50, I raised to 150 with Ac8c. The cutoff calls, and the short-stacked big blind moves in for 250 more. Getting 3-to-1 on my money, I call. So does the cutoff. Flop misses me, and we both check. Turn is an ace, and I check for two reasons - I've got a weak ace, and I would hate to push the other active player out of the pot and miss an opportunity to knock a player out. At any rate, the river is the 10c, which puts a possible straight on the board (A-J-T-x-x). I check, and the other active player mercifully checks behind, showing KQ for the nut straight, and collects the 1,250 pot. In retrospect, not betting the turn was regrettable, but my biggest mistake was probably raising preflop - building a big pot without a big hand. For what it's worth, the small blind had 77.
Now I'm short-stacked with 730. The hijack raises to 150, and I call with 8c8s. The small blind calls as well, and we see an all-spade flop of 9-6-2. It's a decent flop for mid-pair and a small flush draw, and when it's checked to me, and I move all in with a pot-sized bet of 550. The small blind snap-calls with the flush (JsQs), and I'm done.
What have I learned? Well, from now on I'll summarize fewer hands in these recaps. Beyond that, I think the mistakes speak for themselves. On to the next one.
Finish: 7 of 9
Hands I'd like to have back: All of 'em. Well, not quite, but I lost all four pots I played, and that was that.
Before I dive into analyzing this tournament, I should note that I'm reading "Sit 'n Go Strategy" by Collin Moshman, a well-regarded primer that deals exclusively with single-table SNG's. I've been playing poorly of late, and I'm looking to refine my fundamentals a bit.
First hand I played, with blinds 10-20, I got AKo in early position. The player UTG (under the gun) raises to 60, and I flat-call, mindful of Moshman's advice to keep pots small during the early blind levels. There are two other callers, and the flop came all clubs - I have the ace of clubs. Initial raiser bets 100, I call. Turn is a blank, check-check. River also misses me, I fold to his bet.
I didn't win the pot, but I feel I played the hand well, and probably avoided losing more chips than I might have.
Second level, blinds 15-30, I have Ac7c in the small blind. Hijack seat min-raises to 60, and cutoff seat calls. I fold, ignoring favourable pot odds, because I'm determined to avoid sticky situations in the early levels, plus I'd have to play the rest of the hand out of position. Flop comes A-7-7. I'm naturally devastated. Two players get all their chips in by the river - one holding A9, and the big blind holding 72. Ugh. I think my reasoning for folding was sound, but it's sure devastating when you see the flop come like that.
A couple levels later, blinds 25-50, I raised to 150 with Ac8c. The cutoff calls, and the short-stacked big blind moves in for 250 more. Getting 3-to-1 on my money, I call. So does the cutoff. Flop misses me, and we both check. Turn is an ace, and I check for two reasons - I've got a weak ace, and I would hate to push the other active player out of the pot and miss an opportunity to knock a player out. At any rate, the river is the 10c, which puts a possible straight on the board (A-J-T-x-x). I check, and the other active player mercifully checks behind, showing KQ for the nut straight, and collects the 1,250 pot. In retrospect, not betting the turn was regrettable, but my biggest mistake was probably raising preflop - building a big pot without a big hand. For what it's worth, the small blind had 77.
Now I'm short-stacked with 730. The hijack raises to 150, and I call with 8c8s. The small blind calls as well, and we see an all-spade flop of 9-6-2. It's a decent flop for mid-pair and a small flush draw, and when it's checked to me, and I move all in with a pot-sized bet of 550. The small blind snap-calls with the flush (JsQs), and I'm done.
What have I learned? Well, from now on I'll summarize fewer hands in these recaps. Beyond that, I think the mistakes speak for themselves. On to the next one.
So, what's the deal with this blog?
As a confirmed technophobe, writing my first blog post is a little crazy to me, and I wish I had a snappy opening paragraph to offer you.
But I don't. So rather than indulging in a bunch of foreplay, I figure I might as well launch into it.
So, what's the deal with this blog? And who is this guy?
I don't think I'll answer the latter question directly. Most of you who know about this blog know who I am. For those who stumble onto it, I think I'll remain anonymous, for no other reason than to maintain a sense of mystery. All you really need to know is contained in the banner at the top of the page - I'm a Canadian sportswriter, and the male pronoun suggests, I am a dude.
More or less, this site will be a space for me to vent. The predominant theme will be my exploits in the wonderful game of poker, but I'll also opine on the sports world at large, and anything else that catches my fancy.
Why do I play poker? On a basic level, it's because it's a freaking sweet game - an amazing mix of competition, psychology, math and gambling. I love to play tournaments, and I'm reasonably proficient at them - I've been a consistently profitable player in low-stakes ($5 to $50) sit-n-go tourneys on Pokerstars over the past couple of years.
On a more personal level, I've got this crazy dream in floating around in the back of my head. It goes like this: I improve as a player and build my bankroll, and eventually, I pay off the mortgage on my house with poker cash. It's definitely a dream at this point - my bankroll is currently just north of $3,500, which represents less than one per cent of my mortgage.
So a big purpose of this blog will be to chronicle my incremental attempts, futile though they may be, to reach my lofty goal. I intend to blog about the majority of my sit-n-go forays, with the intention of analyzing my play. This will also (I'm hoping) hold me accountable to play well, as opposed to playing a tourney mindlessly just because I've got nothing better to do.
At the end of the day, I'm hoping this blog exercise will make me a better poker player, a better writer, and a better person (more on that to come in future blog posts).
You're all invited to join me on my poker journey, and to offer critiques and feedback. Hopefully it's fun, and profitable.
But I don't. So rather than indulging in a bunch of foreplay, I figure I might as well launch into it.
So, what's the deal with this blog? And who is this guy?
I don't think I'll answer the latter question directly. Most of you who know about this blog know who I am. For those who stumble onto it, I think I'll remain anonymous, for no other reason than to maintain a sense of mystery. All you really need to know is contained in the banner at the top of the page - I'm a Canadian sportswriter, and the male pronoun suggests, I am a dude.
More or less, this site will be a space for me to vent. The predominant theme will be my exploits in the wonderful game of poker, but I'll also opine on the sports world at large, and anything else that catches my fancy.
Why do I play poker? On a basic level, it's because it's a freaking sweet game - an amazing mix of competition, psychology, math and gambling. I love to play tournaments, and I'm reasonably proficient at them - I've been a consistently profitable player in low-stakes ($5 to $50) sit-n-go tourneys on Pokerstars over the past couple of years.
On a more personal level, I've got this crazy dream in floating around in the back of my head. It goes like this: I improve as a player and build my bankroll, and eventually, I pay off the mortgage on my house with poker cash. It's definitely a dream at this point - my bankroll is currently just north of $3,500, which represents less than one per cent of my mortgage.
So a big purpose of this blog will be to chronicle my incremental attempts, futile though they may be, to reach my lofty goal. I intend to blog about the majority of my sit-n-go forays, with the intention of analyzing my play. This will also (I'm hoping) hold me accountable to play well, as opposed to playing a tourney mindlessly just because I've got nothing better to do.
At the end of the day, I'm hoping this blog exercise will make me a better poker player, a better writer, and a better person (more on that to come in future blog posts).
You're all invited to join me on my poker journey, and to offer critiques and feedback. Hopefully it's fun, and profitable.
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