WCOOP - Event #18

I am waiting to begin WCOOP Event #18 which is a $215 buy-in HORSE MTT. There are 2091 people signed up making the prize pool $418,200. We start with T3000 in chips, 12 min levels, and 304 get paid. Let's see how this goes...

The 1st hour the blinds were so low that you really couldn't make any significant moves. Nothing exciting and I ended up with T2869 with only 2 people busting out. Lol - they had to try hard to do that.

The second hour things picked up. In the Stud level, I got someone to call my flush down with just 6's and 4's. I also started with split A's twice and won both hands. Up to a nice T5205 at the end of hour two and only 65 peeps out total.

In hour 3 during the LHE round, I get KK and it gets 3 bet 3 ways. I copied the hand because I'm not sure if I played it right. LHE is one of my weakest games. Check it out:

PokerStars Game #20383857123: Tournament #200800018, $200+$15 HORSE (Hold'em Limit) - Level XI (60/120) - 2008/09/13 18:49:06 ET
Table '200800018 192' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Crazyfish_18 (1407 in chips)
Seat 2: Chancew (1467 in chips)
Seat 3: BluMK (5295 in chips)
Seat 4: BetterHand (294 in chips)
Seat 5: IHateChu (5208 in chips)
Seat 6: Kirdorfer (3543 in chips)
Seat 7: Koyotito (3952 in chips)
Seat 8: mabel10 (2680 in chips)
Kirdorfer: posts small blind 30
Koyotito: posts big blind 60
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BluMK [Ks Kc]
mabel10: folds
Crazyfish_18: raises 60 to 120
Chancew: folds
BluMK: raises 60 to 180
BetterHand: folds
IHateChu: calls 180
Kirdorfer: calls 150
Koyotito: folds
Crazyfish_18: folds
*** FLOP *** [8d 6h Ac]
Kirdorfer: checks
BluMK: checks
IHateChu: checks
*** TURN *** [8d 6h Ac] [4s]
Kirdorfer: checks
BluMK: bets 120
IHateChu: folds
Kirdorfer: calls 120
*** RIVER *** [8d 6h Ac 4s] [Kd]
Kirdorfer: checks
BluMK: bets 120
Kirdorfer: calls 120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BluMK: shows [Ks Kc] (three of a kind, Kings)
Kirdorfer: mucks hand
BluMK collected 1200 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1200 Rake 0
Board [8d 6h Ac 4s Kd]
Seat 1: Crazyfish_18 folded before Flop
Seat 2: Chancew folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: BluMK showed [Ks Kc] and won (1200) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 4: BetterHand folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: IHateChu (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Kirdorfer (small blind) mucked [Td Tc]
Seat 7: Koyotito (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: mabel10 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Things then started to wrong during this LHE level. I lost a turned straight to a rivered flush. I lost flopped top two pair to a turned flush. During the Razz round, Bill Chen gets moved to my table with an avg stack. I really don't play any differently just because they are a p-stars pro. I analyze their game just like anyone elses. During the Stud round, I have this interesting hand - please comment on my play:

PokerStars Game #20384817239: Tournament #200800018, $200+$15 HORSE (7 Card Stud Limit) - Level XIV (80/160) - 2008/09/13 19:31:51 ET
Table '200800018 94' 8-max
Seat 1: imSMARTurDUM (3238 in chips)
Seat 2: Colonel Mort (4731 in chips)
Seat 3: BluMK (3943 in chips)
Seat 4: WelshMackem (4085 in chips)
Seat 5: Bill Chen (6986 in chips)
Seat 6: 1hugeidiot (3994 in chips)
Seat 7: arashhh23 (2567 in chips)
Seat 8: dtbss (4823 in chips)
Colonel Mort: posts the ante 16
BluMK: posts the ante 16
WelshMackem: posts the ante 16
Bill Chen: posts the ante 16
1hugeidiot: posts the ante 16
arashhh23: posts the ante 16
dtbss: posts the ante 16
imSMARTurDUM: posts the ante 16
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to imSMARTurDUM [5h]
Dealt to Colonel Mort [Qd]
Dealt to BluMK [7d Jh 8d]
Dealt to WelshMackem [4s]
Dealt to Bill Chen [7s]
Dealt to 1hugeidiot [9s]
Dealt to arashhh23 [9c]
Dealt to dtbss [Tc]
WelshMackem: brings in for 24
Bill Chen: folds
1hugeidiot: folds
arashhh23: folds
dtbss: folds
imSMARTurDUM: folds
Colonel Mort: folds
BluMK: raises 56 to 80
WelshMackem: calls 56
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to BluMK [7d Jh 8d] [7h]
Dealt to WelshMackem [4s] [7c]
BluMK: bets 80
WelshMackem: raises 80 to 160
BluMK: raises 80 to 240
WelshMackem: calls 80
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to BluMK [7d Jh 8d 7h] [2c]
Dealt to WelshMackem [4s 7c] [3c]
BluMK: checks
WelshMackem: bets 160
BluMK: calls 160
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to BluMK [7d Jh 8d 7h 2c] [8s]
Dealt to WelshMackem [4s 7c 3c] [Ah]
BluMK: checks
WelshMackem: bets 160
BluMK: raises 160 to 320
WelshMackem: calls 160
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to BluMK [7d Jh 8d 7h 2c 8s] [8h]
BluMK: bets 160
WelshMackem: calls 160
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BluMK: shows [7d Jh 8d 7h 2c 8s 8h] (a full house, Eights full of Sevens)
WelshMackem: mucks hand
BluMK collected 2048 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2048 Rake 0
Seat 1: imSMARTurDUM folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Colonel Mort folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: BluMK showed [7d Jh 8d 7h 2c 8s 8h] and won (2048) with a full house, Eights full of Sevens
Seat 4: WelshMackem mucked [3h 4c 4s 7c 3c Ah 6s]
Seat 5: Bill Chen folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: 1hugeidiot folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: arashhh23 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: dtbss folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

I finish hour three at T4099 with the avg at T3867 and 1622 people left.

Hour 4 - during the Razz round, I lost a good pot drawing to a 7 4 but ending up with an 8 7 and losing to as 7 6 high. Down to T2503. However, on the last hand of the Razz round, I got a very aggressive player short stack allin and I end up w/ a 7 6 high to take him out. Back up to T4846. Fast forward to the last hand of the hour in Stud H/L, I make a classic mistake trying to catch a low with no high and brick out to lose the hand. Down to T3502 with the avg at T5507 with 1137 peeps left. This was a big mistake and I think I was getting frustrated not getting any cards. It only takes one hand to ruin a tourney sometimes and I really think this one did it for me.

Hour 5 starts crappy in th LHE round. I raise in mp with JJ and it folds around to the BB who flat calls. Flop is A A 7 - he checks and I check. Turn is blank, he checks and I bet and he just calls? River is blank and he checks again and I check to see him turn over the monster A4s. Down to T2902. No card till the Razz round where I have T2952 and get it allin preflop against a short stack with T1476. I have 8 6 2 and he has 8 6 4. I brick out and he takes it down and I'm on life support at T1356. I'm down to T600 in the Stud round and triple up with just a pair of 7's! Up to T1800. I get it allin preflop with a 3 flush to start and someone calls me with split 3's?? He ends up with 2 pair and IGNH and I'm out in 781/2091.

Prior to this year, I had only played in one WCOOP event - the $320 Stud in 2006 where I bubbled right before the money. This year I have gotten to play in three events and was playing with confidence. I haven't had the results I was looking for going into each one. It's hard to play a big tourney and not get cards or make a mistake because the payouts are so much higher than the normal tourneys I play. I just keep telling myself that there will be more. I am looking at the $320 6-handed event on the 17th. I'm not sure if I will have the money to play though. If I do, I will cetainly track my progress here. Till next time...

Blu

Continue Reading This Post

Turbo MTT's vs. Traditional MTT's

When I find the time to play online, I prefer to play in MTT's. It's what I have come to enjoy and MTT's seem to be my niche. I still play SNG's some and only rarely in cash games. The problem I run into is that I have little time to play, and MTT's take a big chunk of time if you get far. So the logical move would be to play in a Turbo MTT to solve the issue.

Turbo MTT's go against my style of play. I like to see flops, play position, etc. But if you don't get cards early in a turbo format, you die quickly. The action is moving from hand number one and I find that alot of people are willing to go allin preflop with very marginal hands. If you can change your style to meet the challenge, there is a good chance to amass a good stack early on. I played in a $25+2.50 Turbo MTT on Wed night - 603 runners - and placed 4th for a nice hit. The whole tournament was finished in just under 3 hours. In a regular MTT, if you make the final table, you can expect to play 7-8 hours easy. So while I don't like the format, you will probably see me in more turbo's going forward. Because the more MTT's you log, the more cashes you make. L8r...

Blu

Continue Reading This Post

WCOOP - Event #10

I am currently waiting to start the WCOOP Event #10 which is a $215 buy-in Razz MTT with $100,000 guarantee prize pool. Officially there 1288 runners making the prize pool a nice $257,600 with 192 peeps getting paid. We start with T3000 in chips and the levels are 30 mins each so I can take my time and pick my spots. I will be tracking my progress and you can follow after the break. Here we go...

Level 1 (20/50/5) - nothing to report won a few small pots and ended at T3050. Only one pot the whole level was significant. Everyone playing pretty tight.

Level 2 (50/100/5) - Won my first decent hand with 6543A - guy called me down all the way with 7652A. Up to T3795. Lost about T300 starting with 5 3 A and capping preflop with 2 others but I got nh on 4th or 5th and let it go. Nothing more exciting and lived through the first hour ending at T3295.

Level 3 (75/150/10) - Folded for the first 20 mins then won two hands in a row to get to T3800. Then I got into a hand where I had 6 5 3 and it got capped 4 ways. IGNH on 4th or 5th and a guy won by rivering a 7 4 high. Down to T3065. I win one before the end of the level and finish at T3210 which is about avg.

Level 4 (100/200/10) - Hopefully things pick up soon. People are just starting to drop - I'm looking to chip up. I had identified 3 players who were giving theie stacks away and I couldn't catch any cards to get in with them. Two went out in this level but one survived and I finally got a hand with him ending up with 6 4 3 2 A with him calling me down the whole way with 75432. Up to T3960. Nothing more interesting so I finish hour two at T4030. Avg is T3614 and I have currently 390/1069 left.

Level 5 (150/300/15) - The last of the chips givers is out and I get moved for the first time - thankfully - the table was fairly solid at that point. Sitting at T3985. Took my first hit against one short stack and a very aggressive player - bricked out and down to T2820. Getting frustrated - no cards - folding forever - sitting at T2640.

Level 6 (200/400/20) - Still no cards - sitting at T2290. I got called down by someone with 10 high and I bricked 6th and 7th st. Took me down to T390 :( Got allin with a 4 3 A and doubled up. Then got allin 3 way and hit the wheel to get back up to T2500. Still very low but alive. I'm out got rivered from a guy calling me all the way and my 8 7 high loses to his rivered 6 5 high - out 714/1288. Just not enough cards. I like to be in around 25-30% of the hands and I was only able to play 17%. Just was a matter of time. Looking at the $320 Stud Event on Thursday - l8r...

Blu

Continue Reading This Post