Thursday 23 April 2009

<3 live poker

After going 0/12 or something stupid like that in GUKPT/decent live events i actually csshed in the 200 GUKPT Side Event! Day1 on Monday went smoothly overall and i felt i played pretty well overall, but a little spewy in a few spots, there was 171 runners and it was basically a minefield of amateurs with some decent and good players here and there. I ran AA into KK early which got me off to a great start and i grinded my way upto around 25-30k without too much trouble.

The table then broke and i got involved straight away at the new table, raising the first hand from utg+1 making it 1600 at 300/600/50 and getting it through, the following hand i picked up KK utg which was setup perfectly, made the same raise and the button shoved for around 10kish with A10 he faded and i was upto around 40k. This was as good as it got on day1 and i spewed off some of my stack not long after, not long as in just one hand lol. I was still stacking my chips and from the previous hand, and it was folded round to the button, a young-ish guy sat with around 14k who instantly made it 1800, i felt my blind would be seen as an easy target as i was busy stacking my chips still, i probably gave the guy far too much credit and set him in with 56cc, he tank called with AQ and i somehow didn't get there as the board ran out K453Q hfvnjyh.

My image was pretty bad so i tried to slow down a little but ended up getting into a 3bet/4bet contest with the only other good player at the table. Tts a hell of a lot tougher to 4bet light live too, and it was a relief when he instafolded to my 67cc 4bet jam lol :). I don't remember any interesting hands from day1 and just grinded until the end of the day finishing with around 32k.

I didn't have much sleep, and had to get some redbulls on the way with Matt who also made day two. There was 35 left and with 32k at 800/1600/100 i had a chance to finally cash! I came out playing pretty lag and got upto 45k without showdown, then i ran TT in the bb into the 10bb shove from the button who miraculously had picked up QQ. So i was down to 21k at 1k/2k/200, made a few shoves to maintain my stack, then jammed the button with A9 and the bb called with 44, and i got there.

Now theres around 23 left, with 15 paid i started to play even more lag and was building a stack with pretty much zero resistance. A few got KOd and we were down to two tables, and i made it 9k from middle pos at 2k/4k/300 with around 60k and James Browning shoved from the bb with JJ and i held for a 130k pot.. mbn etc.
So im now in pretty good shape, and 90% of the guys are playing so tight to make the money, i lag it up. On the exact bubble, the button opens to 13k, at 2k/4k/300 with around 50-60k back, his raise size felt weak so i jammed with 63off and he mucked within a second and i made it into the money with 140k. There was a lot of shortstacks about and it didn't take long to get to the final table.

I think i went into the ft around 4/9 but the blinds were huge so it was going to end up a bit of a crapshoot. I got into some tough spots early on, I made it 15,500 at 3k/6k/500 from utg and Peter Charalambous shoved for around 90k from the cutoff, now this is such a snap online, but iv played with Peter a few times and hes seemed a really solid live player from previous experience and although i think he knows im aggressive and don't think he would make a play on my utg raise here. I felt his range was super snug and folded. (he had AK but i really think he folds 99 in that spot so im still happy with the fold). Then not long after Martin Silke, who chopped the London Main Event last month and was big chip leader made it 16k at 3k/6k/500 utg+2, i look down a JJ on the button with around 145k, iv sat with him once or twice before but im not sure how capable he is and how light he will get it in pre here, anyway i opted to flat and just play the hand for value postflop as i don't know if i could profitably 3bet/call against him and both jamming and 3bet folding are awful.

After a bit of a staring contest the flop comes KQ2, check check, turn is a 5 and he leads for 15k, i call, the river comes another 5 and he leads again for 35k. Siiiiiiigh, i had around 100k back at this point his bet on the river looked like such a value bet, i really didn't think he would barrel in that spot without me beat and i reluctantly folded, he told me later he had 44 tgineobgijkbkm, he played it well i suppose. So im down to 100k and a capable player from utg+1 shoves for 40k at 4k/8k/500 and i get it in and his 33 holds vs my A9. So im down to around 60k and have to shove at least once an orbit just to stay alive, i never get called and a few players get KOd and i still have 70kish and the blinds have just gone up to 6k/12k/1k and i pick up 86o utg 6 handed and min-raise to look stronger and the button tank gets it in with A10 i flop a gutshot but miss and im out in 6th for £1750. Dissapointing obv and i always will be with anything other thsn 1st but if i got some chips together at the ft i could have really dominated and had a good chance at the 11k for first.

Iv been adjusting my live game massively over the last few events, i don't think i played badly in previous tournaments but i know for sure theres hands i played sub-optimally and im still making the transition from online. Hand ranges live are sooooooooooooo different, one of the biggest differences iv noticed is how tight the majority of players are, and iv seen the most ridiculous folds and hilarious plays over the last few months. One thing i am working on which i think is a lot more important live is table image, successfully building a good one, being aware how others view me and adjusting my play accordingly. Players basically fold far too much live so a solid image is what im aiming for, and showing hands here and there helps a lot with this as players tend to remember and will give you a lot more respect because of it imo. Also being friendly at the table i think can be really beneficial, i don't see why some players seem to set out to make enemies, players are far more likely to let you get away with murder if they see you as a friend, and are so unlikely to play back at you light later on.

This post has turned into an essay so im going to stop now lol. Im playing the Main Event in a few hours so ill do a report/update possibly later on or tommorrow.

Random hot Asian chick ;)



Wish me luck :)
gl at the tables
neverbluff67

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