My Journey to the WSOP – Still working on new facets, this week, Anarchy.
By Hello all again. After taking a week off for Easter, I was back at it this past weekend at Cooper’s in my FPN bar league. I’m still running the sessions, well, only the 7 pm session but I’m the unofficial points master so of course, with the promotion winding down, everyone that matter is closely watching points and making sure I’m not making mistakes. This session might come down to the last week, hell, even the last session to see who qualifies for state and\or regionals.
I’m sitting comfortably in 5th place, which would qualify me for regionals but I don’t need to qualify again because I can’t get a double stack at state so, my first question is…do I stop playing so someone else can qualify? Is that fair to me or should I have the mind frame that if they want to qualify, they better beat me? I know that sounds kind of rough but hell, this is competitive poker and I’m a competitive person. If they want in, they should earn it.
Enough of that, let’s talk strategy. I’m still working on expanding my play and getting used to playing a wider range of hands. This week, it was trying to see as many blinds as possible. Now, I wasn’t tossing in chips randomly but if I had a suited cards, unsuited connectors and other sets of face cards that I would not normally played and I could get into a pot rather cheaply, I did. I’m not going to get into the particulars because honestly, I didn’t note them as I have been doing since I started blogging but I will tell you about one hand in particular and again, I welcome any feedback or suggestions.
The blinds were at 100\200 and I had about 1500 in chips in front of me. There were 7 people at the table and I was in middle position and hadn’t gotten a decent hand in a while. I was getting dealt mainly 2 5u, 4 7u, etc…so I got dealt Q3d. Now, normally, in middle position with that many people at the table, I would fold but I felt good about this one. I called the BB and he checked with 4 people in the hand including the SB. Ad Kd 4h on the flop. Two players check to me, I check and the BB checks so I’m thinking that at best, there is a pair of Kings out there or maybe even a pair of Aces and players are looking for tells. Turn comes and it’s 10d. I have my flush and it’s unbeatable. Min bet and a fold and it comes to me. I put in a pot sized raise. BB double takes and pushes all in. He has me covered and most people know that I’m not one to risk a lot of chips normally and I assume that his is why he bet the way he did. So, I call. I show him my flush and he shows me pocket aces. He’s pissed, mainly because he is close to qualifying and this bites into his chip stack. He wonders why I chased down that flush, when I normally don’t and I just shrug and tell him that I felt I was due. Someone else asked me why on the side cause he knows I normally don’t play that way, I tell him the same thing…I just felt it coming. Rag on the river and I double up.
I went out early in both sessions, mainly because I had a test to study for and some of my “anarchy” didn’t work but I do think that now, people will put me on a wider range of hands there, mainly because of my play and that I was also showing all of my hands, regardless of whether they paid to see it or not, which we know I never show my hands unless you pay me to see em.
So, with that all said, I’m still looking at the State Championship and wondering about how to play with a starting chip stack of 10,000 in chips. I’ve asked a few people and gotten some good advise but I’m worried about sitting there for 2, 3, 4 or more hours, just folding hands. Do I ramp up the aggression early? Do I sit back and let the chips come to me? Do I steal blinds or fight for pots?
Anyone got any more suggestions?
That’s all for now. I’ll see you next week and thanks for reading.
April 16th, 2010 at 12:51 am
Omg where do I start. First of all, the guy who played the pocket aces should be pissed at no one but himself. That is probably the most poorly played AA hand I’ve ever seen. AA in the BB, and facing 4 other players, and doesn’t raise? Even if he raises everyone out of the pot, he just quadrupled his BB. And if he gets a caller, he flops an utter monster. I’m assuming you would have folded if he raised his option. Not only does he flop an utter monster, but then checks it with 2 diamonds on the table and 5 people in the pot. LOL. My favorite part is when he accuses you of chasing down a flush. Haha, you should have told him “what chase?”, you didn’t put a single dime into the pot until AFTER you made your flush! What an idiot. Gets AA in BB. Checks his option with 4 callers. Flops top set. Checks it with 2 diamonds on the table and allows all 4 other people to see ANOTHER cheap card, then accuses you of chasing when you complete your flush on the turn with an investment no higher than 200 chips.
Ok this is a perfect story to my next point: Mike, if you are contemplating taking it easy on your league opponents, so that GUYS LIKE THE POCKET ACES PLAYER can qualify for any other tournament, you are an absolute fool, because 1, that player is so stupid he does not deserve to qualify for anything until he learns the basics. And 2, if he does make it, unless the miracle happens of getting him at your starting table, he’s going to give those chips to everyone BUT you. 3, going into a state tourney is where you gotta be playing your best poker.
Right about now is when I’d be stopping all the goof off playing, and get into a groove of making good decisions again. If this means that you’re preventing people from getting in, so be it. You gotta be tip top, and people like that guy have no business being in anything other than a learner’s game.
As for deepstack strat, it is going to be VERY tempting to play a lot of hands early on, because the blinds crawl, and 50 chips to your 10,000 mean almost nothing. DO NOT do this. There are a few exceptions: If you get a top primo hand, play it as normal, but remember you may need to raise higher than a standard x3 or x2.5, cuz like I said, a hundred chips means nothing to 10k. Also, play lots of hands that are extremely low risk-high reward. These are ones where you can get in for super cheap, and potentially take someones stack if you hit, and easily get out if nothing develops. Suited connectors, suited one gappers, pocket pairs of all sizes, and maybe high connectors. These are ideal for the first couple blind levels because the idea at this stage is to only play a hand that has huge chip acquiring potential. Winning at 200 chip pot at this stage means nothing, it will be completely inconsequential 2 hours later. However, taking half a stack at this stage with a well hidden straight? Bingo. These are low risk (50 chips, etc, to see flop… nothing develops on flop get out and you’ve only lost 50.) and high reward (Straights, flushes, and sets can take stacks if you get another guy who hits a monster 2nd best). Plus, early on is the only time you will find players dumb enough not to recognize straights and flushes, this will not work in the late game, although those are still great hands to be playing, you won’t be looking to take stacks with them, they serve other purposes. In the first few levels (which are hours long), I’d be so passive I wouldn’t even defend my blinds. They are inconsequential at this stage anyway, let the button raise yours all he wants. Until they get to 150/300 they aren’t worth defending. So stick to primo starting hands, ur JJ-AA, AK, and your low risk high reward hands, the suited connector, suited one gappers, and mid-low pocket pairs. An early double up or massive stack win is all you are looking for early on, so only play the hands that set you up for that. Protecting blinds and playing other junk is pointless. FOLD EVERYTHING ELSE. Let the dopes at the table sit and trade chips around. The reality of the situation is that even if you get a few hours in, and you’ve played nothing, and your stack is at like 8k, you’re still sitting very well, and you will still be higher than all of the dopes that donked off their chips trying to play for pots at 50/100 blinds. And play passive… you should never be looking to get it all in during any of these levels, that is pretty silly. They don’t give you 10k chips so that you drive 500 miles and go home in 45 minutes
Once you hit the mid-stage, time to open up a bit and start rolling. Now blinds are going to matter, so most pots are going to be of a good size that they will always be worth playing for.
I gave you the keys to the beginning, everything after that is up to you now
It wouldn’t be poker if there was an easy guide to everything that came after the early stages. I’d suggest reading up on a few tournament strategy websites.
Also: bring a fully charged ipod. Bring enough cash for water/soda for a full day of it. AND DRESS FOR NOTHING BUT PURE COMFORT. If that means sweat pants, then do it. Don’t play any poker the night before, just relax in the hotel bar and soak up the atmosphere for a night. Half of the tournament is poker, the other half is a war of attrition. You will be fighting tendencies to get uncomfortable and bored. Use this time to study your table, you are going to be stuck with those same 7 guys for a LONG time until the blinds get high enough to matter. If after a few hours you need to take a quick walk to get the blood moving again then do it. But don’t stray to far from the table, you may miss valuable info. And as a lesser emphasized note: Do not be afraid to ask dealers for clarification, or rule enforcement if something looks like a string bet, or someone is revealing their hand and you did not see it and want to know, or calling the clock on someone who is taking 20 minutes to make what should be an easy or not very costly decision, etc etc etc. You are fully within your rights for all of these things. You don’t want to have put in as many hours as you have playing satellite tourneys just to get screwed over in the one that finally matters most.
We all remember the controversial Losev/Cantu hand from the WSOP a few years back.
Have fun my man.