Well it’s 4am and I’m steaming. STEAMING! I’ve just unluckily busted out of the $340 Terminator No Limit Holdem event in a hand for close to the tournament chip lead, with 37 players remaining. The best part is that we weren’t even in the money yet. FFS.

The day started at 12pm for another of the $125 No Limit Holdem events, and to be honest right now, I’m so steamed about tonight, that I can’t really remember the details of the earlier tournament. I remember I struggled to find cards, and being 11-handed its also difficult to find good spots, yet when the antes kicked in I was able to chip up nicely for the third straight tournament. The stinging hand was when I raised with T8o from mid-late position and got one call from a chick in the small blind. Flop T98. She leads for 6,000 with less than that behind, so I move all in and she calls with QT. Jack on the turn to give her a straight and I go from potentially having a 50k stack to being back to familiar 10BB territory. Soon after I shove 8BBs with KQo and the big blind wakes up with aces. Busto about 90th out of 257.

At the time I had a chronic migraine and I wasn’t sure if I’d play tonight. But I went home and took some painkillers and had a lay down, and felt nice and recharged for a long night ahead. If I was a little sleepy when I sat down, I was quickly awoken by my opening table. It was totally different to the passive tables I’ve had in the smaller events. I had Andy Meldrum, Jim Sachinidis and Nali Kaselias that I recognized, but it was quickly obvious the others were regulars. Third hand in and I pick up tens in the small blind. There were a few limpers, and then a raise to 350 from a guy in the cutoff who I didn’t recognize but later found out was a local named Tony Bennett. The button called, and I squeezed pretty hefty to 1,500. It folded to Tony who quickly announced a re-raise to 3,350 as the button folded. This re-raise was obviously a little suss, but it wasn’t too much extra to call and try and spike a ten. The flop was 2-4-5 which looked pretty good to me. I checked and Tony insta-fired full pot for 7,000. Argh! I was very close to getting it all in, and if he had the big pair then sobeit. Then e started talking and saying that my jacks were no good and then he called the clock after barely a minute. It really felt like he wanted me to fold, but it was so early, we had so many chips and I knew nothing about him or his style. So I folded my tens. The cocksucker then flashed 97o. WTF?

So I’ve lost a chunk and I’m tilted three hands in. Awesome. Fortunately Tony didn’t know how to change gears. He tried another bluff on me with ten-high and I picked him off with A-J on a KJxxx board. I then limped UTG for 100 with pocket nines and called a raise to 500 with three others. Flop was nine-high and after check-calling the flop, we get it in on the turn and he flips pocket jacks and I double through. A few hands later I have AJ in a limped pot in the BB and its checked around on a KQ9 flop. Turn is gin when a ten lands and the small blind leads for 400. I make it 1,175 and get two callers. River bricks, and I fired slightly over pot for 4,000, knowing that a lone jack has to pay me off everytime, and he did. The other guy folded pocket nines - nice flop check sir.

So I hated my table but had got myself up to about 35k pretty quickly. I then held on for a level or two until we broke. My new table was way softer and I liked it a LOT more, but nothing went right. I misplayed AQ and called a river bet on a QJ98x board, thinking that he either had the ten or was bluffing. He had J9. Sigh. Then against the same guy I call him down with K9 on a king-high board and he flips KT. I then fire at a nine-high flop with T9 and get re-raised. I folded and he said he had a set. I then get into a limped pot in position with 6c 4c and hit a 6h 4h 3c flop. It’s checked to me and I fire 1,200 for 2/3 of the pot. Two callers. Turn is a 3s. It’s checked to me and I put them on a draw and bet full pot, 4,500. One caller. River is the Kd. We both check and he flips over Kh 7h for a draw that rivered a better two pair. Fuck off.

I then slowly slip back but remain very patient since there were no antes in this event which meant there was no bleeding of chips, no reason to panic, and no dead money to fight for. I then finaly pick up a real hand with pocket kings and raise to 2,000 at the 400/800 level. The maniac to my left flat-called, before a solid TAG bumped it to 7,500. I don’t know this guy, but I’ve played with him a few times and I think he has a very solid game. I think he’s always got a hand here, so I move in for another 9,600 on top. Maniac folds and TAG tanks. He asks me a few questions which I ignore, and he tells me I look very calm. I was wearing my sunglasses tonight for the first time and I must say, they are helpful when you’re all in and someone is trying to stare you down. He eventually calls with pocket deuces which is about the complete low-end of his range there. The board bricks and suddenly I’m back over 30k again.

We then go on break and first hand after the break I pick up AK in the big blind at 500/1000. One limper and an old guy shoved all in for 18k. He’d done this weird overbet-shove a few times, and probably had a decent hand, but I figured I’m probably racing or in great shape so I called and he flipped AT. The board bricked again and suddenly I was up over 55k and flying!

One orbit later and I’m in the BB with pocket deuces. The maniac raised to 2.5k UTG and got one call, I called for set value and spiked it on the JT2 flop. Action checked around. Turn was a repeat jack to give me a full house. I checked and maniac bet 2,500. The third player, who was pretty tight, raised to 6,500. I re-raised to 14,000, maniac folded, other guy moved all in for 31k and I called. While I didn’t exactly have the nuts, and he was pretty tight, I’m never considering folding there in a live donkament, ever, but he turned over pocket tens for the bigger full house. Fuck off. If I win that then I’m up over 80k, but instead deuces fuck me up the ass for the second time this week and I was back to 22k.

I again tighten up and try to find a good spot to double. There are about 70 players left and I get moved to a new table and pick up 77 in the BB once again. With the blinds at 1k/2k, a short-stack raised UTG and I moved all in for around 10BBs. It wasn’t ideal but a pairs a pair and with 10BBs, it was good enough to gamble. He called with KQ and I hit a set on the flop to win the race and give myself some breathing room.

From there I stayed tight and found a few good spots to move in and take down the blinds to maintain my stack. Then a hand came up where a loose guy limped UTG for 3k and I shipped all in for 38k from mid-position with pocket jacks. The guy to my left then cringed before he moved all in over the top for a little more. A couple of guys asked for counts so there was a little confusion with chips out on the table, but UTG eventually folded pocket nines. The guy to my left showed pocket eights and the board bricked out, although a nine does spike the river, so if UTG had’ve called, then I would’ve been cruelly eliminated.

Then something weird happened. The guy to my left walked from the table and I say to him “I think you still have some change left,” since we’d already counted out his stack. He says “Nah you got me,” and the dealer also confirmed to me “You have him covered”. I say “Are you sure? You might want to check that…” and the dealer again replied “No, you have him covered”. Ok so at this point what do I do? If it was a normal tournament I would once again point out the error and make sure the guy gets his change. However this was a Terminator (bounty) tournament, so his scalp was worth $100 cash to me. I had asked them both twice to check and they both ignored me. So at that point I ignored my conscious, and stretched out my arms to rake in the chips. If you want to do the math to confirm, small blind = 1,500, big blind = 3,000, UTG limp = 3,000, I shove 38,000. Somehow I ended the hand with 92,000. He should’ve had 8,500 in change.

Maybe Karma is indeed a bitch. I shouldn’t blame Karma, as I am content that I did ask them to check the counts twice. I shouldn’t have to ask three times. But Karma obviously thought differently. After taking down a raised pot with pocket queens, I got myself to around 100,000 with 38 players to go. With a limp from a ridiculously bad player, I limped along with pocket deuces on the button. The small and big blind called and we took a flop of Ks 5d 2s. In a heartbeat the small blind announced he was all in (for 53,000 into a pot of 12,000, wp) and amazingly the retard insta-called!!! I immediately shipped in for 95,500, thinking that the retard couldn’t possibly fold. He then tanked for ages, (after insta-calling 53k, he tanked for 42.5k more, omfg), and I was convinced it was very, very likely they both had a king and I had them both virtually drawing dead. I could smell a 250k stack approaching the cash!

Perhaps I should’ve called the clock, to put more pressure on him to fold, but I honestly thought he could be very, very dead and I wanted him to call. After a few minutes he shouts out “call” and we have a pot for the tournament chip lead. I show my set, small blind tables KQo and the retard reveals the only hand I don’t want to see - the Qs 9s for a bare flush draw. He’s called off 100k with a bare flush draw. OMFG. Of course, the turn was the As to complete his flush and I couldn’t pair the board on the river. Busted in 37th place, with three terminator buttons for a $300 return. So disgusting. Words simply cannot describe the incredible level of retardation that this spastic had displayed in this hand.  I can’t believe that I can cop some of the beats and rough luck that I have this week, and still go as deep as I have. Soon the luck is going to turn, so you retards better watch the fuck out, because you’re going to be in deep shit. I’m no set, no fkn bet, you spastics.

Night.

So today was the opening event of the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series and I admit I was a little excited.  Cheap buy-ins, great start banks and decent structures, only problem is that no matter how you sugar-coat it, live poker is still retarded.

Today was a pretty horrible day, and it’s pretty incredible that I actually lasted as long as I did.  It started off well, and in fact my best level was the first one of the day.   With a 15k start bank, I was happy to speculate early, so with a raise and call in front, I came along for the ride in position with 7d 9d.  The flop was a big one as it fell 4d 8d 7c.  The original raisor led out for 200, before the caller (who was the most aggro player at the table) popped it to 625.  I was now in a kinda weird spot.  I loved the flop and my hand, but with a bet and raise in front, I had to think for a moment about my next move as it was still the first orbit of the day.  A flat-call was strong, but still weak, so I decided it was super-strong to raise, so I made it 1,500.  They both folded, so a decent result and good for my image.  A few hands later I flat-called a raise to 225 in position with Ah Qh, and flopped a flush draw.  My opponent fired 350 and I called, before I picked up a gutshot draw on the turn.  He fired again for 650, and this time I raised it up to 1,600.  He let it go and I’d taken down another nice pot with some aggression.

From there, I remained tight before losing the chips back in a bit of a strange hand.  Action folded to me and I raised to 300 on the button with Qh Jd.  The small blind appeared a TAG and he raised small to 700.  I can’t fold for that pissy raise, so I called to see a Jh 9s 3c flop.  My opponent led for 1,100 and I raised to 2,800.  Pretty standard I felt, but my opponent then declared himself all in!  It was a big raise, and I figured I don’t really beat anything so I quickly folded.  My guess is he got a little excited with a big pair.

My table broke and I got moved to another table of randoms.  I won a small pot with A-Q after calling a river bet with ace-high to beat an opponent’s queen-high, before another weird hand.  At 75/150 and with three limpers in front, I decided to keep the aggression up and raised to 1,050 with the mighty 8h 3h from the cutoff.  Punish the limpers!  It would’ve worked, but the player on the button over-called as everyone else folded.  The flop was K-5-4 and I took a stab for 1,250.  The villian called and I gave up.  We checked down the bricks on the turn and river.  “You win,” I said, but my opponent didn’t move.  I wasn’t going to show my 8h 3h and was confident my eight-high was beat so I open-mucked.  “I’ll show you anyway,” spat my opponent and he flipped As Qs for ace-high.  Nice calling sir.  “I should’ve kept firing!” I joked.  “I would’ve called!” he replied.  Awesome.

I then tightened up and tried to find a good spot to strike.  It came in a raised pot on a 5d 4h 2d flop when I was holding pocket deuces.  The big blind led out for 1,000 and I decided to flat call to try and bring in the original raisor, and another preflop caller, but they both folded.  Heads-up to the 8c turn and my opponent fired 3,500.  It was a solid bet, but it left me with a decision.  I had roughly 12k in my stackm which made bet-sizing a little tricky.  I was trying to figure out the best way to get all of my chips into the middle.  I wasn’t particularly worried about the straight draws, as it was a raised pot and it was more likely my opponent had an overpair, but I wanted to raise to protect my hand.  However I felt a shove might scare him off and a small raise would just look too suss as it was committing so much of my stack.  In the end I decided the most deceptive option was to call, knowing that if my opponent bet a river brick, he was committed to call my all-in shove.  There weren’t many rivers that would be a worry, but the 6h was one of them as now any three or seven made a straight.  My opponent bet 4,000 and raising was no longer an option.  I flat-called again (yes I flat-called three streets with a set, yuk) and he flipped pocket fours for a bigget set.  My passive line had saved me my tournament.

I was down to around 4,000 with the blinds at 150/300/25.  So much for deep-stacked poker!  Fortunately I found a double up with pocket aces against pocket nines, but an orbit or two of folding and the blinds jumped again to still leave me hovering around 12BBs.  I then copped a pretty demoralizing blow when I completed from the small blind with K-9 with four limpers and spiked gin with a K-K-9 flop.  We checked around to the button who bet 1,000.  I called, hoping for a few more customers and only found one.  Then the turn was a sick 9.  Now I chop with any king.  We checked around again and an ace hit the river.  I moved my last 3,500 into the middle and found a call from K5.  So sick.  He was drawing dead to a chop on the flop.  Gross.  I wasn’t happy but luckily soon after I got the double ups that I needed as I picked up AK twice and doubled both times, once through KT and another eliminating a guy holding AJ.

Suddenly I was up over 20k and back in decent shape when I got moved to a new table.  It was significantly tougher as I recognized some faces for the first time.  David Zhao is a very talented young player who was four to my right, and Australian poker legend Leo Boxell was two to my left.  To make things more fun, I had the tournament chip leader with 170k on my direct right.

I only had to wait two hands for the 800/1600/100 blinds to reach me and get amongst the action.  A player under the gun moved all in for around 8,500 chips and it folded to me in the big blind.  I look down at A-Q.  I guess it’s kind of marginal, but online I’m way ahead of the range of an UTG-shove for 5BBs.  Maybe live, it’s a little closer, but he flipped K-J and I was in front.  That is, until a king spiked on the turn.  If I win that I’m up over 30,000, but instead I’m down to under 13,000 and in trouble once again.

I folded a few hands until I’m in the hijack.  The big blind was nit of the century from my previous table, so I felt it was a great spot to steal from with ATC with my 8BB stack.  I peaked at the Ad and that was enough for me to shove.  The button isolated and flipped As Qs as I squeezed out the rather disappointing 5s as my kicker.  No three-outer and I was out the door, middle of the pack.

A very rough day, but I guess there’s some light to come out of it.  I should’ve been busted with set over set, and despite being down to 10BBs very early in a deep-stacked tourney, I managed to recover and claw my way back.  A little luck at the right time, and I would’ve been a chance to progress deeper.

Not to worry, there’s always another day!  There’s some great tournaments coming up, and the decision is which tournaments to play!  Tomorrow is a big online poker day so I’m contemplating whether to make a big Monday morning assault or tackle the live vultures once again.

Back home and finally I got a chance to grind some online poker. The cash games have really been hit or miss lately for me, so I’m definitely seeing better results in tourneys. I’m not normally a morning person but I decided to get up early to make a big Monday morning assault today at the big tournaments. While I didn’t play in the majors today, I found some good-sizes tournaments that suited me and found them ridiculously soft. I got into a nice groove and turned off all other distractions such as email or PNW and my results spoke for themselves.

I picked up an early win in an $11 turbo tournament on 888 Poker for around $550 and that set the tone. I cashed in 8 of 14 tournaments, for two final tables and the one win for a very profitable and consistent day. Interestingly included in those results are cashes in Pot Limit Holdem, HORSE and the 7-Game, which I’m pretty happy with considering some of the games such as Omaha H/L, I play very rarely. The other final table I made was in a Pot Limit Holdem 6-Max event where I entered the final table in 2nd place and was disappointed to finish 4th. I was a little passive in a couple of spots and a mis-timed bluff against a fish, saw me get short and I busted short of the 1.8k first place prize. I feel I have a big poker online Australia result in me, especially in these Monday events where the fields are juicy juicy. I’ve just got to continue to stay patient and wait for good spots to strike, and if I have a bit of luck at the right time thrown in, then I think I can land something big.

After the PokerNews Cup the next big event on the poker calendar was the PokerStars APPT event in Auckland. I’d never been to New Zealand before so I was looking forward to the trip. Our team worked well together and there were some nice short days so we got to enjoy a bit of Auckland. It was GG’s birthday so we found a nice bar with a live band to chill the night away, before a pretty awesome player’s party closed off the week.

I think the Tony Dunst video says it all…

The New Zealand people were ridiculously friendly. Perhaps the most friendly of any country that I’ve ever been to (Fiji a close second). SKYCITY Auckland Casino were a great host, and looked after players and media alike. The poker room is very pleasant with plenty of room between tables and windows running down the length of the room to let in some natural light and keep you in touch with the real world outside! Young New Zealander Simon Watt took down the title and was definitely the player to watch after he built up a big stack during Day 2. He’s a young, online gun who will be a player to watch on the local tournament scene in the near future.

The PokerNews cup has been run and won and it was a win for the good guys with Crown local and PokerNetwork regular Con “tsapy” Tsapkounis collecting the silverware. Con is primarily an Omaha cash game player, but rode his luck on the final table to emerge victorious. I was pretty pumped myself about playing a couple of the prelim events, especially the 6-max, but unfortunately we were left short on resources for the live reporting so I had to work rather than play. The only event I got to play was the opening event. I took my seat and found myself seated next to the one and only Clonie Gowen who was in town to play in the series after watching the AFL grand final.

Clonie was pretty friendly and didn’t get involved in too many pots at all. Meanwhile I managed to double up on the very first hand without showdown. It’s the first time in a live tournament I was all in on the very first hand. After a raise and call, I called along with AJs in the big blind. The flop was jack-high and the preflop aggressor fired a continuation bet which was called by the button. I thought about raising but decided to just call. On the turn I checked and the preflop aggressor fired again and again the button call. I knew the preflop aggressor was strong since he’d fired twice into two people, but I thought I had the best hand so I shoved. We didn’t exactly have a lot of chips to play with, but my play was strong enough to get both players to fold. The button flashed KJ while the button said he also had AJ.

From there, I had moments of greatness and moments of pain. I got lucky when I shoved AJ into KK and found an ace, while a few minutes later I had KQ in against a short stack with 99 on a queen-high flop, only to see another nine spike on the river.

The blinds snuck up and I got moved to a new table to find myself in the big blind. The button shoved for 3 big blinds and I called in the dark. He flipped pocket sixes and I revealed 52o. Damn.

That blow left me in some trouble so when it folded to me in the small blind I was shoving any two cards. The big blind insta-called with pocket sevens and I needed some help with my Q2o. A queen and deuce on the flop, followed by another deuce on the turn was all skill to give me a full house and a double up to be back in good shape.

From there I did my best to survive, and I continued to attack the short stacks. I had decided if they shoved, I was going to call and gamble with a semi-decent hand. The reason being that I wouldn’t be putting my tournament and risk, and generally people with short stacks should be desperate and pushing pretty light. Unfortunately live players are pretty dumb and patiently wait and wait until they are blinded down to nothing or pick up a big hand. So yeah, when they shoved they usually had some like AK and my KQ was always pretty crushed. I had one opportunity to race when my AQo was up against pocket sevens but again the board bricked out.

That hand left me in trouble and my bustout hand was probably the only hand I misplayed all tournament. It was a tricky one though. I was in the BB with K2o. Ben Savage limped in, Jim Sachinidis limped his SB and I checked. The flop was K69 and I decided top pair was enough to get my 7BB stack into the middle. My plan was to check-raise Ben, but the action checked through. The turn was an 8 and Sach led out with a healthy bet. I had no fold equity and I should’ve realized that Sach was pretty tight and wouldn’t bet out into two players without a hand better than K2. My mistake was to shove instead of just folding. Ben folded (what he said was KJ) and Sach called with K8. The river was a 5 to make Sach his straight and I was out in 56th place with the top 50 paying.

I was pretty disappointed as I was heading for a cash result and let it slip. I lost a couple of key races against short stacks and then busted pretty tamely so close to the money.

After a brief delay, Viva Macau managed to get us home safe and sound, so I’m now happily recovering.  I had the option to goto the Sydney Poker Championships but decided to pass and take a break as I was pretty burnt out following Macau.  Despite only a 2 hour time delay, I still haven’t actually managed to adjust my body clock as I’m constantly awake late at night, and sleeping in until midday.  Since being home I’m jumped back online with some mixed results.  I’ve had some horrible luck in some tournaments, with potential deep runs ended in brutal fashion.  I did land a 7th and a 3rd in two small buy-in tournaments, but really, was disappointed not to win both as I was playing well.

On the cash game scene, I just don’t seem to be able to beat the NL game like I used to.  I’m in a real rut.  I guess that happens when you don’t stay on top of your game.  For something different I decided to jump over to some low limit games, and despite limit poker being infuriating, it brings some benefits.  Limit is a swingy game, due to the fact that players are able to chase their draws more cheaply than NL, so although it brings more pain, the impact of each individual beat is not as painful as say, getting stacked in NL.  The great thing about limit is that it’s the best way to earn points for things such as bonuses or rake races such as the one on Betfred Poker.  It takes me back to my bonus-whoring days where I can multi-table a heap of tables and just grind it out ABC.  The good thing is that the players at this level are so bad, it’s been a great way to turn around my losing streak.  While the NL games are getting tougher and tougher, it’s nice to know that the limit games are still ridiculously soft.