Brian
09-21-2004, 03:42 PM
Part 1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=1038622&page=0&view=c ollapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1#1038622)
Part 2 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=1039378&page=3&view=c ollapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1#1039378)
I didn't think that I'd be writing another trip report until I got back home, but I've got a couple of unexpected free hours to blow (more on that below), so I figured why not.
Monday morning, September 20th I head over to the Canterbury to sign up for the Noon 100+20 Limit Hold'em tournament. I put my name on a couple of wait lists, but they were really long so I headed out to find some food. The only fast food restaurants near the 'bury are McDonalds and Culver's. I hate Ronald so I decided to give Culver's a try, despite their main advertisement sign saying, "Try our Frozen Custard Butterburgers!", which sounded like about the most disgusting thing ever. I should have went with my gut instinct, though, as the burger I got at Culver's went right through me and almost made me late for the tournament. /images/graemlins/blush.gif
I sat down at my first tournament table ever and asked a bunch of newbie questions, like how much are these chips worth, are there any breaks, etc. I'm sure some people probably thought I was pulling an act because you hardly ever see a newbie fold, fold, folding and listening to a CD player. My first table was pretty loose. I guess I had an ideal setup, but I hardly ever got to use it. I was in seat 2, and to my right in seat 1 was a very loose borderline LAG, and to his right in seat 9 was another loose player. In seat 8 was a decent mid-20's guy, definitely above average. To my left were 3 tight players, a young guy in seat 3, a young girl in seat 4, and a middle-aged man in seat 5. I saw them play maybe collectively 10 hands the whole hour and a half or so I was at the table.
I planned on using the Gap Concept and was going to open raise every chance I was given that any of seats 3-5 were in the blinds. Seats 6 and 7 were old men, both loose, and both of whom against the Gap Concept would not apply. I didn't realize that soon enough, though, because about 4 hands in when I was still lackign reads and the table seemed very tight, I opened it up with K2o in MP. It was folded to old man in seat 7 who called. The Flop was K33, he checked, I bet, he called. Turn was an 8, he checked, I bet, he called. River was another King, he checked, I bet, he called, and I was good.
I was very happy to get to show the K2o hand, and decided I would tighten up and not steal unless seats 3-5 were in the blinds. And that's basically what I did. I got QQ UTG once, and was cold-called by seat 8 mid-20's guy. The Flop was KQ8 w/ 2 Spades, I bet and he called. I planned on going for a check-raise on the Turn, because mid-20's guy was pretty aggressive, but it was a 3rd Spade so I bet instead, and he folded.
I got KTo in the SB and completed after 2 limpers. The Flop was KT5r, and it was checked to seat 8 mid-20's guy in LP who bet. Seat 9 folded, and I raised. BB tight young guy folded, and seat 8 called. Turn was a brick, I bet he called. River was a brick, I bet he folded.
Next orbit I got KTc in the BB and knuckled after a limper and the SB completed. Flop was Kxx, 2 hearts 1 club. I bet and UTG called (tight guy in seat 3). Turn was a low club, I bet and tight guy folded.
I stole the blinds a few times and worked my stack up from T1k (starting) to T1.6kish, but the opportunity to steal more came up very rarely as everyone to my right was quite loose. The final hand that I played at the table I got QQ UTG and raised. UTG+1 (tight guy in seat 3) 3-bet me, and I knew I was in trouble. Everyone else folded, and I capped it which put him all-in. He had KK. The Flop was AQx, turn J, river T. I find it funny when people get upset after seeing that Flop and then losing. In my mind, I put in 400 chips as a 4:1 underdog, so I expect to get 100 of them back, regardless of what the Flop is.
I got changed to a new table after that, and had a bit over T1k. At this point the blinds were 25/50 I believe. I get seated at my new table and one of my first hands in I have K6o on the Button, and I proceed to make my only major mistake (I think) of the tournament. It's folded to me and I raise w/o knowing exactly the situations of the people in the blinds. The guy in the SB (seat 3, we'll call him LOM for Loose Old Man) has a mountain of chips and certainly the Gap Concept does not apply to him. And the guy in the BB is almost all-in, so yet again the Gap Concept does not apply. So I should have just folded. Instead, I raised. LOM and the BB both called, and the Flop was J62r. LOM checked, BB bet, I raised, LOM folded, and BB called all-in w/ ATs. I held up fortunately and decided to hunker down and get with the program.
Things were pretty uneventful after that. The blinds steadily increased, and my stack stayed about the same. People were constantly being moved to our table with very short stacks and then busting, but I didn't get much of it. I busted two guys with JJ, and my QQ raise from UTG only got the blinds. The Gap Concept basically didn't apply to any of the table, as everyone was either extremely short-stacked or had a mountain of chips. I was the only one at the table in between.
I probably made a few folds that were too tight. One time, there was a limper and then a guy with a short stack raised in MP. Guy on my right on the Button, who had been playing pretty tight, cold-called, and I folded AJo in the SB. The blinds were 100/200 I believe, and my stack was about 2400, and I didn't want to call off 1/8th of my stack hoping to hit a Flop, especially when I could be dominated. The Flop wound up being T33, and LOM had 43o from the BB, but I wasn't happy to see that the short-stack had KQo and I had indeed given up quite a bit by not playing (even if it didn't cost me at the table).
LOM never folds his blinds btw. "Not the big one, anyways" is what he'd say. So I pretty much just sat there playing tight, unimaginative poker, waiting to bust out. One hand that I think I may should have ran was ATs in the SB. Guy goes all in for a raise before the Flop in EP and some old man 3-bets in MP. I was pretty sure he'd do this with a wide range of hands, but again, I just didn't feel like calling off so much of my stack to hit a Flop. I mean, if anyone told me this situation I'd tell them easy fold, at best you have slightly the best of it, there will be a better spot, etc. but being at the table, I just had a feeling I had the best hand before the Flop. The Flop was an Ace and old man's KQs King-high held up versus J6.
My final hand occurred with the blinds at 200/400. I had T2k, and raised with AJo in EP. Guy with about the same stack as me, maybe a little more, cold-called in MP, and old man with a mountain of chips in LP also cold-called. The Flop was Q98, I bet and both called. The Turn was a Ten and I bet all-in, and MP raised. LP folded, and we turned over our hands. Expecting a split at worst w/ a probable freeroll to the broadway straight, he had KJo and I was out.
I spent the rest of the day playing 15/30, and again had a good 3 hour session. I didn't get a hand better than 99 the entire time, but the table had a maniac and a few very loose players who paid off w/ anything. I ran Q7s on the Button after 3 limpers, 2 of whom were complete pay off stations. The Flop was Ace-rag-rag w/ 2 Spades. Maniac bet from EP, MP loose passiveish old man raised (that meant an Ace w/ a good kicker, he'd probably limp AQo), I cold-called, everyone else folded except EP. Turn was a Spade, EP checked, MP bet, I raised, EP folded, and MP paid me off.
I won't go into all of the hands here but I will share one that I thought I played well, and one that is definitely different from how I'd play online. UTG woman raised, shes a bit of a loose raiser but not too bad, she'd raise ATo here probably. EP maniac cold-calls, MP middle-aged very aware, thinking player cold-calls. I've been playing with MP all day and I am sure he perceives me as being very tight and straightforward. I call from the SB w/ KJc, and BB decent middle-aged but whining guy calls. The Flop was QQT, all red. It's checked all the way around to MP who bets, and I raise. Everyone between us folds and he calls. The Turn and River are bricks, and I bet both times. He thinks for a while on the River and finally folds. Online, I probably would have folded to the UTG raise, although I am still getting used to the 15/30 blind structure. It definitely would have been close. I would have check-raised online as well and bet the Turn, but probably not have fired the last shell on the River; or, if I had, it would've been close. But here, I knew once it was heads-up, I was betting the whole way b/c of my tight image.
I really like having a tight image. I bluff fairly liberally, and when someone bets into me after I raise pre-Flop, I know they aren't just screwing with me if they've been playing with me for a while. My opponents don't perceive me as being a tight player who is easy to push off a hand post-Flop I don't believe. More of a tight player who has something very good when he raises pre-Flop, which of course isn't the case very often.
I wound up racking up that night up around 750, bringing my total wins to about 1.5k.
Today, Tuesday the 21st, I played a few hours of 15/30 in the morning to bide time before the 100+20 NL tournament started at Noon. Things started off very fast, as I was dealt ATs and AKo in my first orbit at the table. With the ATs, I 3-bet a maniac from the Button, but wound up losing to his 850. The AKo hand ended up in a 5-way 3-bet pot pre-Flop thanks to maniac, and the Flop was 772 w/ 2 Diamonds. SB lead out and it was folded to me in LP and I raised w/ the Kd, the Button cold-called and everyone else folded except SB. Turn was a King, SB checked, I bet, Button called, SB folded. River was a brick, I bet, Button raised, I called, he had 22.
I made most of it back in the next few hours with AQs, AA, and TT all holding up and getting action. I racked up just in time for the tournament to start, which can be summed up very fast. 5 minutes into it, I got 66 in the BB w/ blinds of 10 and 15. 2 limpers, SB raises it to 50, I call the 35 as do the 2 limpers. The Flop is Qc 6h 5h, SB checks, I bet 100, limpers fold, SB raises to 300, I call. Turn is 2c, SB checks, I bet 300, he goes all-in, I call. He flips up QJh and the River is a Heart that doesn't pair the board. I'm one of the first ones out.
Overall, I'm enjoying my trip very much so far and hope to get to finally meet one of you. My name is Brian, and I'm mainly at the 15/30 tables. The name I use for the waiting list board is BDavis, so ask one of the girls if I'm there.
-Brian
Part 2 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=1039378&page=3&view=c ollapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1#1039378)
I didn't think that I'd be writing another trip report until I got back home, but I've got a couple of unexpected free hours to blow (more on that below), so I figured why not.
Monday morning, September 20th I head over to the Canterbury to sign up for the Noon 100+20 Limit Hold'em tournament. I put my name on a couple of wait lists, but they were really long so I headed out to find some food. The only fast food restaurants near the 'bury are McDonalds and Culver's. I hate Ronald so I decided to give Culver's a try, despite their main advertisement sign saying, "Try our Frozen Custard Butterburgers!", which sounded like about the most disgusting thing ever. I should have went with my gut instinct, though, as the burger I got at Culver's went right through me and almost made me late for the tournament. /images/graemlins/blush.gif
I sat down at my first tournament table ever and asked a bunch of newbie questions, like how much are these chips worth, are there any breaks, etc. I'm sure some people probably thought I was pulling an act because you hardly ever see a newbie fold, fold, folding and listening to a CD player. My first table was pretty loose. I guess I had an ideal setup, but I hardly ever got to use it. I was in seat 2, and to my right in seat 1 was a very loose borderline LAG, and to his right in seat 9 was another loose player. In seat 8 was a decent mid-20's guy, definitely above average. To my left were 3 tight players, a young guy in seat 3, a young girl in seat 4, and a middle-aged man in seat 5. I saw them play maybe collectively 10 hands the whole hour and a half or so I was at the table.
I planned on using the Gap Concept and was going to open raise every chance I was given that any of seats 3-5 were in the blinds. Seats 6 and 7 were old men, both loose, and both of whom against the Gap Concept would not apply. I didn't realize that soon enough, though, because about 4 hands in when I was still lackign reads and the table seemed very tight, I opened it up with K2o in MP. It was folded to old man in seat 7 who called. The Flop was K33, he checked, I bet, he called. Turn was an 8, he checked, I bet, he called. River was another King, he checked, I bet, he called, and I was good.
I was very happy to get to show the K2o hand, and decided I would tighten up and not steal unless seats 3-5 were in the blinds. And that's basically what I did. I got QQ UTG once, and was cold-called by seat 8 mid-20's guy. The Flop was KQ8 w/ 2 Spades, I bet and he called. I planned on going for a check-raise on the Turn, because mid-20's guy was pretty aggressive, but it was a 3rd Spade so I bet instead, and he folded.
I got KTo in the SB and completed after 2 limpers. The Flop was KT5r, and it was checked to seat 8 mid-20's guy in LP who bet. Seat 9 folded, and I raised. BB tight young guy folded, and seat 8 called. Turn was a brick, I bet he called. River was a brick, I bet he folded.
Next orbit I got KTc in the BB and knuckled after a limper and the SB completed. Flop was Kxx, 2 hearts 1 club. I bet and UTG called (tight guy in seat 3). Turn was a low club, I bet and tight guy folded.
I stole the blinds a few times and worked my stack up from T1k (starting) to T1.6kish, but the opportunity to steal more came up very rarely as everyone to my right was quite loose. The final hand that I played at the table I got QQ UTG and raised. UTG+1 (tight guy in seat 3) 3-bet me, and I knew I was in trouble. Everyone else folded, and I capped it which put him all-in. He had KK. The Flop was AQx, turn J, river T. I find it funny when people get upset after seeing that Flop and then losing. In my mind, I put in 400 chips as a 4:1 underdog, so I expect to get 100 of them back, regardless of what the Flop is.
I got changed to a new table after that, and had a bit over T1k. At this point the blinds were 25/50 I believe. I get seated at my new table and one of my first hands in I have K6o on the Button, and I proceed to make my only major mistake (I think) of the tournament. It's folded to me and I raise w/o knowing exactly the situations of the people in the blinds. The guy in the SB (seat 3, we'll call him LOM for Loose Old Man) has a mountain of chips and certainly the Gap Concept does not apply to him. And the guy in the BB is almost all-in, so yet again the Gap Concept does not apply. So I should have just folded. Instead, I raised. LOM and the BB both called, and the Flop was J62r. LOM checked, BB bet, I raised, LOM folded, and BB called all-in w/ ATs. I held up fortunately and decided to hunker down and get with the program.
Things were pretty uneventful after that. The blinds steadily increased, and my stack stayed about the same. People were constantly being moved to our table with very short stacks and then busting, but I didn't get much of it. I busted two guys with JJ, and my QQ raise from UTG only got the blinds. The Gap Concept basically didn't apply to any of the table, as everyone was either extremely short-stacked or had a mountain of chips. I was the only one at the table in between.
I probably made a few folds that were too tight. One time, there was a limper and then a guy with a short stack raised in MP. Guy on my right on the Button, who had been playing pretty tight, cold-called, and I folded AJo in the SB. The blinds were 100/200 I believe, and my stack was about 2400, and I didn't want to call off 1/8th of my stack hoping to hit a Flop, especially when I could be dominated. The Flop wound up being T33, and LOM had 43o from the BB, but I wasn't happy to see that the short-stack had KQo and I had indeed given up quite a bit by not playing (even if it didn't cost me at the table).
LOM never folds his blinds btw. "Not the big one, anyways" is what he'd say. So I pretty much just sat there playing tight, unimaginative poker, waiting to bust out. One hand that I think I may should have ran was ATs in the SB. Guy goes all in for a raise before the Flop in EP and some old man 3-bets in MP. I was pretty sure he'd do this with a wide range of hands, but again, I just didn't feel like calling off so much of my stack to hit a Flop. I mean, if anyone told me this situation I'd tell them easy fold, at best you have slightly the best of it, there will be a better spot, etc. but being at the table, I just had a feeling I had the best hand before the Flop. The Flop was an Ace and old man's KQs King-high held up versus J6.
My final hand occurred with the blinds at 200/400. I had T2k, and raised with AJo in EP. Guy with about the same stack as me, maybe a little more, cold-called in MP, and old man with a mountain of chips in LP also cold-called. The Flop was Q98, I bet and both called. The Turn was a Ten and I bet all-in, and MP raised. LP folded, and we turned over our hands. Expecting a split at worst w/ a probable freeroll to the broadway straight, he had KJo and I was out.
I spent the rest of the day playing 15/30, and again had a good 3 hour session. I didn't get a hand better than 99 the entire time, but the table had a maniac and a few very loose players who paid off w/ anything. I ran Q7s on the Button after 3 limpers, 2 of whom were complete pay off stations. The Flop was Ace-rag-rag w/ 2 Spades. Maniac bet from EP, MP loose passiveish old man raised (that meant an Ace w/ a good kicker, he'd probably limp AQo), I cold-called, everyone else folded except EP. Turn was a Spade, EP checked, MP bet, I raised, EP folded, and MP paid me off.
I won't go into all of the hands here but I will share one that I thought I played well, and one that is definitely different from how I'd play online. UTG woman raised, shes a bit of a loose raiser but not too bad, she'd raise ATo here probably. EP maniac cold-calls, MP middle-aged very aware, thinking player cold-calls. I've been playing with MP all day and I am sure he perceives me as being very tight and straightforward. I call from the SB w/ KJc, and BB decent middle-aged but whining guy calls. The Flop was QQT, all red. It's checked all the way around to MP who bets, and I raise. Everyone between us folds and he calls. The Turn and River are bricks, and I bet both times. He thinks for a while on the River and finally folds. Online, I probably would have folded to the UTG raise, although I am still getting used to the 15/30 blind structure. It definitely would have been close. I would have check-raised online as well and bet the Turn, but probably not have fired the last shell on the River; or, if I had, it would've been close. But here, I knew once it was heads-up, I was betting the whole way b/c of my tight image.
I really like having a tight image. I bluff fairly liberally, and when someone bets into me after I raise pre-Flop, I know they aren't just screwing with me if they've been playing with me for a while. My opponents don't perceive me as being a tight player who is easy to push off a hand post-Flop I don't believe. More of a tight player who has something very good when he raises pre-Flop, which of course isn't the case very often.
I wound up racking up that night up around 750, bringing my total wins to about 1.5k.
Today, Tuesday the 21st, I played a few hours of 15/30 in the morning to bide time before the 100+20 NL tournament started at Noon. Things started off very fast, as I was dealt ATs and AKo in my first orbit at the table. With the ATs, I 3-bet a maniac from the Button, but wound up losing to his 850. The AKo hand ended up in a 5-way 3-bet pot pre-Flop thanks to maniac, and the Flop was 772 w/ 2 Diamonds. SB lead out and it was folded to me in LP and I raised w/ the Kd, the Button cold-called and everyone else folded except SB. Turn was a King, SB checked, I bet, Button called, SB folded. River was a brick, I bet, Button raised, I called, he had 22.
I made most of it back in the next few hours with AQs, AA, and TT all holding up and getting action. I racked up just in time for the tournament to start, which can be summed up very fast. 5 minutes into it, I got 66 in the BB w/ blinds of 10 and 15. 2 limpers, SB raises it to 50, I call the 35 as do the 2 limpers. The Flop is Qc 6h 5h, SB checks, I bet 100, limpers fold, SB raises to 300, I call. Turn is 2c, SB checks, I bet 300, he goes all-in, I call. He flips up QJh and the River is a Heart that doesn't pair the board. I'm one of the first ones out.
Overall, I'm enjoying my trip very much so far and hope to get to finally meet one of you. My name is Brian, and I'm mainly at the 15/30 tables. The name I use for the waiting list board is BDavis, so ask one of the girls if I'm there.
-Brian