Complete Hand Histories available from some recent tournaments.

[iMsoLucky0]

As I'm sure most of you know, I ran into some success this weekend in a few various MTTs.

What I have done is put each of the complete hand histories for a few tournaments into their own file and I would like to send this to anyone who would like to view it.

I have a file for the 50k 110 rebuy tournament from empire that I won, a 300 player 109 on party where I took 2nd, and a PPM Satellite (270 buyin, 47 player) tournament that I won.

I think that each of these tournaments has something unique to offer both you and me. The empire tournament is extraordinary because I was early chipleader, but between about 60 players left and 10 players left, I hardly won a showdown. The party tournament is just a standard party multi where I was shortstacked for most of the final two tables but was still able to pull out second. In the PPM satellite I was a little lucky to get a big stack early, but it REALLY shows how to dominate a bubble. When we were 6 handed with 5th getting 1100 and 6th getting 0, I went from about 15000 chips up to 30000 chips without very many large hands at all.

I would really like to send these to as many people as possible, and have you post hands and questions and critiques. I really think alot of benefit could come from this.

I will warn you however, these files are rather bulky and may take some time to go through. The empire and 109 are both ~260 pages.

Please respond here with your email address, or PM me to recieve the files.

[DUSoonerKid]

Please send me the Hand Histories, sir. Email is my AIM name @aol.com

[iMsoLucky0]

Okay, I've had more interest in these than I thought. Luckily, Durron597 has offered to host these on a website, and I have sent them to him and he will be putting them up soon.

He (or I) will post the link when it becomes available and it will save alot of trouble for everyone.

[durron597]

Alright, it's up.

http://www.stwing.org/~martinja/poker/

[37offsuit]

From the Empire 50K,

#Game No : 2419859504
***** Hand History for Game 2419859504 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:14229573 Level:14 Blinds (1000/2000) - Monday, July 25, 00:38:39 EDT 2005
Table $50,000 Guaranteed Sunday Night Poker(383423) Table #3 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: tnakas ( $26526 )
Seat 2: FERGYHD2001 ( $19694 )
Seat 3: IMsoLucky0 ( $22200 )
Seat 4: neutron999 ( $26452 )
Seat 5: LILTIGGER737 ( $7664 )
Seat 6: percy6 ( $21517 )
Seat 7: tbop121971 ( $12310 )
Seat 8: BeeTown ( $3960 )
Seat 9: seahope ( $9832 )
Trny:14229573 Level:14
Blinds (1000/2000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to IMsoLucky0 [ Qd Qc ]
percy6 folds.
tbop121971 folds.
BeeTown folds.
seahope folds.
tnakas folds.
FERGYHD2001 folds.
IMsoLucky0 raises [4000].
neutron999 folds.
LILTIGGER737 folds.
IMsoLucky0 shows [ Qd, Qc ] a pair of queens.
IMsoLucky0 wins 7000 chips from the main pot with a pair of queens.
heh

You show your QQ but you don't steal the blinds. The next time you open raise, I believe, is here:

#Game No : 2419934454
***** Hand History for Game 2419934454 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:14229573 Level:15 Blinds (1500/3000) - Monday, July 25, 00:53:02 EDT 2005
Table $50,000 Guaranteed Sunday Night Poker(383423) Table #3 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: tnakas ( $31026 )
Seat 2: FERGYHD2001 ( $24194 )
Seat 3: IMsoLucky0 ( $21240 )
Seat 4: neutron999 ( $29452 )
Seat 6: percy6 ( $17017 )
Seat 7: tbop121971 ( $12784 )
Seat 9: seahope ( $6832 )
Seat 8: Dumpel ( $36544 )
Seat 10: Dave1584 ( $18870 )
Trny:14229573 Level:15
Blinds (1500/3000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to IMsoLucky0 [ Qs Kc ]
tnakas folds.
FERGYHD2001 folds.
IMsoLucky0 is all-In [21240]
neutron999 folds.
percy6 folds.
tbop121971 folds.
Dumpel folds.
seahope is all-In [5332]
Dave1584 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, 8c, Tc ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ad ]
** Dealing River ** [ Ts ]
Dumpel: my 5's had no chance
seahope shows [ As, 5c ] two pairs, aces and tens.
IMsoLucky0 shows [ Qs, Kc ] two pairs, tens and eights.
IMsoLucky0 wins 14408 chips from side pot #1 with two pairs, tens and eights.
seahope wins 16664 chips from the main pot with two pairs, aces and tens.
Game #2419936581 starts.

There were a few hands in between maybe where you just called raises with moderate holdings, but the difference between these two are remarkable. You make a callable raise with QQ and push with KQo. You're giving naked A's and K's a cheap shot at the flop in the first one and making so that only someone who has you beat can call the second.

[iMsoLucky0]

Well, there is quite a bit different between the two hands. In the first hand, I am on the button, and the blinds are at 1000 2000. I make this raise from the button so that it looks like a steal and I may get someone to move in on me. I also have enough chips that we can play postflop some.

The second hand, the blinds have moved to 1500 3000, and I am in middle position. I can't really make a standard or even a minimum raise here. I really don't want to raise and have someone move in on me. However, my hand is strong enough to raise, and with less than 10 big blinsd, I think moving in is the best option.

I like the way I playled both of these. Maybe someone else will disagree?

[DeathbySuckout]

Thank you for giving these out.
And thank you Durron597 for hosting them.

[ChoicestHops]

Awesome, man.

And congrats on your recent success and keep it up.

[baronzeus]

I'm no tourney expert, but I don't think minraising with QQ is a smart idea. Someone with Ax in the blind won't move in on you preflop but will have a hard time laying it down if he hits top pair or trips up his x. It just makes your QQ harder to play postflop because it opens up villain's range quite a bit.

[37offsuit]

Right...so why show the QQ in hand one? I think you're giving away free information which you don't use later that I've seen.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm no tourney expert, but I don't think minraising with QQ is a smart idea. Someone with Ax in the blind won't move in on you preflop but will have a hard time laying it down if he hits top pair or trips up his x. It just makes your QQ harder to play postflop because it opens up villain's range quite a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have to consider the stack sizes of the blinds though. In this case, the BB is short stacked, and certainly may push with any Ace, especially if it looks like a steal play from the button. You're not too concerned about the BB calling, then pushing on the flop, because you're going to be fairly committed to calling him anyway.

The only problem, is if the big stack in the SB flat calls and decided to see a flop. Then, your decision will be a bit more difficult.

[baronzeus]

Looking at the KQo hand here, with 6 people left to act, it seems a bit hasty. Any hand that calls is either way, way ahead, sort of ahead, or marginally ahead. What did you think your chances were of picking up the blinds with 6 people left?

[iMsoLucky0]

Good enough to push? lol.

And as for showing, that was a mistake. I show too often sometimes. I'm trying to cut back on it some.

[baronzeus]

[ QUOTE ]
Good enough to push? lol.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I suck at MTTs. They're never good enough to push for me /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[blockafor]

In the Empire 50K, your 97 cracks some guy's kings when you flop a straight, and he gets mad and says, "i know for a fact ur not gonna make a damn penny out of this tourney". Hilarious. I really hope he looked up the results of this tourney afterwards.

I'm getting just as much entertainment from reading the chat as I am knowledge from reviewing the hands.

[DemonDeac]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Good enough to push? lol.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I suck at MTTs. They're never good enough to push for me /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

ya gotta be able to push your chips in the middle even when you know you're behind but can get a fold and a pot. thats something i've learned the past couple days with my MTT success

[iMsoLucky0]

[ QUOTE ]
In the Empire 50K, your 97 cracks some guy's kings when you flop a straight, and he gets mad and says, "i know for a fact ur not gonna make a damn penny out of this tourney". Hilarious. I really hope he looked up the results of this tourney afterwards.

I'm getting just as much entertainment from reading the chat as I am knowledge from reviewing the hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO, yeah. You should follow me around some more rebuy tourneys during the rebuy period. People get so pissed and say some of the dumbest stuff. I can aggravate them pretty well too /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Roman]

Wow thanks a ton for giving these out.
My email is metalicraft@hotmail.com

[mlagoo]

[ QUOTE ]
LMAO, yeah. You should follow me around some more rebuy tourneys during the rebuy period. People get so pissed and say some of the dumbest stuff. I can aggravate them pretty well too /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember back maybe 6 months ago, when I first started playing online, playing in a rebuy MTT on Noble Poker, and a player named Phil Ivey on there (I think we can rest assured it wasnt Mr. Ivey), during the rebuy period, kept going allin and calling allin with the most absurd hands in the world.

At the time, I thought, man this guy is just the biggest fish ever. I couldn't believe it. And the table I was at was giving him so much crap, really ripping into him. But sure enough, he eventually held up a few hands in a row, and had a huge stack, and all of the sudden, he tightened up.

When I looked again at the end of the tourney he was HU with a huge chip lead. Turns out theres a method to the madness =).

IN summation, rebuy tourneys freak me out.

[iMsoLucky0]

Damnit, I didn't post these so you all could just read them and see how I play. I want more questions/critiques.

[A_PLUS]

Im going to replay them later today tonight and try to make decisions before I see what you do. I will post all of the differences.

[pofi]

thank you.can you send it to pofi@yandex.ru ?

[kinger]

my link does not seem to be working, is it working for others?

[kinger]

it works now, nevermind

[intheflatfield]

Thanks for the HH's I'm looking forward to spending some otherwise productive time pouring over them this weekend. But I'm a poker degenerate, what can I say. I will try to post some constructive comments come Monday. For all that's worth.. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[DonT77]

#Game No : 2416255940
***** Hand History for Game 2416255940 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:14215929 Level:2 Blinds (10/20) - Sunday, July 24, 13:43:35 EDT 2005
Table PPM V Sup. Satellite(402699) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: SpikeTheAce ( $1700 )
Seat 2: ChicagoRiver ( $1215 )
Seat 3: IMsoLucky0 ( $2015 )
Seat 4: DANCER666 ( $900 )
Seat 5: JAMinKs ( $840 )
Seat 6: luky666 ( $2695 )
Seat 7: teddyhoops ( $1050 )
Seat 9: JBGOOD29 ( $1105 )
Seat 10: Am2LuckyforU ( $1620 )
Trny:14215929 Level:2
Blinds (10/20)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to IMsoLucky0 [ Qs Qd ]
Am2LuckyforU folds.
SpikeTheAce calls [20].
ChicagoRiver folds.
IMsoLucky0 raises [120].
DANCER666 folds.
JAMinKs folds.
luky666 folds.
teddyhoops folds.
JBGOOD29 calls [100].
SpikeTheAce raises [580].
IMsoLucky0 is all-In [1895]
JBGOOD29 is all-In [985]
SpikeTheAce is all-In [1100]

I'd like to hear comments on this play - what are the range of hands that we can put UTG+1 (SpikeTheAce) on here?

What percent of the time are you guys being shown AA/KK in this situation?

Results in white below-
<font color="white"> ** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, Kd, Qc ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
SpikeTheAce shows [ Ad, Ah ] a pair of aces.
IMsoLucky0 shows [ Qs, Qd ] three of a kind, queens.
JBGOOD29 shows [ 9c, 9s ] a pair of nines.
IMsoLucky0 wins 315 chips from side pot #2 with three of a kind, queens.
IMsoLucky0 wins 1190 chips from side pot #1 with three of a kind, queens.
IMsoLucky0 wins 3325 chips from the main pot with three of a kind, queens.
Player JBGOOD29 finished in 38 place
Player SpikeTheAce finished in 37 place
oh snap
SpikeTheAce has left the table.
JBGOOD29 has left the table.
</font>

[Potowame]

I loaded the 109 into the replayer, it is only showing one card and the other is a RED X. Other than that it works fine, what did I do wrong?

I'm relatively new here, but I would love to take a look at these.

bielski@mit.edu

Thanks in advance.

[iMsoLucky0]

I was wondering how long it would be until someone commented on this hand.

At the time, I was pretty sure I was behind. But the structure of the tournament was such that only the top 5 spots got paid so I decided early that I would gamble to get a big stack or go out early. I think you see me comment on this in the chat later.

So in this hand, I thought there was a decent chance I was behind, but decided I would gamble that UTG and the caller were both idiots and try and take it (and if not suck out).

[z32fanatic]

[ QUOTE ]
I loaded the 109 into the replayer, it is only showing one card and the other is a RED X. Other than that it works fine, what did I do wrong?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've had this problem too. The issue is that there is an extra space in the [ Kh, Kc ] or whatever the cards are. Take out the extra space and it should work. Unfortunately this means you can't put the entire tourney into a replayer. Does anyone have a solution to fixing an entire history?

[DonT77]

Yeah - in online games especially you just never know. That is why I am wondering what types of hands we as a collective group typically see in this situation.

I'd say from my own experience that a LRR will show:

AA/KK - 60%
AK/AQ/KQ/22-JJ - 30%
Limp reraise bluff - 10%

(what about the guy with 99 in this hand who over-called a LRR and a push over the LRR? /images/graemlins/laugh.gif What percent of the time do you think his hand will be good?)

[danger_mouse]

Yes. This early in a tournament, the goofs haven't left the building yet. Last night, nearly the exact same situation happened to me.

Me. KK
They. AJ, AQ &amp; KQ.

Kings held up, btw.

[iMsoLucky0]

BUMP for more questions.

Please don't let me have posted these histories in vein.

[future]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I loaded the 109 into the replayer, it is only showing one card and the other is a RED X. Other than that it works fine, what did I do wrong?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've had this problem too. The issue is that there is an extra space in the [ Kh, Kc ] or whatever the cards are. Take out the extra space and it should work. Unfortunately this means you can't put the entire tourney into a replayer. Does anyone have a solution to fixing an entire history?

[/ QUOTE ]

Paste the whole history in WordPad or NotePad and go to Edit: Replace... and replace [ with [ (that is, replace [spacex2 with [spacex1)and it should work.

[billyjex]

[ QUOTE ]
BUMP for more questions.

Please don't let me have posted these histories in vein.

[/ QUOTE ]

you seem to like JTo too much. calling raises, limping in EP, etc.

[justT]

Congrats on your recent wins and thanks so much for posting these. I think seeing someone else’s (successful) approach will help my game, and my game needs a lot of help.

I've walked through the 109-second and PPM-1st tourneys. In general you seem pretty tight (not surprising) but also pretty passive after the flop if you don't hit it hard. I guess I'm a little surprised you get much action when you do play.

I'm now "playing" your Empire50k tourney. I'm replaying each hand and deciding what to do before I see what action you took.

I'm still in the first round, and it looks like your evil twin is playing.

1st hand - limp with J7s (normally a fold for you?)

3rd hand - limp with JTo (not unusual) then on flop of 936
you called pot sized bet (normally a fold for you?)

5th hand - T3s in BB, with 6 limpers in, you raised 2.5X (normally a check?) but then after that you got in a reraise fest with two others players and ended up allin (one player had you covered and the other had 2/3's your stack). I admit the raises from the other two players were funky in amount and/or sequence and you probably deduced that neither was particularly strong but your play seems way out of nature given your T3s. They showed AJo and 77 and you outdrew them to win a huge pot.

Is there a different strategy at work here than in the other two tourneys?

[iMsoLucky0]

That's a rebuy tourney. I was gambling early to acquire a stack. It was fun.

[curtains]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm no tourney expert, but I don't think minraising with QQ is a smart idea. Someone with Ax in the blind won't move in on you preflop but will have a hard time laying it down if he hits top pair or trips up his x. It just makes your QQ harder to play postflop because it opens up villain's range quite a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well the QQ will be very easy to play against the BB who has only 7000 chips left. Also I think neutron is relatively tight, thus I would rarely expect a flat call, but I could be wrong about that.

[Degen]

I PM'd u man...i'd really like to see these...

[iMsoLucky0]

LoL. Read the thread, Durron posted them on the net.

[PuertoKid]

#Game No : 2416118773
***** Hand History for Game 2416118773 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:14215576 Level:1 Blinds (10/15) - Sunday, July 24, 13:09:12 EDT 2005
Table Multi-Table(401452) Table #24 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: uniquename82 ( $985 )
Seat 2: kisa444 ( $975 )
Seat 3: Zepfan4 ( $1015 )
Seat 4: ENIGMA4U4ME ( $825 )
Seat 5: CapoCapo ( $1965 )
Seat 6: cassietate ( $970 )
Seat 7: IMsoLucky0 ( $975 )
Seat 8: richabbs ( $1335 )
Seat 9: leetee1 ( $1000 )
Seat 10: petch84 ( $955 )
Trny:14215576 Level:1
Blinds (10/15)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to IMsoLucky0 [ Jd Ad ]
richabbs folds.
leetee1 folds.
petch84 calls [15].
uniquename82 folds.
kisa444 folds.
Zepfan4 folds.
ENIGMA4U4ME calls [15].
CapoCapo calls [15].
cassietate folds.
IMsoLucky0 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kd, 7d, Ks ]

IMsoLucky0 checks.
petch84 checks.
ENIGMA4U4ME checks.
CapoCapo bets [55].
IMsoLucky0 calls [55].
petch84 folds.
ENIGMA4U4ME folds.

You call a ~3/4 pot-sized bet. What was your reasoning here? The pot is relatively small, and if you don't hit your hand on the turn, you probably can't stay in for a lot more action. To reasonably take this risk here, don't you need to be fairly confident you'll get paid more for hitting your hand? Otherwise aren't you just pissing away chips? Espcially considering one of those checkers could be slowplaying and reraise after you call?

** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
IMsoLucky0 checks.
CapoCapo checks.

Ok, capo is weak. Maybe you read this.

** Dealing River ** [ Td ]
IMsoLucky0 bets [125].
CapoCapo folds.
IMsoLucky0 does not show cards.
IMsoLucky0 wins 305 chips

You win 125 chips on this hand. Capo doesn't pay you off. I'd say Capo outplayed you here (except for his turn play). You took the risk to hit your draw and being raise big by one of the flop checkers, but you didn't get paid sufficiently for the risk you took when you hit the flush.

Maybe I play to weak tight. Please give me your analysis.

[kasey2004]

[ QUOTE ]
In the Empire 50K, your 97 cracks some guy's kings when you flop a straight, and he gets mad and says, "i know for a fact ur not gonna make a damn penny out of this tourney". Hilarious. I really hope he looked up the results of this tourney afterwards.

I'm getting just as much entertainment from reading the chat as I am knowledge from reviewing the hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

HAHAHAHAHA this is HILARIOUS... "u wont make a penny on this tourney"

I had to cut out the playing to read it all great stuff

SGTSmoke420: deadmoney what the XXXX was that with the 79??
SGTSmoke420: how much u invest in this tourney so far??
SGTSmoke420: XXXXin joke
IMsoLucky0: i thought my pair was good
SGTSmoke420: ur pair??
SGTSmoke420: i know for a fact ur not gonna make a damn penny out of this tourney
SGTSmoke420: prob don't make XXXX
IMsoLucky0: wanna play headsup?
SGTSmoke420: just donate to funds
SGTSmoke420: yes
IMsoLucky0: what limit?
SGTSmoke420: highest u got
IMsoLucky0: send me the invite
you play omaha?
SGTSmoke420: nope
SGTSmoke420: hold on
SGTSmoke420: it says private table aren't available
SGTSmoke420: u try to make it
SGTSmoke420: XXXX it all u need to know is ur XXXXin worthless
SGTSmoke420: u should just delete ur account and give up
SGTSmoke420: cuz ur never gonna make money
IMsoLucky0: I've made more than you know.
IMsoLucky0: I won a multi on party today and took 2nd in another, ty
SGTSmoke420: i got 2nd in the 200000 last month
SGTSmoke420: more than u'll ever see
IMsoLucky0: I won the friday special 2 weeks ago
SGTSmoke420: what is that 10000?? guarantee
IMsoLucky0: 215 buyin, no guarantee
IMsoLucky0: paid 43000
SGTSmoke420: ur name says it all
IMsoLucky0: Why are you even on this table?

im guessing u didnt get to take his money heads up /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

As for the poker being played i havent gone over allthe hands yet but there was a few hands i wondered about, I will post when i finish reading.\


/images/graemlins/spade.gif Kasey /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[kasey2004]

Marked a few hands i will go over later this one caught my eye. Why are u completing with Q3s here ? not a huge blow here but still like 1/4 of your stack after the flop. I did notice u like to do a little stop and bet out kinda thing from the SB alot where u complete and bet out any flop.

Just wanted some general thoughts about completing the SB and this hand in particular i think if im in your shoes im pushing this hand preflop with your stack.


***** Hand History for Game 2420157482 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:14229573 Level:18 Blinds (4000/8000) - Monday, July 25, 01:39:00 EDT 2005
Table $50,000 Guaranteed Sunday Night Poker(383423) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 4: azbabyface ( $39177 )
Seat 5: seahope ( $89324 )
Seat 7: thimsy ( $81896 )
Seat 8: IMsoLucky0 ( $204702 )
Seat 10: XXNLPROXX ( $42420 )
Seat 3: Nitemaren ( $175481 )
Trny:14229573 Level:18
Blinds (4000/8000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to IMsoLucky0 [ 3s Qs ]
Nitemaren folds.
azbabyface folds.
seahope folds.
thimsy folds.
IMsoLucky0 calls [4000].
XXNLPROXX checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 8d, 3c ]
IMsoLucky0 checks.
XXNLPROXX is all-In [34420]
IMsoLucky0 calls [34420].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ]
IMsoLucky0 shows [ 3s, Qs ] two pairs, eights and threes.
XXNLPROXX shows [ 4d, 9d ] two pairs, nines and eights.
XXNLPROXX wins 84840 chips from the main pot with two pairs, nines and eights.
see


/images/graemlins/spade.gif Kasey /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[Degen]

yes, i did not like this either...and i especially did not like a couple hands later the QTc hand...seems like too much gamble, i fold PF and def fold to large bet on flop...

tho i could be wrong...plz walk us through these two draws

[Degen]

ok threads long but i don't think this one was mentioned...

AJo hand at about 100-200 blinds you limped...flop J9x turn T and you bet ~70% of pot on flop but check the turn

why?

i would assume you are still good here, don't you at least want to throw a blocker? what is your intention if he bets? Say he puts out 1250 into the t2500 pot?


also this was a rebuy event right? your hand selection was v yucky early going...

[Ortho]

I'm replaying one of the tournaments now. There's a hand I'm confused about early in the "109-second".

Early in the tournament, Imsolucky0 is in the small blind with Q/images/graemlins/club.gifT/images/graemlins/club.gif. MP miniraises to 30, and there are 2 callers. Imso calls from the small blind, and the big blind calls.

(150 in pot). The flop is J/images/graemlins/spade.gif7/images/graemlins/club.gif5/images/graemlins/club.gif, giving Imso an overcard and a flush draw. He checks, bb checks, MP checks, LP bets 150, and the button folds. Here Imso calls for 150.

He's getting 2:1 and I put him on about 10 outs. Perhaps someone will come along behind, but this is a hand that I'd fold here, as it's 10% of my stack and I seem to be taking the worst of it. Even if I think LP will do this without a pair, I still think I probably fold here. Anyone who can help straighten me out, thanks!

[fnord_too]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm replaying one of the tournaments now. There's a hand I'm confused about early in the "109-second".

Early in the tournament, Imsolucky0 is in the small blind with Q/images/graemlins/club.gifT/images/graemlins/club.gif. MP miniraises to 30, and there are 2 callers. Imso calls from the small blind, and the big blind calls.

(150 in pot). The flop is J/images/graemlins/spade.gif7/images/graemlins/club.gif5/images/graemlins/club.gif, giving Imso an overcard and a flush draw. He checks, bb checks, MP checks, LP bets 150, and the button folds. Here Imso calls for 150.

He's getting 2:1 and I put him on about 10 outs. Perhaps someone will come along behind, but this is a hand that I'd fold here, as it's 10% of my stack and I seem to be taking the worst of it. Even if I think LP will do this without a pair, I still think I probably fold here. Anyone who can help straighten me out, thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't looked at this, but it looks like it is in the first round, and hero calls off 10% of his stack with a flush draw?

First, he has implied odds if he hits. Second, he may get to see the river for free if he misses. Third, early in a tournament a lot of players (myself included) like to look for spots to pick up a bunch of chips, even if it risks part or all of our stack. The general idea is that the decisions you make later in a tournament are much more important (from a cashing equity stand point) than the ones you make earlier. It is really valuable to have a bigger stack at the later stages since it allows you to steal more effectively, and it allows you to survive losing a hand or two. Therefore, it is better to embrace variance early in order to mitigate it later. Embracing variance does not mean getting in negative EV situations, but being willing to gamble with small edges. Here, the implied odds probably makes this +EV, especially since there are others who may come along since they will be getting better odds after hero calls. It sucks if someone raises behind, but overall this is a fine call IMO, though folding and raising are also decent options. (Raising being my least favorite of the three since you really hate a call with about as many chips left as the pot size here OOP.)

[Ortho]

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I haven't looked at this, but it looks like it is in the first round, and hero calls off 10% of his stack with a flush draw?

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Yes, this is correct.

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First, he has implied odds if he hits. Second, he may get to see the river for free if he misses. Third, early in a tournament a lot of players (myself included) like to look for spots to pick up a bunch of chips, even if it risks part or all of our stack. The general idea is that the decisions you make later in a tournament are much more important (from a cashing equity stand point) than the ones you make earlier. It is really valuable to have a bigger stack at the later stages since it allows you to steal more effectively, and it allows you to survive losing a hand or two. Therefore, it is better to embrace variance early in order to mitigate it later.

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Yes, he makes several calls in late position with cheap hands and gets lucky on a couple of them and gets some chips. I've only played about 25 of these, but I'm starting to realize that if you have enough chips to be able to actually play poker for a whole hand without it crippling you, the other players are literally going to just hand you chips.

Watching this tournament (and there are two left that I'm really looking forward to) has been the single best learning experience of my short career. I have seen lots of places where he plays that I fold, and I've also noticed that he's keeping his bets a bit smaller than mine in most cases, so that he doesn't get himself stuck. Other than that, once he's in hands, I'm making about the same plays, but I am really impressed by these as a learning tool for me and they are really helping.