The Poker Mutant will be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
Played three Ignition Casino NLHE Sit-n-Gos after I got back from the Final Table game Saturday night. All of them standard 2x payouts. I won the first two (one after just 8 hands), then lost the third. After that I got into the $400 GTD PLO8 I played the other night. It has a generous payout structure—at least in terms of the number of payouts. With 27 players paid, the entire third table was getting as little as a third of the buyin. I made it to 20th for a small loss on the game,
Played three more in the afternoon, missed on all of them. Had the chip lead in one by about 3:2, lost a race, and went out a couple hands later.
Finished off the day with an online $500 GTD Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. Managed to recover once after I was down to less than 2 big bets, but couldn’t get to the money. Out 22nd of 60 entries, with 12 places paying.
The Poker Mutant will be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
Before I went to bed last night, jumped into the Ignition Casino $400 GTD PLO and played it for about 45 minuted—actually getting up to 2nd place in the 60-player field after a big hand—and only realized it was actually PLO8after I’d busted out. At least I wasn’t the guy I played with at the Venetian a few years back who bought into a $400 tournament only to do the same sort of thing (“I was kind of wondering why none of the hands had a low…”). It might be embarrassing if I mentioned it to anyone.
This was how the second hand of that tournament went. I had won the first hand, and was up to 6000 chips from a starting stack of 5000. Late entry, blinds were 125/250. 8 players at the table, I was hijack, with [th 8d 8c 7d]. I was the first caller. The dealer (6450 chips, [ts td 5h 3s]) limped in with me, then the small blind (12,197 chips) raised to 1450 with [as ah 9s 3c]. I called, then the dealer called.
Now, according to the CardPlayer Omaha Odds Calculator, with the player in there with aces my chance of winning the hand doesn’t change from a heads-up match against the pair of tens, but he’s the dog in the three-way fight. Flip the Hi/Lo switch and things stay pretty much the same.
Anyway, the flop is great for me: [8s 2s 2c]. I shoot up to 57% equity. The small blind pots his aces, I’m all in to call with my full house, and the dealer—who has nearly a full starting stack—shoves with a weak flush draw (beat by the nut flush draw of the aces) and a bad low draw. The aces called.
The turn [3d] counterfeited the lows of both players, then the [9h] river shipped me the pot, so I more than tripled to 18375. Nice start, but I made a bad call another 40 hands down the line.
Got a 5x NLHE Jackpot Sit-n-Go, and managed to get out front after a bad start, but ended up going out third.
After doing stuff around the house (mostly sitting), I headed out to the Final Table $2K GTD NLHE. Our table had a drunk guy from “down the valley” who said he’d won a tournament earlier in the day. I stacked him twice in the same level, once when he 3-bet [qs 4s] and I 4-bet [qx qx] and he called. I don’t remember what he had when I called his shove with almost an entire rebuy stack, but I won that, too. I was up to 45K early on, then doubled up an annoying player I’ve mentioned before when I had aces under the gun and just limped in expecting a raise from someone at the tableNaturally, when I c-bet and the annoying guy raised for most of his stack on a king-high board, I had to put him all in and he had [kx 6x] for two pair.
Doubled up once when I got down to about 10bb and we were at two tables, lost a chunk to the player I doubled through with an open-ended straight draw where he had top pair and a deuce kicker, then just never managed to put it together.
The Poker Mutant will be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
A downswing that started—well, months ago—continued tonight at Claudia’s PLO8 tournament. I went because I wanted to see if my travel partner David Long was there (he was, and regrettably, I was the player who busted him off the final table). I won this the last time I played it, but tonight I had to rebuy two hands in, after entering late. It was a little like a reunion of Portland Players Club regs, with Noah and Paul, and others at the two tables.
I didn’t quite make the money, going out in 6th place after losing two multi-way hands in a row with aces in my hand. Gotta love PLO8. (They were running a Short Deck PLOcash game tonight on PokerGO’s Poker After Dark, if you want real degeneracy.)
The aforementioned downswing is not helping my plans to get myself out of poker jail by the end of the year. No four-figure cash since July, 20 straight losses in the Thousandaire Maker; it’s enough to put you off poker if you hadn’t already promised your wife you wouldn’t spend every night online or at a poker room.
If you’ve been a fan of the WPTBay 101 Shooting Star, you know it wasn’t held the past couple of years as Bay 101 built a new facility. It’s coming back this March, though, and you can win seats to the $5200 Main Event starting in less than two weeks! What a great Christmas present for yourself!
Shooting Star 2019: $5200 March 17-22nd w/ Re-Entry 40K in chips. There are 26 satellites. Win your Shooting Star seat as early as this month on Saturday December 15th, 2018 9am $300 w/ Re-Entry 15K in chips pic.twitter.com/jUkA0g1d96
The Poker Mutant will be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
My co-worker Ben (see Vegas Trip Report) came over for a go at the Chocolate Bourbon Milkshake and some online poker. I put on the NBC Sports replay of the Poker Masters, and we watched Brandon Adams win a match, then some PLO, while we played the Ignition Casino $2K GTD NLHE Turbo.
Ben was doing better than I was at first, then he got in with the second-best full house before getting knocked out. I managed to double up with aces, then eventually got knocked out with second-best two pair.
We each played a NLHE Jackpot Sit-n-Go. Ben got a 5x payout table. Neither of us cashed.
After he left, the Short Deck tournament came on TV and I played the $1K GTD PLO Turbo. I hit a gutshot straight for the nuts on the turn against a short stack a few minutes in, but the jack I needed gave him a set and a river ten paired the board to make a full house. I managed to get it in good at the end but you’re never good until the river in PLO.
The Poker Mutant will be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
After midnight, I played an Ignition $400 GTDPLO8 tournament for about six hands, doubled up on hand five, then lost everything in a high-only hand when the card that made my straight boated the other guy up.
I late-regged the evening Ignition $25K GTD NLHE 90 minutes into the game with about 20bb. I managed to get a double up with [js 9s] by hitting a nine-high flop and shoving over a raise from the big stack who had sevens. Got another one with a pair of tens. Then I folded this hand preflop, my client seized up after showing the flop (apparently it couldn’t believe it, either).
The 607-entry tournament had a prize pool of more than $30K, and we were les than 30 spots away from the min cash (at 126) when I got tens again. My stack had dwindled to 10bb and I shoved from UTG+2. UTG+4 re-shoved with 15bb and a 9bb stack called all-in.
I was flipping against the two of them to start, and things looked great through the turn. The AK couldn’t win with a diamond so he was down to four outs; the nines could only win with two cards. And of course one of them came on the river. So out 153rd after ninety minutes of play
Entered the Ignition $5K NLHE Turbo just after the first break, managed to stay in for about an hour with a couple of double-ups, then lost a race and went out 155th of almost 600 entries.
The Poker Mutantwill be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
After the turkey was consumed at my brother’s house for Thanksgiving, we came home and I got into the nightly Ignition Casino $4K GTD PLO8. As is usual for me in Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments (and I assume, for a lot of people), it was a rather down-and-up affair over the 200+ hands I played before getting to the final table.
I was under starting stack over the first 40 or so hands, crossing back over the line, then back under, then took a big hit that dropped me to half the starting stack (and about 20bb). I more than doubled up on hand 50, lost a third of my stack three hands later, then zoomed into the top 10 on the leaderboard just a few hands later. Volatile, a the kids say.
I dropped out of the top 10 a couple of times, but I was back up there by the time the bubble approached. I laid back, accidentally folding one hand I intended to play, and with blinds jumping up quickly, I was one of the short stacks by the time we reached the final table.
There was a bit of an overlay in the tournament—one of the few times I can remember getting in one like that. And I managed to outlast three of the other players to grab 6th place for a nice 500% ROI. Only another $97,816 in earnings before the end of December and I keep playing!
The Poker Mutant will be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
Woke up early after a great dinner last night at Hunan Pearl, jumped into the Ignition Casino $300 PLO8, got quartered on a hand and was out in 15 minutes.
Bested my time there with three hands to busto with a late entry in the evening $1K NLHE Turbo.
Lasted longer but didn’t make any more money in a NLHE Super Turbo. Ran into a set of aces early on and was left with just 3bb, then managed to recover a little but busted with sixes against jacks.
The Poker Mutantwill be retiring (mostly) from poker on 1 January. This is the latest installment in his thrilling countdown to the End of Times.
The Ignition Casino Golden Spade Poker Open series is wrapping up this week, and there was a 3-Seat GTD satellite this evening to Event #111 $30K GTD NLHE 6-Max Turbo. I went out in 9th place after [ax kx] lost to [ax tx], watching election day coverage. Late-regged a $500 GTD Omaha Hi-Lo game at the first break and busted in 25th place with 12 paying.
Last game for the day was a $1K PLO Turbo. Regged 45 minutes in, played for about an hour, got unlucky after getting all in ahead twice (at least, as much as you’re ever ahead in PLO) against the same player, doubling him up the first time and getting knocked out the second. 30th place with 15 paying.
I went to #Claudias to chat with @DavidLongPoker about @PACWESTclassic in October but he got a case of the good-weathers and didn't show, so I played instead and took first place. https://t.co/mQAWtcqNn3
The Ignition Super Millions Poker Open ended Sunday and last week I popped into another small $10K GTD NLHE 6-Max, busted halfway through, then banged straight out of the nightly $3K GTD NLHE 6-Max. A couple nights later I nabbed 3rd place in a 153-entry $500 GTD NLHE Turbo Bounty, picking up 8 bounties along the way.
The Final Table $10K GTD NLHE went bad from start to finish, and I busted my live rebuy just before the break, then dropped 100bb in 45 minutes on the shootout tables.
Saturday, I got into an Ignition $300 GTD O8 and just started sucking up chips, then blew a stack that should have gotten me to first or second and took 4th out of 36 for a small cash. Got halfway through the Sunday 6-Max ($4K), and busted a $1K NLHE Super Knockout early.
Monday…well, last week I’d promised I’d have to get over to Claudia’s (at SE 30th & Hawthorne, always the closest game to my house) for the Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo game they spread once a week, and I headed over this week to see if I could catch David Long, my semi-regular partner for trips to Lincoln City and Pendleton, to talk about October’s Fall Coast Classic PokerTournament at Chinook Winds. He wasn’t there, so I played the tournament myself (I might have been thinking about that anyway), got seated next to Joe Brandenburg on his first visit there, and I ended up taking first place (all those years of low-level PLO8 and Big O at the late Portland Players Club still paying off!) And with 45% going to first place even after we paid a bubble, even Steve Chanthabouasy would be happy with the percentage (though maybe not the size of the pot).
And Tuesday, the second episode of the PokerTime session I played in dropped, and I actually play a couple of hands.
This Week In Portland Poker
I haven’t seen any announcements for the big Labor Day holiday weekend, so I’ll just leave you with the Oregonian article that Josh Stellmon posted Monday to the NW Poker Facebook group, which includes some news about redevelopment plans for the Portland Meadows site.
Muckleshoot Fall Classic Satellites, Auburn 2—26 September
Lucky Chances $20K/1st, Colma 30 September
Muckleshoot 2018 Fall Classic
The full schedule for the Fall Classic is out, and for the first time that I can recall since starting up the #PNWPokercal, Muckleshoot is putting guarantees (instead of cash added to the prize pool) on their tournaments. A minimum of $500K in prize money is up for grabs over 7 tournaments.
Muckleshoot has spearheaded the concept of satellites for multiple events with games running the three weeks before the series on Sunday morning (10:15am) and Wednesday night (7:15pm) for $150 where a cash gets you $1,250 in tournament entries. There are three nights of $190 tournaments with $1,750 in tournament buyins in a gap between the two weekend of the series.
A 2-day Main Event (29—30 September, $750 buyin) with $150K GTD and two $100KGTD (22 & 28 September, $400 buyin) events are the tentpoles of the series, with an $80K GTD tournament leading off on 21 September ($300 buyn). Thrown into the mix are a $25K GTD LHE tournament (23 September, $200 buyin) and $15K GTD O8 (27 September, $200 buyin) for the fixed limit fans, and a finale I know a couple people will love: the $40K GTD NLHE Shootout (30 September, $300 buyin).
Ticket presales are already open.
Only a Day Away
Ameristar East Chicago is the host to HPT Chicagoland Main Event ($1,650 buyin) has three entry days starting Thursday.
Mid-States Poker Tourstops at Canterbury Park in Shakopee (just outside of Minneapolis) from Thursday through 16 September. There’s a $300K GTD $1,100 buyin Main Event with three entry days (13—15 September) with satellites running daily from 5 September.
The Commerce Poker Series starts Friday and runs through 16 September. The first full week features a tasty-looking $350 HORSE tournament, some Omaha Hi-Lo/Stud Hi-Lo, and a $240 buyin $200K GTD.
See above for info about the Muckleshoot Fall Classic Satellites.
Labor Day is the start of Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza III. Running through 26 September, the first week features a $100K GTD ($340 buyin) followed by the $1,100 buyin $250K GTD tournament co-sponsored by MSPT.
WSOPC Thunder Valley opens 6 September with a $300K GTD tournament for $400 entry. It’s a 2-day event with five flights (two on Thursday and Friday, one on Saturday). HORSE on Monday, 10 September and O8 on Tuesday! The $1,700 Main Event has $500 GTD.
The Aria Poker Mastersstarts 7 September with its smallest buyin: $10K. You can only rebuy once.
HPT Golden Gates kicks off in Colorado 12 September with a four-flight $400 buyin tournament. Their $1,650 Main Event begins 19 September.
The Gardens Poker Classic (starting 14 Septepmber) is—among other things—the third stop on the West Coast for the PokerStart Platinum Championship, where you can compete for a ticket to a $25K buyin in the Bahamas in January and $5K in expenses (also known as the cost of a banana at the Atlantis Resort). There are a few other things going on during the Classic, including a $300K TD, a $200K GTD, a $550 buyin 8-Game Mix, some HORSE, and a Progressive Bounty tournament.
The 607-entry tournament had a prize pool of more than $30K, and we were les than 30 spots away from the min cash (at 126) when I got tens again. My stack had dwindled to 10bb and I shoved from UTG+2. UTG+4 re-shoved with 15bb and a 9bb stack called all-in.
