That medallion next to my card cap in the blog header is for winning a non-series bounty tournament at the Venetian. One of the final events of the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II this last weekend was a $15K NLHE Bounty tournament, and it was won by Dwayne Heido of Tualatin. Congrats, Dwayne! You can find other DSE winners here.
Deal of the Day: Stay At Home
The Deal each week is all about finding value. Usually, that means trying to extract the most for your poker-playing dollar by getting somewhere cheap where there’s a possibility of a big payoff.
I have a friend who kind of snickers art the idea of driving to Seattle for a single tournament or flying to Las Vegas for a few days to catch a few tournaments, but my contention is that if there’s some potential payoff that you can’t get at home (bigger prize pools, longer levels), then it can be worth it.
That pretty much goes out the window this month. With the number of large events going on in Portland alone (see last week’s April Is the Pokerest Month), unless you’re in Las Vegas, LA, or—God help you—Edmonton for some other reason, there’s not much of a reason to leave town for poker value. Just the announced events (Final Table $20K and $100K, $200K of events during the Encore Poker Series and a $35K) are worth hanging around for—I’ve gotten a couple of inquiries from people coming from out-of-town to play—and it’s a certainty that there are going to be the type of last-minute announcements that I don’t get in time for the calendar that just drive me crazy!!!!! Stop putting every special event on Wednesday and Saturday, guys!
Calm down. OK.
Poker calendars across the West (and around the country) are exploding with events in the lead-up to the summer WSOP (which starts in 62 days). But until May, you can do it all here in Portland. Not that that’ll stop me from posting another out-of-town deal next week.
The Players Club is running weekly Big O games at their new location in A&L Sports Bar, Friday nights at 6pm. $40 buy-in and re-buys, $20 add-on. Late registration until 8pm.
Only a Day Away
The Liz Flynt Spring Poker Classic starts tomorrow at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. It kicks off with a $200K guarantee with six starting flilghts over three days, and a $250 buy-in. It runs through the entire month.
Deepstacks Poker Tour is at Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton starting Friday. No direct flights from Portland (most involve stopovers in Vancouver or Calgary) but five to six hours is about what you can expect for travel time. It finishes on 11 April.
The Wildhorse Spring Poker Round-Up kicks off a week from tomorrow, with an evening satellite to the Main Event at 7pm Thursday, 7 April. Event #1 is a $120 (including dealer bonus) NLHE tournament at noon on Friday, 8 April. The Main Event is the weekend of 16 & 17 April.
Mid-States Poker Tour’s Golden Gates stop starts the same day in Blackhawk, Colorado (satellites to the first event actually get going on 4 April). Event #1 is a $360 entry $100K guarantee with starting days 7—9 April and a Main Event ($200K guarantee, $1.1K entry) with three starting days the next weekend.
Full House Poker’s $10K Heads-Up Championship is the weekend of 9 & 10 April in Eugene.
The WPTDeepstacks Thunder Valley series runs 9—17 April, with a one-day $100K ($400 entry) as its opener, capped off with a $250K guarantee, $1.1K entry event starting Tax Day.
Calgary’s Deerfoot Inn has a 5-event Spring Super Stack series scheduled for 13—17 April, including a C$150K guarantee, C$1.1K event.
I’ve been working on a sort of smash-and-grab approach to Zone Poker where I stop playing after ten or fifteen minutes (or less). Not exactly ratholing; I don’t immediately jump back in the game, but I do leave when variance hits me with a good session. Remind me not to get all-in with [jx tx]. Overall, not a good week on the tables, -7BB over about 2.5K hands: -0.28BB/100. Session 17 was particularly brutal. On the first Zone hand, you’re always in as BB. I had [5c 5s], actioon folds to the button, who raises to 3.5x, I call and hit a set on [5h kc 7h], check and call another half-pot bet. Turn is [js], I check, he bets pot, I shove, he has top two and rivers [ks] for full house over full house. Eight hands later, after I buy back in, I had [kd ad] in SB, and a stack of about 40BB. Button raises 3x, I 3-bet to 9x, he shoves with a 140K stack, I call, he has [ah qh] and makes [qs] on the flop. Yes, it’s just poker, but the downside of Zone is that the bad beats (as well as the good) come a lot closer together.
Big hand for me was [jd ah 8s 7s]. Not much to look at, but I called a UTG1 raise from SB along with BB, flopped [9s kh jh], and everyone checked through the [3d] turn and [as] river. I bet my two pair, UTG went all-in with [ah 4s 3s 6c] and a worse two pair, and gave up nearly 30BB on the river alone.
Nineteen minutes. 19 hands. +37BB.
Bovada 0.05/0.1 PLO8
A rundown of [5c 6c 8s 7d] was the winner here, though not because I made the straight. No, a short-stack with [tc js ac 4s] made a pre-flop raise, I was one of two callers, I hit the open-ended straight on the [qd 9h 7c] flop, SB potted, I raised, he called all-in, there was a [qh] on the turn, and a [3d] on the river, and he missed everything.
Twenty-five minutes. 22 hands. +76BB.
Encore Club $11K NLHE
Lost my first buyin all in pre-flop with [ax qx] v [7x 7x]. Rebought and went out on the last hand before break after I flopped trips from BB in a limped pot then lost to a flush draw who called my all-in. Saved myself the add-on (prize pool in the image isn’t complete, they hadn’t put in all the add-ons yet.
One hour. 78th of 83 entries.
Encore Club 1/2 NLHE
Tried a couple tricks that went horribly wrong.
Thirty minutes. -80BB
Encore Club $1K NLHE
Very fast busto. No re-buy, no add-on.
Five minutes. 8th of 8 entries.
Bovada $1K NLHE Turbo Bounty
Got all-in with [qh jh] and a decent-sized stack against aces at two tables and didn’t make it much longer after that.
Ninety minutes. 81 hands. Four bounties. 13th of 194 entries. +188% ROI.
Bovada O8 Bounty
I got to HU in this game with a 2x chip lead, but managed to give away a bunch of chips. Highlight hand was number 62. I was down to 2.7K from the 3K starting stack, limits are 300/600, and I’m in SB with [qd qs as 3h]. A full table, BB’s all-in for the blind, almost everyone’s limping until HJ raises [jd 8d jh ah]. Then everyone but D is calling, until it gets back around to UTG3 ([9d tc 6s 8c]), who 3bets to 900, and that gets called all the way around. The flop’s [ac th qh], I bets and get three calls. [4c] on the turn, I make the big bet and everyone calls again. [5d] on the river, I bet, UTG1 calls with two pair and no low, I scoop the pot with a set and get a bounty for BB.
Three hours. 189 hands. Four bounties. 2nd of 25 entries.
Bovada $200 O8
Another late-reg mistake.
Forty-seven minutes. 20 hands. 20th of 27 entries.
Bovada $5K NLHE Thousandaire Maker
Another shot. I was in need of a double-up with half the chip average and 10BB, I raised to 3BB with [kd kc] and got called by a 16BB stack with [qd td]. The flop was [ks ad jh] and I shoved my set into the Portland Nuts.
One hour and twenty-four minutes. 72 hands. 73rd of 115 entries.
Bovada $5K NLHE Turbo
Got in with 20BB after busting the Thousandaire Maker. [ah qs], meet [qc qh].
Fifteen minutes. 18 hands. 199th of 564 entries.
Bovada $4K NLHE 6-Max
Got [ks js] in on a [kd jc 7s] flop against [ts ac] and ran into [qd] on the turn.
Ten minutes. 8 hands. 43rd of 50 entries.
Bovada $7K NLHE Turbo
Got into this with 12BB after busting the 6-Max. Tripled my stack in the first 30 hands. Hand 38, with 8BB, I got [tc ts] in BB and call all-in pre-flop against a UTG2 raise and call from CO. UTH2 has [kh 8h], CO has [ac ad], and I hit top set on the flop. Last hand, I shove [ks qc] UTG with 10BB (though about the same number of chips I ended up with 20 minutes earlier) and run into aces again, without the lucky result.
Sixty-eight minutes. 55 hands. 84th of 713 entries. +55% ROI.
Final Table $1K NLHE
Burned through two buy-ins, didn’t add on, and went out on a bad beat I don’t remember. I just know it was bad.
Seventy minutes. 20th of 26 entries.
Bovada $200 PLO Turbo
Late-regged in the second level of a turbo and a third of the field was gone already. Looking at the hand I busted on, I cannot figure out what I was doing.
Five minutes. 4 hands. 27th of 43 entries.
Bovada $500 PLO8 Bounty
Called a 900 raise preflop (18% of my stack) with [qs kh ts ks], flopped an open-ended straight on a flop of [tc 4d jd], bet it and got raised for my entire stack. Hit the nuts on the [ac] turn, then lost two ways with the [td] river against [qd as 2h ad].
Fifty-five minutes. 31 hands. 34th of 46 entries.
Final Table $1K NLHE
I got very lucky at the final table. Then very unlucky. We were eight-handed, I had [kc 3c] in the BB and a solid—if a little sticky—lady in middle position made a min-raise that folded around to me. I was short—about 12BB—but called anyway, only to get a [3x 3x 2x] flop. I check-raised all-in, which she called with [ax ax], I managed to avoid an ace on the turn and river, even hitting a king for a full house and doubling up enough to get to the money. By the time we were three-handed, it was me with about 8BB, an even shorter stack, and a “giant” stack with about 20BB. I picked up [9x 9x] UTG, shoved, and the short stack in BB called me with [tx 3x], hits two pair on the flop and tops it off with a full house on the turn. I go out next hand with [4x 8x] against the big stack, catch a four on the flop and lose when he makes a higher pair on the river.
Three hundred and ten minutes. 3rd of 22 entries. +325% ROI.
Bovada FLO
Got involved on a [4c 3h 5h kc] hand on a [qh 7h jc] flop that looked promising. and continued on a [5s] turn, but the river paired the board and I lost.
Twenty-six minutes. 20 hands. 17th of 19 entries.
America’s Cardroom $200 PLO8
Checked in on ACR to see if I had any funds left there and decisded to play them badly for a while.
Forty-five minutes. 35 hands. 25th of 31 entries.
Aces Full $1K NLHE
I hadn’t been into Aces Full for a while. Their daily noon game allows two live rebuys, but there isn’t an add-on. I don;t usually like rebuys, but I did one after having my jacks lose to a [4d 7d] that made a straight on the river and paying it off. That guy lost his entire stack to the guy on my right just after the first break, so with two tall stacks of 1K ships, he was one of the three callers against the tens I finally had to shove with less than 4BB. Lost to [ax kx], but other wise might have tripled up.
One hundred and thirty minutes. 16th of 19 entries.
Portland player Zachary Kerns made a donation to a favorite charity of Thinking Poker podcast host Andrew Brokos, and won a drawing for an on-podcast hand analysis, which was posted in Monday’s episode. The hand is from Day 2 of the Main Event at the recent PacWest Poker Challenge and it starts about two-and-a-half minutes into the podcast.
April Is the Pokerest Month
The run-up to the summer season is always chock-full of action, and from just what’s been announced already, April is going to be intense for Portland and Oregon poker aficionados.
The month will start off, as usual, with a Final Table First Friday $20K, that falls fortuitously on April Fool’s, the first day of the month.
The Wildhorse Spring Poker Round-Up runs from 7—17 April in Pendleton, with a $1.1K High Roller on Thursday, 14 April and the $520 Main Event on Saturday 16 April.
Full House Poker in Eugene has their Heads-Up Championship ($200 for one entry, $350 for 2 entries, and $500 for three entries) the weekend of 9—10 April.
Eugene’s High Mountain Poker Palace has a quaterly (sic) $230 tournament Saturday 16 April. and a $120 monthly game the next day.
Encore Club’s now-monthly $35K is scheduled for Saturday 16 April. It’s closely followed by the Encore Poker Series VIII, four events with $20K, $30K, $50K and $100K guarantees on 21—24 April.
If all that poker seems like too much for you, Encore’s taken a page from the online world (and some land-based casinos):
Introducing self-ban option. It’s pretty simple. If you feel like your poker playing hobby has gotten a bit out of hand and a bit out of control then ask us to put you on our “unwelcome guests list” temporarily or permanently and we will happily oblige (message us here on FB). We are very glad that we do provide truly social, low stakes game with no house odds or rake involved where skill, strategy and knowledge are very important if you want to be a winning player in the long run but we do acknowledge the fact that, sometimes, even in that kind of environment, this hobby can be too enticing to the detriment of other things that are important in your life.
If only we could suggest people for banning, life would be perfect.
Deal of the Day: Battle of the Bay
If you’re a fan of the Big Shot tournaments at The Game or the $20K-to-first-place event recently held at Final Table, and you want to fill in the gap between the $100K events in Portland at the end of April, you might look at the Lucky Chances Battle of the Bay, running 23 April—2 May in Colma, California.
Colma is about halfway between the city of San Francisco and San Francisco International Airport. It’s virtually uninhabited—though it’s about two square miles in size—because it’s been San Francisco’s necropolis for the past hundred and twenty years: meaning that almost all of the city’s graveyards are in Colma.
If that doesn’t creep you out, then read on.
This next Battle of the Bay has a survivor event ($375 entry, payouts are evenly divided), and four events with guarantees to first place: $40K, $20K, $25K, and $100K. Lucky Chances is the home casino of the afore-mentioned Andrew Brokos, and if you’re a regular listener of the show, you may remember that he won the big tournament in a series there last November. The casino appears to have a spotty record of reporting results to Hendon Mob, but the winner of the Main Event in last spring’s series received $80K, with the next three places paying a little over $50K each in a deal.
Summer Schedules
The #PNWPokerCalendar has links to several summer series already, including the WSOP, the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza (and Warm-Up), the Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget, and just out yesterday, the Planet Hollywood Goliath. Check out events for May on the calendar.
The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II ends Sunday. The final big event starts today with entries Thursday and Friday and Day 2 on Saturday. It’s a $150K bounty tournament with a $250 buy-in. Saturday is a one-day $15K guarantee bounty game with a $300 entry, and Sunday is a $200 entry for a $10K bounty tournament.
The Liz Flynt Spring Poker Classic starts 31 March at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. It kicks off with a $200K guarantee with six starting flilghts over three days, and a $250 buy-in.
Deepstacks Poker Tour is at Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton starting 1 April, Its schedule and buy-insa are similar to the Reno series, but the money’s Canadian dollars! No direct flights from Portland (most involve stopovers in Vancouver or Calgary) but five to six hours is about what you can expect.
Not a particularly uplifting week. Some more near-misses and agonizing defeats. Poker, in other words. Work kept me from playing the big games in Portland last weekend, so I had to make do with mostly online.
Bovada 0.5/1 and 0.25/0.5 NLHE Zone 6-Max
I had a bad patch at 0.5/1 and decided to drop down for a bit. Still managed to call off with tens against an obvious 4-bet pair of pocket kings, but….
Seven sessions. One hundred and eighteen minutes. 500 hands. +319BB
Bovada $200 Omaha Hi-Lo
Never really got much going in this, but I did make it nearly to the money.
One hour and fifty minutes. 95 hands. 8th of 26 entries.
Bovada $5K NLHE Thousandaire Maker
You only start with 2.5K in this tournament though it’s a decent structure. I don’t think I ever got it much over 5K. Hand 82 I’m UTG2 with [tc td] and less than 12BB. I rip it in and get called by two shorter stacks with [ah qd] and [js qh], [5c kc 7c] on the flop, I’ve got better than 75% equity at that point but an ace (not clubs) comes on the turn and another king on the river and I’m pout on the next hand. Eight places paid $1K, with a ninth-place consolation of $100.
One hour and forty-eight minutes. 83 hands. 31st of 108 entries.
Final Table $1K NLHE
There was over $200 in overlay Monday morning. I got to the final table with one of the shorter stacks but managed to stay alive, shoved aces and 10BB, got two calls from smaller stacks and a pair of queens beat me with a flopped set. Another bubble.
Four hours. 6th of 19 entries.
Bovada $500 O8
I limped in with [kd 4s 2d 4c] and flopped a set and flush draw, with a potential full house on [4d 7d 2s], and post-flop betting put me essentially all-in with the shallow stacks in this tournament. The [ac] turn made a straight for another player, and it remained good with no deuce, four, or diamond foe me on the river. Out a couple hands later.
Eighteen minutes. 12 hands. 47th of 53 entries.
Bovada $4K NLHE 6-Max
Hit a flush on hand 5 with [7h 5h], lost to [9h jh] and didn’t manage to recover.
Eight minutes. 12 hands. 39th of 46 entries.
Bovada $1K NLHE Turbo
I late-regged with 15BB, just about doubled up my 1.5K stack on hand 3 with [9d 9c], picked up [ah ad] two hands later and got it all-in pre-flop against [4h 4c], then he caught a set on the flop. Got most of it back on the next hand ([qs jh] v [6s 6d] against the same guy), but never got higher than that before my [qc kd] lost to [ad 6s] (we both hit the diamond flush).
Twenty-six minutes. 29 hands. 78th of 214 entries.
Bovada $200 PLO Turbo
Late entry, starting stack is 1.5K, blinds are 60/120. I was in the BB on hand 4 with two limpers and [qs 7c qc 5h]. The flop is [3c qd ad]. I pot to 360 and SB calls with [kd ah 2c 9d]. [kh] on the river, SB pots, I raise all-in for 1.1K, and he calls. [td] on the river makes his flush. Running the numbers, I’m way behind all the way.
Five minutes. 4 hands. 30th of 48 entries.
Bovada $1K NLHE Turbo
I was still more or less at starting stack after late-regging , and was down to 12BB after nearing the end of the first hour. Called an all-in with [ks js] and lost all but 60 chips to [8c 8h].
Fifty minutes. 30 hands. 96th of 165 entries.
Bovada $500 PLO8 Bounty
I was the chip leader for most of this tournament. Got off to a good start on the fifth hands with [th jd ac 8c] and made the nut flush on the turn against a king-high flush, then picked up part of bounty on the next hand with [9s jh 5h 7s] when I made a flush. Bovada’s algorithms for awarding bounties are screwy. I took half the pot for the high, two other players split the low, but I got only a third of the bounty. Got up as high as 10x the starting stack and probably should have dialed it back a bit there, but kept taking risks and inevitably lost a couple of key hands with low draws.
Three hours and forty-eight minutes. 145 hands. 13th of 59 entries, 6-1/3 bounties. +88% ROI.
Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic #2 $4K Added NLHE
I thought I was in luck. Had jury duty scheduled in East Multnomah County for Wednesday and Thursday, the first two days of the Muckleshoot series (and the less-expensive events) My names called first in the random selection Wednesday morning, then the computer crashes after a few more names are read. They have to reset the computer, and when they do the second random selection, I’m not on the list, so I’m off for another two years.
Drove up to Auburn on Thursday for the $200 buy-in event. I managed to run my stack up to 2.5x the starting stack by the end of registration, but there it sat for the next five-and-a-half hours. Knocked out five players (including two on one hand) but never managed to cross the 30K mark. Didn’t have any really gut-wrenching losses—I shoved [ks ts] over a raise from [ax qx] who lost to me, and the guy across from me at my second table lost half his stack with aces to a junk hand that made a straight around one card—I eventually went out with [ac ks] and 10BB UTG, and got called by [tx tx] 18 places short of the money.
I had aces once and didn’t get any action, and jacks four times, one of which I flopped a set on but had to lay down when the board ran out [ks jc 8h tc qd] and the guy who’d called my bets all the way put out another 3K. I might have been beat on the turn, but even a nine beat me on the river.
Pretty good structures, apart from the numbering, which had the breaks as a level (you came back from the first break after level 3 to level 5, a little weird). A sort of Italian antipasto at dinnertime for the tournament players. The payout curve was very steep, with 21st to 26th only paying $300 and $14.5K up top.
It may be a little difficult to believe, but we’re only about two months away from the beginning of the World Series of Poker. Do you know where your bankroll is tonight?
The announcement of the World Series of Poker schedule a couple of weeks ago is triggering the release schedules from other venues in Las Vegas.
The Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget is the first out of the gate. Events will run 31 May—3 July.l This year they’re partnered with Poker Night in America, with a $1,675 televised tournament running 3—7 June (starting days 3—5 June). That’s followed by a $150 buy-in $100K guarantee on the second weekend of June that includes three flights on Friday and Saturday, with Day 2 on Sunday, 12 June.
Two Big O tournaments are featured ($240 buy-in on 16 June, $350 on 23 June) along with what looks at first glance like fewer non-NLHE games than in previous years. There’s a $10K buy-in Seniors Super High Roller in late June (with a $1.1K satellite 25 June).
The Grand’s big event is a $500K guarantee with a $570 entry fee that runs from 29 June to 3 July and includes three starting days.
The Warm-up features events in the $200-$400 buy-in range, with 7pm tournaments mostly in the $10K guarantee range, and two multi-day $100K events.
The full DSE schedule has 90 events (with satellites), including a MId-States Poker Tour championship event sporting a $2M guarantee ($1.1K buy-in), a $250K guarantee Seniors tournament, and three other events with $1.5M, $2M, and $3M guarantees. The Venetian is often a fallback for players who bust out of WSOP events at the Rio, and this year’s schedule acknowledges this by putting “Registration Open Until” times on the events.
There are multiple Omaha-based tournaments on the schedule ($1.1K PLO/PLO8/Big O with $100K guarantee on 1 July, $50K guarantee Big O 5 July for $600 buy-in).
Events for both series are already included on Kenny Hallert’s summer tournament spreadsheet. Don’t forget to check out the “Non std. NLH MTT” tab in the spreadsheet, which also has a tab with rake calculations for tournament where the structure sheets are available (26% in the $135 WSOP Daily Deepstack!)
Next weekend (26 & 27 March) is the Main Event of the WSOP Circuit event at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. There are two entry days to the $1,675 three-day event (both Saturday and Sunday). And as a backup (aside from playing cash at The Bike) the next event is a $75K guarantee HORSE tournament with five starting flights (one on Sunday the 27th, and two each on Monday and Tuesday). Starts on Sunday and Monday are $235, with 10% of the field coming back for Wednesday’s Day 2. Buy-in on Tuesday is $345 (getting 15K for the starting stack instead of 10K), with 15% returning. Or you can just buy directly into Day 2 for $1.8K and get 100K in chips. You get $400 at the end of a Day 1 if you qualify to return, and $2K if you qualify more than once. Not a lot of big HORSE tournaments out there. Round-trip flights from PDX to LA that get you to the Sunday start for the Main Event and back before April Fool’s are still about $150.
That’s pretty much it for specials announced by press time.
Only a Day Away
Today at noon is the first event of the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. It’s a $250 Shootout; according to the structure sheets, they expect there to be two rounds of elimination tables (each table plays down to a single winner) before the final table. The other events are standard NLHE tournaments: $200 on Thursday (3/17), $300 on Friday, $500 on Saturday, and $750 for the two-day Main Event beginning Sunday (3/20).
The Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit runs through the end of the month. Friday is a $75K guarantee Monster Stack event ($235 buy-in, no re-entry, no add-on, no re-buy), then Saturday and Sunday (3/19 & 20) are starting flights for the first of the WSOPC rings.
The Main Event of the WPT Rolling Thunder streams the live table today (play starts at noon), check it out on twitch.tv/StonesLivePoker. There’s a $30K guarantee $300 buy-in bounty tournament at 5pm.
Deepstacks Poker Tour Calgary Main Event (C$1.1K buy-in, C$250K guarantee) has starting days on Friday and Saturday.
The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II runs through the 27th. Today is the last entry day for a $250 buy-in $150K. Tomorrow is the first of three entry days for a $300K guarantee with a $600 buy-in.
WPTDeepstacks Reno starts tomorrow at the Atlantis. This weekend features a $50K guarantee on a $400 buy-in and a $150 Omaha Hi-Lo $5K tournament.
I started working on this series just a few days after the tournament, which was on 7 December, so for me it’s been more than three months of on-and-off work. Then the past three weeks—in-between working on the Calendar, the weekly Planners, playing poker myself, and life, it’s been a busy time. Thanks for staying with it.
I could have wrapped up with the last hand, but after running the first sets of numbers on VPIP, I was intrigued by the stats I was getting on player 5, the winner of the tournament.
As I mentioned early on, the Six-Max format requires you to open up your range. Putting money into the pot an average of single hand per orbit, your VPIP is going to be about 17% (as opposed to 11% for a full-ring table playing one hand per orbit). A VPIP of 33% in full-ring would be considered very loose (playing essentially three hands per orbit), whereas in Six-Max it’s only a little loose. Player 5 had a VPIP of 57%, meaning he put money into nearly three-fifths of the hands played. Since the bulk of the hands where I observed him were five-handed, he was playing essentially three hands every orbit.
The possibility exists that he was dealt exceptionally good hands. As I showed in an article I wrote for PokerNews.com last spring, variance can truly make a difference in the quality of cards dealt to players in the short-term length of a tournament. Graphing the cards dealt to myself and player 5, however, the cards he was given were—if anything—worse than the cards I got.
The square charts show card combos, with aces at the top left and deuces at the bottom right, and colors/numbers indicating multiple instances of the same combo. Suited combos are above the diagonal line. The histograms show how the cards fall into the Sklansky-Malmuth hand groups.
I was dealt 150 more hands (that are in my hand history) than player 5 (my charts are on the left side), but the histograms between the hand charts show proportionally how the hands dealt fit into the Sklansky-Malmuth hand groupings. The classification bands are practically identical in size; I actually got more hands considered “good” than player 5 (the uncolored portion of the histogram on the right is larger than that on the left, indicating that a higher percentage of player 5’s hands fell outside of the eight Sklansky-Malmuth zones).
I did get pocket aces twice in the course of 324 hands, but probably more significantly, I picked up queens three times. In just 174 hands where I observed player 5, he had aces and kings once each and pocket queens and jacks both twice, in addition to every other pair except for eights and threes.
This is the range of hands where player 5 and I put money into the pot other than for blinds. If you compare the VPIP chart for player 5 with his hands dealt, you can see that he either raised or called with all of his suited aces (the top row shows AQs, AJs, and A5s) and all but one of his unsuited aces (the left-most column). Nearly the same thing can be said about his king-high hands: of seven suited kings (row 2 to the right of the diagonal), he didn’t add money to the pot with one of them, and he put money on eleven of fifteen unsuited kings (second column from the left, below the diagonal). He played about half of his unsuited connectors (combos immediately below the diagonal line). The histograms show that while nearly all of the hands in my VPIP range were in one of the 8 Sklansky-Malmuth zones, more than 40% of the hands player 5 put money in with were outside all of the zones.
I made a pre-flop raise (including re-raises) with about two-thirds of the hands I played. By contrast, player 5 only raised about half the hands he got involved with pre-flop, doing a lot more calling than me. Still the absolute percentage of hands he raised pre-flop was more than the percentage of hands I played. He limped the only pocket aces I tracked him on, and he limped deuces, but raised every other pair he played, as well as most of the other ace hands he played. He also raised 23o pre-flop, though that was in the late stages of the final table, as SB in an unopened pot four-handed at Hand 307.
Both player 5 and I won more than half of the hands where we raised (or re-raised) pre-flop without going to a showdown and both of us laid down about a sixth of the hands we raised. Players either laid their hands down pre-flop or we won with further bets on the flop, turn, or river. Comparing the histograms for these hands to the PFR chart above, you can see that an even higher percentage of “garbage” hands in what player 5 was able to win with—nearly half—made up this category, whereas the distribution in my histogram (on the right) is identical to the PFR range for all intents and purposes. Player 5’s histogram for lost raises shows that he didn’t fold any premium hands (green bands) when he made a pre-flop raise.
Both of us went to showdown with over a third of the hands where we put money into the pot. Player 5’s showdown hands are definitely more widely-distributed than mine are, with more than a quarter of them falling outside the Sklansky-Malmuth classifications. My win-rate at showdown was marginally better than player 5’s but he won as many showdowns as I did though he was dealt only half as many hands (that I could track).
Summary
Two different styles of play that get you to the same HU result. Our final hand was a race: [jd qs] v [6s 6d], where I caught a pair on the flop as he caught a set. Could have gone either way, though I like to think that I could have ground down his 9:5 lead given a better outcome on that hand.
Four hours and fifty minutes. 324 hands. +2,050% ROI.
UTG raises his small pair to 12.3K and I shove for 156.3K. I might not do that if I knew what he had, but he’d been playing pretty much every hand, while I hadn’t gotten involved in anything for more than five orbits. He folds.
HAND 302
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
T2
176.1K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
9K
151.4K
25
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
QA
121.5K
34
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
J7
266K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
D min-raises and SB re-raises to 27.6K to take the pot.
HAND 303
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
8Q
175.7K
16
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
A9
143K
23
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
KK
134.7K
48
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
7T
261.6K
12
–
–
–
–
–
–
UTG min-raises again and D has an even stronger hand this time, raising to 35.6K.
HAND 304
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
J5
171.3K
24
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
BB
79
134.6K
31
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
UTG
42
149.9K
15
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
6K
259.2K
30
–
–
–
–
–
–
D raises his king to 11.8K (he’s stopped using goofy random numbers) and the blinds fold.
HAND 305
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
72
168.9K
23
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
SB
3A
130.2K
23
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
K9
149.5K
33
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
UTG
A6
266.4K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
UTG raises to 12K and wins, despite having the least amount of pre-flop equity in the hand. How do you not defend with king-nine and 35BB?
HAND 306
2000/4000/400
J9A
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
92
168.5K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
T3
127.8K
24
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
6J
145.1K
37
70
99
–
–
–
–
5
BB
65
273.6K
18
30
1
–
–
–
–
SB limps and BB checks. Considering BB’s propensity to bet out at any hand, I think that SB might have checked here, but he bets the bare minimum of 4K and BB folds.
HAND 307
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
4Q
168.1K
33
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
72
127.4K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
95
150.3K
33
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
32
269.2K
12
–
–
–
–
–
–
Now I’m the wimp. SB raises the worst hand to 12K and I fold.
HAND 308
2000/4000/400
A59
K
4
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
88
163.7K
23
64
80
–
93
–
100
32
BB
T8
127K
19
36
20
–
7
–
0
7
UTG
96
149.9K
15
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
QK
274.4K
42
–
–
–
–
–
–
Who’s the aggressive one? Who’s the aggressive one? D raises to 12K, I call with eights, and BB jams his suited one-gapper. Surprisingly, D folds. I call, though I’ve only got BB covered by 9BB. If he’d shipped it with an actual hand, I’d be dead, and both UTG and D beat me on this run-out, but against short-stacked BB, I win, and he goes out in third. Player 5’s probably kicking himself for not getting to knock both of us out and go HU with a massive lead, but I wouldn’t have called a 3-way.
HAND 309
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
8J
303.5K
56
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
46
149.5K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
UTG
T4
262K
23
–
–
–
–
–
–
I’m back in the chip leader position. The SB is dead and I open to 12K to win.
HAND 310
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
87
308.3K
44
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
3J
145.1K
35
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
25
261.6K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
Not sure why I didn’t raise this hand. Maybe just a little leery of tangling with BB at this point.
HAND 311
2000/4000/400
697
T
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
78
307.9K
33
42
83
–
98
–
–
7
D
29
142.7K
24
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
6Q
264.4K
42
58
17
–
2
–
–
SB raises to 12K and I call. I have second pair and an open-ended straight draw on the flop and probably should have bet it. I pick up the straight and a straight-flush draw on the turn and bet 15K. With just bottom pair and drawing to two cards for a chop (the [8s] makes my straight flush), SB lets it go.
HAND 312
2000/4000/400
QKT
3
9
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
K9
320.7K
40
54
68
–
81
–
0
7
BB
69
142.3K
18
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
TJ
252K
41
46
32
–
19
–
100
D opens to 12.6K and I call. I check-call top pair for 15.2K, then bet 30K on the turn, which D calls. I check two pair on the river and grudgingly call another 43.8K after he’s sucked out on me. Stupid nine.
HAND 313
2000/4000/400
Q3T
4
9
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
8J
218.7K
36
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
T9
137.9K
36
63
58
–
0
–
0
5
BB
54
358.4K
27
37
42
–
100
–
100
SB limps in. Seriously. He makes middle pair on the flop and checks. On the turn, when BB makes a flush, SB checks. BB checks. SB makes two pair on the river, but any diamond of any rank beats him. He calls the 4.6K bet BB puts out and loses. Sure, it’s not a 200K pot like the last hand, but a diamond is a lot more likely than a jack.
HAND 314
2500/5000/500
79J
K
3
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
59
218.3K
25
38
87
–
93
–
100
7
D
7T
128.9K
35
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
A6
367.8K
40
62
13
–
7
–
0
SB limps in. Against me! I check middle pair on the flop. In fact, we check it all the way to the river where my nines win.
HAND 315
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
9J
224.3K
30
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
KQ
128.4K
49
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
28
362.3K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
BB is walked with the best hand.
HAND 316
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
T9
221.3K
40
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
32
131.9K
23
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
A8
361.8K
37
–
–
–
–
–
–
BB walks.
HAND 317
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
K2
220.8K
40
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
85
128.9K
33
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
74
365.3K
27
–
–
–
–
–
–
I’m kind of surprised player 5 isn’t doing a little more here with more than half the chips in play, but he’s quiet and I get a walk in the BB.
HAND 318
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
54
224.3K
29
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
K6
128.4K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
9K
362.3K
50
–
–
–
–
–
–
D finally takes some action and raises to 14.8K to win.
HAND 319
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
9A
221.3K
47
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
75
122.9K
31
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
36
370.8K
22
–
–
–
–
–
–
I raise my ace and win the hand.
HAND 320
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
82
229.8K
29
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
T5
119.9K
23
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
Q5
365.3K
48
–
–
–
–
–
–
SB raises to 14.3K and wins.
HAND 321
2500/5000/500
A38
9
J
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
29
224.3K
28
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
4A
119.4K
43
62
27
–
17
–
0
5
D
38
371.3K
29
38
73
–
83
–
100
This is dirty. D raises a crap hand—no the crap hand—to 14.8K and gets called by BB with an ace. BB gets his ace but D flops two pair. BB should probably suspect something—even a bigger ace— when D bets exactly how much is in his stack,but he calls and fails to get a better pair by the river. Player 7 is out in third.
HAND 322
2500/5000/500
QAK
T
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
K2
221.3K
61
–
89
–
100
–
–
5
BB
3T
493.7K
39
–
11
–
0
–
–
At a 2:1 chip disadvantage, I’m not going to draw this out. Hit hard and hit fast. Well, maybe not. I limp in (what was I just saying!!!!) and BB raises his crap. I call and flop very well. He check-folds to a 40K bet on the turn.
HAND 323
2500/5000/500
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
K6
254.3K
64
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
83
460.7K
36
–
–
–
–
–
–
D folds to my BB, even though that hand did just get him a lot of chips.
HAND 324
2500/5000/500
QA6
7
A
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
JQ
257.3K
49
–
4
–
0
–
0
5
BB
66
457.7K
51
–
96
–
100
–
100
A pretty even match to start pre-flop, I raise to 15K, he shoves and I call. I catch the queen and he makes the set. I need something over a nine to stay alive to make Broadway, a full house, or quads, but the [7s] seals my place in 2nd.
Summary
Most of the hands at my tables were dealt with only five players; only 66 deals were made with a full table, something that was exacerbated by a player busting on the first hand of the final table.
The final table was set on hand 245, with the 6th place player eliminated on that hand. A total of 80 hands were played on the final table.
Twenty-three hands were dealt before the fourth-place finisher went out on hand 308.
It took just thirteen hands before we got to heads-up (which only lasted three hands).
Play in the later stages was relatively deep, with the smallest stack having 40BB to start. The player in 4th went out unnecessarily shoving 30BB after the levels increased, even though 2nd place had only 10BB more.
The top equity hands continued to win more than half of the deals, with 72% of the hands won by the cards having the most equity or the second-most equity as dealt. Even eliminating deals to fewer than five players, more than 50% of the hands were won by the best hand dealt, with about 20% going to the next-best hand.
On Sunday, we’ll look at more stats and some hand ranges.
So. No Shooting Star Satellite last week. This week and next were/are too jammed with other stuff to make a trip, I’m otherwise occupied tomorrow, the day of the big $20K-to-first game at Final Table, so I’m going to try to make it for part of the Muckleshoot series next weekend, if my jury duty doesn’t interfere.
Bovada 0.5/1 NLHE Zone 6-Max
Positive if I hadn’t gotten my aces cracked by a flush draw all-in before the river.
Ten sessions. Ninety-five minutes. 364 hands. -83BB
Final Table $20K NLHE
I was talking to one of my table-mates about having busted on the bubble in two tournaments over the previous two days and vowed not to have that happen again. We were down to 24 players, 20 places paid. I had [tx tx] in the BB with just under average stack, about 135K. An active player with a larger stack (though not incredibly large) raises to 35K, action folds to me, I shove the tens, he calls for more than half his stack with [6x 6x]. Flop is [6x 7x 8x] and I don’t get either a ten or a nine. Three bubble in two days; call me a liar. That puts the nail in any hopes to get down to the $500K at the Wynn Classic (see this week’s Deal in the Planner, there’s still time for you, Ebenezer….)
Six hours and forty-five minutes. 24th of 151 entries.
Bovada $200 Omaha Hi-Lo
Never really got much going in this, but I did make it nearly to the money.
One hour and fifty minutes. 95 hands. 8th of 26 entries.
Bovada $1K NLHE 6-Max
I shouldn’t have played in this one. The only thing with more variance than a 6-Max tournament is late-regging a6-Max tournament. Started with 19BB, went out with 10BB.
Fifty minutes. 55 hands. 43rd of 76 entries.
Bovada $3K NLHE Turbo
This was a deepstacked tournament, where we had 500BB to start. I was down just a little from starting stack and made a cold four-bet with [as kd] in BB, and got it all in pre-flop against [qd qc].
Forty-five minutes. 30 hands. 113th of 143 entries.
Bovada $4K NLHE 6-Max
Never really got much going here, either. Took a shot with [ac 5c] against three bigger stacks and lost to a pair of sevens.
Ninety-nine minutes. 90 hands. 37th of 106 entries.
Bovada $5K NLHE Thousandaire Maker
I was trying to multi-table this and the 6-Max above on my Windows laptop, but the current version of the client software was killing me by locking up. On hand 25, I can see I’m dealt [ah ac] in HJ, but when I try to make a raise, the button doesn’t do anything. I’m down 800 from the 2.5K starting stack (table is seven-handed, it’s a great place to open, but by the time the client refreshes, I’m folded and my aces just sit there like dead fish. A pair of nines UTG limps, [qh kh] limps in from the SB and takes the hand after making top pair on the flop and betting the turn. He might have won on the river, but I know all my chips were going to be in before the turn. After that, I petered out into oblivion.
Seventy minutes. 70 hands. 54th of 86 entries.
Bovada $10K NLHE
I had just knocked a short-stacked player out with [qh qs] v [5d ad] and pushed my up to 35BB, which was in decent position to make the money. We were only 100 from the money. I make a call for half my stack with [qd kh] against [ac 7c] and almost make a heart flush, then three hands later go all-in pre-flop with15BB and [kh ks] and get called by a guy who’s got me covered by less than 10BB, with [8h jh], who makes a back-door flush after I flop a set.
Three hours. 118 hands. 255th of 1,139 entries.
Bovada $1K NLHE 6-Max Turbo
Don’t late-reg 6-Max Turbos, either. Out table is mostly new all late-reg. I’m down to 4.2K from 5K starting on hand 6, [8s 8c] in CO five-handed. I call a UTG min-raise to 800. BB shoves 5BB. UTG has nearly 20BB and shoves over the top. I have 2BB in the pot and just over 10BB, so I’m all-in to call. BB shoved [3c 7h], UTG shoved [jd qh], flops a jack and rivers two pair.
Five minutes. 6 hands. 43rd of 76 entries.
Bovada $1K NLHE
More on this one later. Nice to take first place every now and then. Had one really lucky break that I can recall at this point, got to HU with just a slight chip advantage, lost a big hand [as kc] against a pair but didn’t let it rattle me, tried to have the best hand at showdowns, and wrapped it up in about 30 hands.
Three hours and twenty minutes. 249 hands. 1st of 112 entries. +2,245% ROI.
Bovada $4K NLHE
In the CO with 25BB and [ad as], about two-thirds of the way through the field after late-regging and tripling up my stack, UTG raises to just under 3BB, I 3-bet to a little over 8BB, and he shoves [jc jh]. A pair of nines on the flop, and [jd] on the turn.
We’re closing in on the end of hand-by-hand coverage of a 6-Max tournament in this penultimate installment. When we left off Tuesday, we were down to 5 of 143 starting players. Player 5 had been fighting his way back from the bottom, the chip leader—player 32—had lost a chunk of chips, only to recover, and players 7 and 140 were struggling to get back in the game. I’m player 50, cruising along in 2nd place.
HAND 281
1500/3000/300
35J
9
3
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
CO
TJ
201.7K
9
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
AT
259.5K
24
42
31
–
13
–
0
7
SB
26
96K
16
–
–
–
–
–
–
140
BB
JK
58.4K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
UTG
77
99.4K
30
58
69
–
87
–
100
UTG raises to 9.1K and I call from CO. The big stack in D re-raises to 27.2K, the blinds fold, UTG shoves 99.1K, I fold, and D calls. You might think this is a “coin flip,” but it’s closer to 2:3. Nothing comes for D, and the former chip leader is cut down to third place.
HAND 282
1500/3000/300
245
A
2
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
34
192.3K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
CO
69
160.1K
25
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
TK
94.2K
19
36
26
–
36
–
50
140
SB
KT
55.1K
21
38
26
–
36
–
50
5
BB
T7
213.3K
15
26
47
–
26
–
0
How often do you see three-four with a better-than-average chance of winning a hand pre-flop? In this hand, it would would have beat everything else with a pair of fours, never mention the wheel straight. But I fold it. D limps in, SB calls, BB checks. They all check it to the river, D and SB split the pot.
HAND 283
1500/3000/300
8QJ
J
K
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
4A
192K
21
28
2
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
K9
159.8K
25
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
CO
88
96.1K
28
50
86
88
100
–
100
140
D
54
57.1K
12
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
T3
210K
14
22
12
12
0
–
0
CO limps in with eights, SB calls, I check my ace. CO flops a set and bets 6K, which gets called by SB, who’s drawing for a nine. They check the turn, then CO bets 22.5K on the river. SB has nothing and folds.
HAND 284
1500/3000/300
287
Q
3
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
46
188.7K
11
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
BB
6A
159.5K
34
46
57
–
76
–
100
7
UTG
K9
109.3K
28
34
25
–
13
–
0
140
CO
J6
56.8K
12
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
95
200.7K
15
20
18
–
11
–
0
UTG limps in aloing with D. BB checks. Everyone checks down to the river, where the ever-ambitious D puts in a bet of 6K and gets BB to fold the best hand. UTG picks off the bluff and wins with king-high.
HAND 285
1500/3000/300
JJT
4
4
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
6K
186.9K
19
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
SB
59
156.2K
5
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
2A
124K
28
–
–
–
–
–
–
140
UTG
66
56.5K
11
14
8
–
3
–
0
5
CO
99
191.4K
37
86
92
–
97
–
100
The short stack in UTG shoves his sixes and CO with the better pair shoves over the top. With one of the sixes dealt out, UTG is in even worse shape than he’d otherwise be. and he’s eliminated in 4th place.
HAND 286
1500/3000/300
84A
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
27
186.6K
17
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
3A
154.4K
32
55
94
–
–
–
–
7
SB
Q5
120.7K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
TJ
253.3K
30
45
6
–
–
–
–
D min-raises to 6K and gets called by BB. D bets another 6K on the flop with top pair and BB folds.
HAND 287
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
5Q
186.3K
13
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
K7
162.8K
37
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
8Q
118.9K
29
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
63
247K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
New level. And a new level of perfidy. SB opens to 12K with [6h 3d] and I fold. With everyone in the hand, I did start out with less equity than him.
HAND 288
2000/4000/400
639
2
6
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
J2
181.9K
30
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
BB
92
162.4K
7
28
82
–
90
–
100
7
UTG
39
118.5K
19
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
Q5
252.2K
44
72
18
–
10
–
0
D limps with his queen, and he goes to the flop with BB. On the flop, BB gets lucky in two ways. One, he makes top pair, even though one of the other nines is dead. Two, he’s up against Mr. Aggressive. BB checks the flop, then calls 5.8K from the man with nothing. BB gets even luckier on the turn, picking up one of the two deuces remaining for two pair. And, of course, Mr. Aggressive, who bets another 11.6K when BB checks to him. BB calls. The six on the river might concern BB, but he checks again and this time D checks behind, so BB takes the pot approaching 50K.
HAND 289
2000/4000/400
94Q
9
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
2A
179.5K
30
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
SB
K7
187K
26
65
83
–
93
–
–
7
BB
87
118.1K
24
35
17
–
7*
–
–
5
UTG
5Q
230.4K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
Action folds to SB, who raises his suited king to 8K. BB brings his suited connectors along for the ride. SB c-bets 8K on the flop, BB calls. BB is drawing exceedingly thin on the turn, but when SB fails to follow through with a bet, BB puts out 16K and gets the dominating hand to fold.
HAND 290
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
83
179.1K
15
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
5T
170.6K
30
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
2J
135.3K
26
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
Q3
230K
29
–
–
–
–
–
–
BB gets a walk.
HAND 291
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
2K
178.7K
32
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
J8
170.2K
19
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
D
J5
132.9K
14
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
AJ
233.2K
35
–
–
–
–
–
–
SB opens to 13.6K and BB (that’s me!) folds.
HAND 292
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
32
174.3K
9
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
BB
3T
169.8K
24
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
UTG
82
132.5K
25
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
D
A7
238.4K
42
–
–
–
–
–
–
D raises to 12K and wins.
HAND 293
2000/4000/400
735
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
T8
171.9K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
SB
JQ
165.4K
44
51
18
–
–
–
–
7
BB
J9
132.1K
18
22
16
–
–
–
–
5
UTG
78
245.6K
18
27
65
–
–
–
–
It’s a big stack world and we just live in it. UTG limps, SB calls, and BB checks. Why SB just calls, I do not know. Four-handed, jack-queen is pretty strong. After the flop, of course, it’s too late, UTG has his teeth into the pot and bets 6.8K after the blinds check.
HAND 294
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
73
171.5K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
9J
161K
40
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
84
127.7K
24
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
59
254.8K
15
–
–
–
–
–
–
Everyone folds to the big stack.
HAND 295
2000/4000/400
6QT
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
26
171.1K
5
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
A8
160.6K
45
45
9
–
–
–
–
7
D
66
125.3K
41
44
91
–
–
–
–
5
SB
22
258K
10
11
0
–
–
–
–
UTG min-raises his ace, D and SB call with their pairs, and I sit out another hand. D lucks out with the case six showing up on the flop. He bets 20K when it’s checked to him and wins the hand.
HAND 296
2000/4000/400
542
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
T2
166.7K
25
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
BB
7Q
152.2K
20
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
UTG
KQ
146.5K
37
70
5
–
–
–
–
5
D
4K
249.6K
18
30
95
–
–
–
–
UTG limps and D—as if he knows what the flop’s going to be—raises to 14.2K. Frankly, I think UTG should re-raise here, but I don’t think he should have just limped in, either. Anyway, he calls the raise and after the flop burns away his equity, he doesn’t have any choice but to fold to D’s c-bet of 18K.
HAND 297
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
D
34
164.3K
16
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
SB
38
147.8K
7
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
BB
A5
131.9K
44
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
UTG
Q8
271.1K
33
–
–
–
–
–
–
BB wins when everyone folds.
HAND 298
2000/4000/400
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
UTG
J9
163.9K
7
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
D
9Q
145.4K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
7
SB
9A
135.1K
46
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
BB
JT
270.6K
26
–
–
–
–
–
–
SB limps in and gets blown off his superior hand by BB, who raises to 13.6K. For fuck’s sake, guy, you’ve got an ace with one guy behind you….
HAND 299
2000/4000/400
J47
A
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
BB
6J
163.5K
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
UTG
TA
145K
40
66
76
–
100
–
–
7
D
94
130.7K
16
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
SB
3K
275.9K
23
34
24
–
0
–
–
UTG raises to 8K and gets called by SB, naturally. BB doesn’t lead out, and UTG pulls off a free card, catching the ace on the turn before he bets another 8K to win.
HAND 300
2000/4000/400
JT3
A
PLAYER
POSITION
CARDS
CHIPS
START
PRE-FLOP
POST-FLOP
PRE-TURN
POST-TURN
PRE-RIVER
RIVER
50
SB
97
159.1K
25
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
BB
54
158.2K
18
24
51
–
38
–
–
7
UTG
67
130.3K
21
34
14
–
10
–
–
5
D
2Q
267.4K
35
42
35
–
52
–
–
UTG and D limp in with suited hands. Everyone checks the turn, even though BB pulls into a commanding lead with the flush draw. He falls behind on the turn, though he still has both wheel straight and flush draws, but D takes advantage with the Broadway draw and bets another 7.8K for the win.
Summary
Forty hands ago, not long after the tournament was down to only five players, player 5 was on relative life support, with 44K, less than 20% of then-chip leader player 32, who’s lost 90K. I’m down to 160K from just over 200K. Player 7 is essentially unchanged.
15 of the 20 hands in this batch were played 4-handed. The significant change with four players has been an increase in the relative percentage of walks. Only about a 5% increase compared to the five- and six-player hands, but that’s half again as many since the overall number is 10%.
Player 5 is remarkably consistent. I’ve tracked him for 150 hands now, at a variety of different stack sizes. His low player number means he was among the first players to join the tournament, and it’s possible he plays the 6-Max regularly, registering early. His current VPIP is 57%, and he’s putting in a raise (either opening or re-raise) pre-flop with 28% of the hands he’s dealt. SO he’s limping or calling half his hands.
Meanwhile, I’m playing just 29% of the hands I’m dealt, with a PFR of 21%.
Player 7 is putting money into a lot of pots (29%) but he’s only raising 7% of his hands pre-flop.
The chip leader is tighter than me by a bit (27% VPIP/18% PFR).
Day off tomorrow. Everything comes to an end in Saturday’s edition, and there’ll be some statistical mop-up on Sunday.
It never really went away—afternoon games at Final Table have been busy when everyone wasn’t out-of-town playing bigger Big O—but The Players Club Facebook page has an announcement for Friday night at 6pm at their new venue inside A&L, on the northwest corner of NE 60th & Glisan, the opposite corner from their old spot. $40 buy-in and re-buy, with a $20 add-on at break.
Hand-By-Hand 6-Max Nears Conclusion
Yesterday’s installment of my hand-by-hand equity analysis of a short-handed tournament is on the final table. Five players are battling it out for glory, and I’m there to the end against a guy with a VPIP of almost 60%. You can start from the beginning here.
The 2 Poker Guys
I played a while with Grant Denison of Portland Poker University the other day, and it reminded me that I’d never mentioned the podcast he and Jonathan Levy produce (currently under the rubric of The Breakdown), along with the associated video series. Likely, if you’re reading this you’re already aware of their shows, but if not, and you want deep yet sarcastic analysis of a single hand where big money hangs in the balance (instead of extensive details of hundreds of hands where just dozens of dollars are on the line), then check it out.
Deal of the Day: Wynn Me the Money
This is literally a last-minute deal.
Most everyone’s aware that one of the cheapest destinations for flights is Las Vegas, which is the only thing that makes this deal possible. This weekend is the $500K guarantee Main Event for the Wynn Classic. It’s a $1.6K buy-in, with starting days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and a final table on Tuesday. The Wynn is across the street from the Venetian, kittycorner from Treasure Island.
As I write this, you can get a 6am flight from PDX to LAS on Sunday, with a return at 8pm Tuesday plus two nights at Treasure Island for $315. So for something like $2K plus a little, you could take your shot at a tournament with a top prize that should be something over $100K, literally walk across the street from the venue. If you’re not as much of a nit as I am, for another $250, you can stay at the Wynn or Encore. So if you aren’t the kind of person who bubbled three tournaments in three days and have a couple thousand extra and an open schedule next week, get your tickets now.
This Week in Portland Poker
As mentioned above, Portland Players Club has a Big O tournament at 6pm on Friday eventing.
The big event this week is at Final Table. $200 buy-in, with a re-buy, and $100 add-on at 1pm Saturday with $20K guaranteed to first place (similar to the Big Shot tournaments at The Game).
Tonight at 7pm is a $125 satellite for the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. In the past, these early satellites have been for multiple events, since the actual events are $200, $250, $300, $500, and $750. Monday and Tuesday at 7pm are $225 satellites, which may be for the entire series. The first event is a $250 Shootout (an actual shootout, not a Portland shootout) next Wednesday at noon. The other events are standard NLHE tournaments: $200 on Thursday (3/17), $300 on Friday, $500 on Saturday, and $750 for the two-day Main Event beginning Sunday (3/20).
The Card Player Poker Tour/Wynn Classic runs through Monday. Tomorrow is a $200 buy-in satellite for the $500K Main event. See the Deal above. The last tournament is a $300 buy-in $25K guarantee on Monday.
The Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit is on through the end of the month. Entry flights for Mega Million XIV continue through Monday, with Day 2 at 4pm Tuesday. Next Wednesday are HORSE and Pot Limit Stud Hi-Lo/Omaha Hi-Lo, which should be entertaining. A week from Friday is a $75K guarantee Monster Stack event ($235 buy-in, no re-entry, no add-on, no re-buy), then Saturday and Sunday (3/19 & 20) are starting flights for the first of the WSOPC rings.
Stones Gambling Hall has its $300K Championship Series through 14 March. Tomorrow is the Bankroll Builder with a $235 buy-in and $2K payouts for 1 in 10 players. The $200K Main Event ($550 buy-in) has entry days Thursday through Saturday.
Today is the start of WPT Rolling Thunder at Thunder Valley. Tomorrow is a two-day $100K (1.1K buy-in), Friday is a $550 HORSE tournament, and entry flights to the Main Event ($3.5K) are Saturday and Sunday.