Last night I made the Final Table again but came up short when my pair of Queens got knocked out by a straight. My opponent held pocket sevens and hit his open ended straight draw on the river. That hand knocked me out in eighth place. Dissappointing but that’s how it goes sometime.

The tournament played out well and I got off to a slow start again when I was down to only $800 chips at the break. I hit a few hands to double up and then I was fine from there. Never really picked up any big hands the entire tournament. This makes my second Final Table in a row now. I am going to play the $5.50 guaranteed and see what happens with that this afternoon.

Wish me luck!

CIII

Phil Ivey waited and waited until he had his opponent drawing D-E-A-D. On the last hand of the 2008 LA Poker Classic Ivey’s A8 filled up on the turn when he put his opponent to the test. Quin Do had an open ended straight draw along with a pair of eights. The river was meaningless and Ivey was crowned the winner along with the $1.6 Million prize!

Congratulations to Phil Ivey.

CIII

The 2008 LA Poker Classic is still in progress for 5 players now that Phil Hellmuth has been knocked out. Phil tried to make a move with A9 from the button and got called by AQ only to see a queen hit the board on the river. Off to the rail he goes and once again Phil Hellmuth leaves a World Poker Tour Final Table without the first place trophy.

Phil Ivey is now second in chips with 2.8 Million.

Stay Tuned!

Finished 4th in the $4.40 (180) tournament. I started out slowly and barely had any chips going into the first break. After the break I went on to double up twice and then I was pretty much good to go. The key hand was when we were down to 20 players left and I had QQ vs AK. My hand held up and I had around 20k at that point. From there I pretty much coasted into the final table.

Once I got there I had around 20k still and picked up a few blinds here and there. I didn’t start getting any cards until we were down to 5 players. Once that happened I picked up KK twice and AA once and got ZERO action on either hand. The frustrating thing about it is that the table was nothing but loose and aggressive. Very frustrating indeed but I still made out fairly well considering some of the crazy all-in bets I was seeing at the final table.

Guys going all-in with 33 vs 22 and insane situations like that pre-flop no less. We aren’t talking short stacks but BIG STACKS making these kinds of really poor plays against other big stacks. I was completely baffled. I will tell you that the crazy play in these tournaments has increased infinitely over the past four months. I don’t know why but there has been a big change in the play and it’s for the worse.

I will be back at it again tonight.

Wish me luck!

CIII

Still playing well in tournaments but I got knocked out again last night in a HUGE pot when my AKs vs TT lost on the river. My opponent hit his set to take out my pair of Kings. Tough break as it was a critical point in the tournament right before the money. On the other hand my decision making has been right on the money and that is what really counts.

My favorite player, Phil Ivey, is leading at the LA Poker Classic and I am rooting for him to take it down as he has struggled to win a WPT event. He still has some work to do with 18 players left but he is in excellent position to head to the Final Table with a truck load of chips.

Good luck Phil!

CIII

Being able to play small pot poker is an essential part of any good tournament poker player’s game. Small pots are particularly important when playing in deep stacked online tournaments. Personally, I like to keep the pots as small as possible when playing within structures that allow for lots of chips and long blind levels. The reason for this is that you almost always have good odds to take the draw you need to make your hand. The other reason is that small pots almost always allow you to get away from your hand when you are beat. Being able to get away from a hand with minimal loss is a skill which can be acquired and utilized with good fundamental play. I also like small pots because I can disguise the strength of my hand even better by not over raising the pot as is typical of smaller faster structures.

On the other hand there are times when playing small pots is almost impossible. This usually happens in fast tournament structures with levels of 15 minutes or less and small starting stacks like $1500 or less in chips. These kinds of structures are typical of online low buy-in poker rooms and live casinos. The play is extremely fast and over exaggerated. Very little poker strategy is used at times. Raises can be anywhere from all-in from the very first hand of the tournament to ten times the big blind. You need to be aware of your environment when you are playing and know how to play based on the tournament structure and player types. In other words – pay attention. Know the structure as well as the people you are playing with and you can adjust your game accordingly.

Good luck at the tables!

Alright, it’s been a while since I last posted but things are about the same. I have now cashed in three tournaments in a row but no Final Table yet. Just missed out last night when I lost a race with AK vs QQ and no Ace or King came on the turn or river. That pot would have given me a nice big stack going into the Final Table but it was not to be. I have been playing my solid aggressive game and it has faired well for me as usual.

Again, I have noticed an onslaught of All-In play early in tournaments with any pocket pair. These guys will push in with anything to race. I hate this kind of play because it negates the strength of my raise when I have AK early and you end up getting pushed All-In. Usually, I lay it down unless I have good notes on the player. Today I saw a pot with 22, AA, KK all pre-flop on the first hand. The guy with the two’s refused to fold after a raise and re-raise.

The play is just sooooo so bad in the low buy in Sit N Go’s but if you can hang in there it gives you plenty of opportunity to pick up chips and make the money sans a beat or two here and there. Otherwise, everthing else is going fine. I have syndicated the site now so that we have plenty of good content on a continual basis and our traffic is now higher than it has ever been. So thanks to you the readers and thanks to all of the new subscribers.

Good luck at the tables!

Another cash on PokerStars last night. Like I mentioned in my previous post. I am running pretty good right now. I just need to win those critical races late in the tournament and I will be in the big money. I busted out of the $5.50 (360) with 18 players left when my AQs lost to pocket TT. Had I hit that hand I am farily sure that I would make the final table and in the running for the big pot.

Stay tuned! A BIG CASH is just around the corner.

No major news to report. I am still grinding it out. Not taking beats but not getting “there” either. Kinda been in poker purgatory. I am making the money and then busting out right after I get to the cash. Other than that I am playing well and just need a break or two to arrive at the “promised land” with a nice big stack.

It’s just a matter of time.

CIII

Looking for poker player statistics?

Official Poker Rankings keeps poker player statistics for rooms like PokerStars, FullTilt and several others with 15 hour updates. The registration is free and you would be hard pressed to find this service elsewhere for the price. All of the statistics you can want like ROI, Average Buy-In, In The Money, etc. etc. They are all here for absolutely FREE!

You can track your tournament success all the way back to the previous years, months, and even weeks. It’s a nice way to know exactly how well you are running at the tables. The site can be a bit slow at times which can be annoying but you cannot beat it for the information it has available for poker players. All forms of poker are tracked from No Limit and Limit Hold’em to Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud.

Check out www.officialpokerrankings.com

The following sites are places where poker players can be staked. You will most likely need to provide your statistics to potential backers. You can easily do this via Bluff Magazine, Official Poker Rankings or Shark Scope.

Here is the list in no particular order:

1. www.teamstakeapokerplayer.com

2. www.premierstaking.com

3. www.rounderauction.com

4. www.westakeyou.com

5. www.stakeashark.com

6. www.roundersparadise.com

7. www.neverbeg.com

8. www.psstakes.com

9. www.cardsharkfrenzy.com

10. www.pokerstaking.com

11. www.pokerbytrade.com

12. www.rakethestake.com

13. www.thedonkeyfarm.com

Good luck!

Using position to your advantage is an absolute must in online poker and live cash games. Each time I see limper’s and weak players enter a pot and I have position my first thought is to RAISE. Now that doesn’t mean that I want to raise with absolutely nothing but it does mean that if I have a small or middle pair, suited connectors or KQ I want to put pressure on them. Why let the weak players enter the pot when you can potentially take it down immediately uncontested? That is the kind of question you need to be asking yourself when you sit down at a table or play online poker.

Position equals leverage in my book. Position means that I am the last to act and by raising the pot I put the pressure back on those that limped in. So what happens if I get re-raised? Well, you then need to make a decision as to what kind of hands and what kind of player is re-raising you? You need to be able to put them on a range of hands and act accordingly. You also need to ask yourself how much is it going to cost me to call? What kind of chip stack do I have if I decide to make the call? Lastly, you need to determine what are the implied odds of making the call and I hit my hand?

All of these are legitimate scenarios to consider in your decision making. Poker strategy comes in all kinds of shapes, forms, and sizes. Position is one of those tools of poker that you must learn to use to your advantage to be successful. When used wisely by good players it makes a world of difference and allows you to accumulate chips throughout the poker tournament or cash game against weaker players.

CIII

Here is precisely why you should almost NEVER minimum raise. You have no idea of where you are at in the hand. My opponent, “Tattoo”, had no business making the call with A9os to begin with. I raised it up because I honestly did not believe anyone had a hand. Sure enough my intuition proved correct. I also caught a ridiculous flop with the quad fours. You will notice that I bet out immediately knowing that my opponent had no choice but to put me on a high pair or AK at worst based on my pre-flop re-raise.  The next hand I flopped the nut flush and took the rest of his stack.

PokerStars Game #15265234283: Tournament #77329107, $4.00+$0.40 Hold’em No Limit – Level II (15/30) – 2008/02/13 – 17:05:06 (ET)
Table ‘77329107 15′ 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Rene_Rogelio (5865 in chips)
Seat 2: dimmenschox (2840 in chips)
Seat 3: wsray (1520 in chips)
Seat 4: mwdd (1560 in chips)
Seat 5: GaUUUUs (2100 in chips)
Seat 6: tirouge77 (2600 in chips)
Seat 7: nonjeton (4710 in chips)
Seat 8: Curtom (1610 in chips)
Seat 9: bauchtattoo (2155 in chips)
Curtom: posts small blind 15
bauchtattoo: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Curtom [4h 4c]
Rene_Rogelio: folds
dimmenschox: calls 30
wsray: folds
mwdd: folds
GaUUUUs: folds
tirouge77: calls 30
nonjeton: folds
Curtom: calls 15
bauchtattoo: raises 30 to 60
dimmenschox: calls 30
tirouge77: calls 30
Curtom: raises 180 to 240
bauchtattoo: calls 180
dimmenschox: folds
tirouge77: calls 180
*** FLOP *** [4d 4s 3h]
Curtom: bets 120
bauchtattoo: raises 1795 to 1915 and is all-in
tirouge77: folds
Curtom: calls 1250 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [4d 4s 3h] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [4d 4s 3h 2h] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Curtom: shows [4h 4c] (four of a kind, Fours)
bauchtattoo: shows [Ad 9h] (a pair of Fours)
Curtom collected 3520 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3520 | Rake 0
Board [4d 4s 3h 2h 7d]
Seat 1: Rene_Rogelio folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: dimmenschox folded before Flop
Seat 3: wsray folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: mwdd folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: GaUUUUs folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: tirouge77 folded on the Flop
Seat 7: nonjeton (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: Curtom (small blind) showed [4h 4c] and won (3520) with four of a kind, Fours
Seat 9: bauchtattoo (big blind) showed [Ad 9h] and lost with a pair of Fours

Remember to always read your cards from the highest to the lowest to avoid misreads.

Here are the Razz hand rankings from A2345 to 23578:

CIII

Doyle Brunson, also known as Texas Dolly, (born August 10, 1933 in Longworth, Fisher County, Texas) is an American poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker main event winner and the author of several poker books.

The first player to earn $1 million in poker tournaments, Brunson has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan for second all-time, one behind Phil Hellmuth’s 11. He is also one of only four players to have won the main event at the World Series of Poker consecutively, which he did in 1976 and 1977, and one of only five players to win both the WSOP Main Event and a World Poker Tour title. In January 2006, BLUFF magazine voted Brunson the #1 most influential force in the world of poker.

An argument can certainly be made that Doyle Brunson is the best all-around poker player to have ever played the game.

CIII