So you think your ready to play with the big boys huh? We have all had dreams of playing professional poker at one time or another. Most of us snap out of it and drudge into work each and every day like everyone else. However, there are still some of us that aspire to play poker for a living and are deadly serious about it.
Personally I have absolutely no interest in playing poker professionally. However, I do have an incredibly high drive to be able to compete and thrive in a field that includes professional players. Trust me I digest any and everything that I believe will improve my game from books, videos, and interviews to conversations with other players like myself that simply love the game. I happen to work as a Network Administrator by day and I rather enjoy my job of making computers talk to each other and transmit email all around the world. However, I am extremely aware of the pitfalls of playing professional poker from hearing the stories of others that have both tried and failed as well as succeeded.
Having said that I found an article that kind of discusses what it takes to be a grinder on the day-to-day level and thought it might make for a good read.
Poker professional Andy Bloch went back to UNLV to speak to students about gambling and the problems that can go with it if your become addicted. If you are not familiar with Andy he is an MIT graduate and former member of the famous MIT card counting blackjack team. Andy holds an engineering degree and a Harvard Law degree. Clearly he has an extremely high degree of academic intellect. Somehow he managed to put a bit of it to use during his tenure making money at the high stakes blackjack tables.
Andy and his team were the subject of the movie “21″. He spoke to students about how the movie was accurate in some areas and a little Hollywood in others but overall portrayed the goings on fairly well. He did mention that the hand signals in the movie were not the same ones used in real life though. He went on to speak to the kids about his life on the poker tour and gambling addiction . I still haven’t figured out whey he was that silly hat.
Anyhow, Andy bloch has over $3.4 Million dollars in poker tournament winnings including winning the Ultimate Poker Challenge. He also finished second in the WSOP Championship H.O.R.S.E event to Freddy Deep and took second in the 2008 WSOP POT Limit Championship. Andy has indicated he would still like to practice law at some point on a regular basis. I kinda get the feeling that won’t be happening for quite some time.
Take a few moments to read this article on the Clonie Gowen win at the World Poker Open. Clonie is sponsored by Full Tilt and is a regular on the poker tournament trail. Even though this is a small tournament, only 107 entries, it confirms the fact that Clonie is not just another pretty face on the tour. This young lady can play some poker and can be found playing in high stakes cash games when she is not playing tournaments.
Folding your hand should be part of your arsenal of moves at the poker table. I know that may sound strange to some but I am a firm believer in folding when you are beat. Far too often I see players get deep into a hand with the worst of it never realizing it until they have invested too much into the pot. Once this happens they are pot committed to the value bet on the end and ultimately lose far too much in the hand.
There is a feeling that kicks in when a good player knows they are beat. Sometimes it even overrides the logic in the cards and how the board looks at the moment. When you are really tuned in to the game your instincts will tell you and you need to listen. Some of the best plays I have ever made are plays where I did not go broke when I should have.
I can recall a hand a few weeks ago in the first thirty minutes of a tournament when I hit bottom set on a rainbow board. There were no straight possibilities on the board and I bet out after the flop. I got re-raised and called. The turn hit the board and I bet out again and got re-raised all-in. That caused me to think for a moment. The way this hand was playing out in my mind was atypical. One of the red flags for me was that it was not a raised pot. Armed with this information I believed there was a strong possibility that my opponent had hit a set also. Second, his betting patterns did not indicate that he had a big hand. There were no face cards on the board either. Again, in my minds eye, his betting patterns indicated only one thing and that was that I was B-E-A-T!
I folded to his raise on fourth street and he showed me top set. A fantastic play on my part and an excellent read. So the next time you get that feeling that something just doesn’t add up. Follow your instincts and fold. It’s one of the best plays you can ever make.
I shudder to think about how much money these guys play for online on a daily basis. It’s really scary! Having said that I do know that Ivey has a net worth of around $100 Million dollars and certainly is not hurting for cash. Even still it is mind boggling how these guys play at such nose bleed stakes.
You have probably heard about this huge hand which is now the largest online pot in history between Phil Ivey and John Juanda. What really puzzled me is why Juanda played it the way he did. He could have just as easily taken the free card and saved himself $300k. Instead he pushed all his money in the middle on a draw. That does not sound like the professional player that I know Juanda to be. He is extremely calculated and patient in poker tournaments and obviously does not take that same approach to cash games.
Ivey has no choice but to call the all-in by Juanda and pray that another spade does not hit the board. Take a look for yourself.
Alright gang I am back at it again. I cashed another two times over the weekend and made another final table but no top three to brag about. Crap! I gotta tell you that this game really makes my stomach churn sometimes. I mean I have been playing excellent poker for around thirty days and still cannot get there for some reason. On the other hand I have gone on streaks where I could do no wrong for two weeks and cleaned up four final tables.
What can you do?
Keep getting your cards in with the best hand. That is what you do. Continue to grind and believe in your game and stay mentally tough even when things don’t go your way. Sometimes that is easier said than done but we all have to endure some growing pains in this crazy game.
The World Series of Poker Circuit is in town at the Hammond Casino in Indiana. I will be playing in event #13 this coming Sunday November 2nd at noon. The structure is pretty good and I am expecting a field of around 500 players. This is the last tournament in the series before it moves on to the next stop. The buy-in is $350 and the structure is as follows:
$6000 starting chips
40 min levels
$50 / $25 blinds
A nice format indeed and I look forward to getting into my first WSOP Circuit tournament and taking it down. I figure first prize will be around $40,000. A very nice pay day for most of the field. I don’t figure too many pros are going to be hanging around for this one either so the field should be fairly soft. I will post as soon as I return from the tournament.
Bertrand “Elky Grospellier endured five days of poker against some of the best in the business to win the 2008 WPT Festa al Lago. Grospellier won $1.4 Million dollars for his effort and a coveted WPT title to go along with it. The final table included former WPT champion Nam Le who hung in there until the final three. Grospellier also had Nenad Medic at the final table with him too. Overall the field was tough as you would expect from a WPT final table. Joe Sebok busted out tenth and did not make his first WPT final table.
Final Table payouts:
1st: Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier - $1,411,015
2nd: Nam Le - $943,215
3rd: Osmin “Oddie” Dardon - $506,245
4th: Nenad Medic - $373,010
5th: Adam “Roothlus” Levy - $266,445
6th: William Mietz - $186,510
The Festa al Lago continues to march on. Now with only 12 players left things are beginning to shape up for the final table. Bertrand Grospellier is the current chip leader but may want to be a little cautious going into day 5. As has been referred to as the “curse of the chip leader” each one of the chip leaders in the tournament have busted out before completing the next day. This includes yesterdays chip leader Dan Negreanu.
Joe Sebok remains in good shape with a stack over $1 Million keeping him positioned for his first WPT final table going into day 5.
Here are the chip leaders:
1. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier - $2,039,000
2. Odie Dardon - $1,959,000
3. Will Mietz - $1,840,000
4. Michael DeMichele - $1,717,000
5. Olav Prinz Von Sachsen - $1,631,000
6. Joe Sebok - $1,470,000
7. Nenad Medic - $1,435,000
8. Nam Le - $1,149,000
9. Andrew Robl - $1,087,000
10. Mike Wattel - $886,000
11. Jimmy Tran - $739,000
12. Adam Levy - $568,000
Day three has been completed and Dan Negreanu is no longer the chip leader. There are now thirty-four players left battling it out for the top prize of $1.4 Million dollars.
Here are the current chip leaders:
1. Ryan Fair - $1,331,000
2. Will Mietz - $1,217,000
3. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier - $1,151,000
4. Joe Sebok - $1,100,000
5. Nenad Medic - $925,000
Joe “Seventh Bok” is still in command of his destiny and appears on his way to his first WPT final table.
The WPT Festo al Lago is well underway and moving into day 3. The tournament started out with 368 players and is now down to 104 leaving over half the field on the rail. The chips leaders you will be pretty familiar with to most. Dan Negreanu is out front after busting former chip leader Antonio Esfandiari.
Notice the Joe “seventh bok” sighting. I love Pokerroad radio and if you are not familiar with Joe Sebok, son of Barry Greenstein, then I will fill you in. Joe Sebok is notorious for bubbling out of the WPT final tables as he has done it three times now. Hopefully this will be his first WPT final table appearance. Jennifer TIlly is hanging in there as well along with JC Tran, Dustin Bonomo, and chip leader Dan Negreanu.
Lets not make any bones about it. We all get involved in hands where we lose chips in poker tournaments. Sometimes we even lose a big pot on our journey to the “promised land.” Sometimes no matter what we just don’t get there at all. However, you never give up as long as you have a chip and a chair. Yes, I said it and I meant it. Monday night I happened to be playing the Pokerstars $10 No Limit (360 players) tournament. I enjoy these particular tournaments simply because the numbers are good and if I can build a stack my odds of getting to the final table are better than most.
Early on I didn’t get a whole lot of cards and things were awfully slow for me. However, I was able to pick up a pot here and there to hang around. I must stress to you that I have the patience of Job when it comes to tournament poker which is very atypical of online players but also explains why I cash so often. I am always optimistic about my chances of overcoming any circumstance no matter how difficult. The hand listed below is an example of not only my patience but also how I got extremely lucky to triple up. However, by being patient and allowing myself to at least hang around as long as possible before getting my chips in I was rewarded for my effort. No, I didn’t go on to cash or make the final table in this one but I did give myself an opportunity to make a run at it. That is what it’s all about! You must give yourself every opportunity to survive and thrive in any poker tournament you enter.
Here is how the hand played out:
PokerStars Game #21364790245: Tournament #114745988, $9.00+$0.90 Hold’em No Limit - Level VII (125/250) - 2008/10/20 22:55:33 ET
Table ‘114745988 5′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: A-10off (11045 in chips)
Seat 2: 1AceHole (4540 in chips)
Seat 3: Curtom (1235 in chips)
Seat 4: WoodBrave (5861 in chips)
Seat 5: Counterfeit9 (2570 in chips)
Seat 6: Mallecas (5140 in chips)
Seat 7: Taku1 (9915 in chips)
Seat 9: Vitão_Piruca (3041 in chips)
A-10off: posts the ante 25
1AceHole: posts the ante 25
Curtom: posts the ante 25
WoodBrave: posts the ante 25
Counterfeit9: posts the ante 25
Mallecas: posts the ante 25
Taku1: posts the ante 25
Vitão_Piruca: posts the ante 25
Mallecas: posts small blind 125
Taku1: posts big blind 250
*** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to Curtom [9c 9d]
Vitão_Piruca: folds
A-10off: folds
1AceHole: raises 750 to 1000 Curtom: raises 210 to 1210 and is all-in
WoodBrave: folds
Counterfeit9: folds
Mallecas: raises 750 to 1960
Taku1: folds
1AceHole: raises 2555 to 4515 and is all-in
Mallecas: calls 2555
*** FLOP *** [4s 9h 3d]
*** TURN *** [4s 9h 3d] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [4s 9h 3d 7c] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mallecas: shows [Jd Js] (a pair of Jacks)
1AceHole: shows [Qd Qh] (a pair of Queens)
1AceHole collected 6610 from side pot Curtom: shows [9c 9d] (three of a kind, Nines) Curtom collected 4080 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10690 Main pot 4080. Side pot 6610. | Rake 0
Board [4s 9h 3d 7c 8c]
Seat 1: A-10off folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: 1AceHole showed [Qd Qh] and won (6610) with a pair of Queens
Seat 3: Curtom showed [9c 9d] and won (4080) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 4: WoodBrave folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: Counterfeit9 (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: Mallecas (small blind) showed [Jd Js] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 7: Taku1 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Vitão_Piruca folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Summary: Clearly I am behind the eight ball here. I no longer have the option of waiting around for a hand and the average stack is around $5k+ No matter how many people are in front of me with a raise I have to get my chips in the middle here. This is a typical Do or Die play that you have to be willing to make no matter the circumstances. Pocket Nines certainly is not the worst hand in the world and with 2 people in the pot you may be up against [A][K] and [A][Q] if you are really lucky as this would give you a sleight edge.
Unfortunately for me I was a 4 to 1 dog in this hand on both sides with my opponents holding pocket pairs larger than mine. However, if the poker “gods” see fit I can come out of the hand with a new lease on life and a few fighting chips to build with.
The [9] hit for me on the flop and the hand held up for a nice pot and some much needed breathing room. By not allowing myself to get blinded off I gave myself an opportunity to get back in the tournament while I still had a few chips to make the double up or triple up worth while. Therein lies the key! Don’t wait until you are down to $800 chips with a 250/150 blinds to get your chips in because you still need to double up again to have some breathing room. I would have done the same thing if I had had $1600 in chips. Double up when it means something and you have a couple of good things that can happen for you. One, you just may have the best hand. Two, you might get lucky against multiple callers and put yourself in position to re-build your stack.
The flop came down [7][8][3] with a flush draw on the board.
The small blind bet out and I immediately put him on a flush draw or top pair. Feeling confident in my read I raised to find out where I was at in the hand.
I smooth call and the turn brings a harmless [9] and a potential straight on the board.
At this point in the hand I am confident I have the best hand even with the possibility of a straight on the board. I then bet out another $650 which was enough to keep my opponent in the pot if he was on a draw and enough to push him out if he had put me on a draw instead without having a hand.
The river brought a [K] which is the last card I wanted to see.
However, after thinking through the hand I was fairly confident that he did not have a King but checked the hand nonetheless. As it turns out I was correct. If he had a King he likely would have raised pre-flop or bet out when it hit the board and I would have known my Jacks were no good. Had he made a small value bet I likely would have had to call for the pot odds. The bottom line is that I missed another opportunity to get money in the pot and get maximum value from my hand. On the other hand the check wasn’t a horrible play but it was a passive play on my part even though it is very likely that my opponent would have simply folded his hand.
The World Poker Tour online poker site will no longer be offering players real-money tournaments as of November 14th, 2008. However, Club WPT will continue to operate as a free-play site. You may have seen the post I wrote earlier regarding the new Club WPT show coming out on Fox Sports Net.
Despite losing one side of the business it may ultimately turn into more players signing up on what is exclusively a free play site now.
I just got done playing my $4.40 MTT on Pokerstars. I made my second final table in two days in this tournament. Nothing big but I am certainly playing well lately and getting my share of breaks. I have been playing my usual steady and patient game and it is paying off big dividends for me. The fact of the matter is that the tables are so aggressive that I can just wait for a big hand and someone is bound to go all-in early giving me an easy double up.
On the other hand, I got bounced out of two Super-Satellites with set over set hands. Absolutely one of the worst ways you can be sent to the rail but there is not much you can do about it in either case. I have played well in the Sunday Millions but never had a cash yet so I am looking forward to playing it again with a much better result.
I did play three single table Sit-n-Gos and cashed twice in second place. All around I had a very profitable weekend and look forward to playing again soon.
Re-buy poker tournaments have to be the most misunderstood of all tournament formats. The re-buy tournament is all about one purpose early and that is building a HUGE chip stack to carry you after the break and add-on period.
First, players that have never played in this format need to understand that the real poker is played after the re-buy and add-on period. Before those periods you need to be ready to get your chips in the middle. You especially need to do so when there is more than two people in the pot. Folding small pocket pairs, Ace King, suited connectors are not an option when there are multiple players in the pot all-in. The bottom line is that during the re-buy period you need to recalibrate your thinking in terms of making your own luck.
Second, you have to take the re-buy or double re-buy if one is available before the tournament begins and each time thereafter until the re-buy / add-on period is over. Why? You take the re-buy because if you do happen to win one of those huge pots early in the tournament and everyone else has $3000 and you only have $1500 you just duped yourself out of half your chips. That is not very smart and defeats the purpose of playing a re-buy tournament which is to accumulate chips. If the tournament you are going to play is a $3 re-buy then plan on spending $30 dollars to enable yourself to compete at maximum capacity at all times. Yes, when you re-buy you need to double re-buy every time you get busted. If you are playing a $10 re-buy plan on spending $100 and so on.
Obviously, re-buy tournaments can get very pricey the higher the initial buy-in so keep that in mind should you decide to play one. Some players will double buy-in and if they do not double or triple up before the break they are done and will not re-buy. Nothing wrong with that but in most cases you are going to be severely crippled even by taking the add-on after break if this is your mindset.
Lastly, if you do happen to amass that monster stack we all pray for before the break you can slow down if you choose to. You do not have to be in the middle with three, four, and five players anymore as it makes no sense to take the risk. At this point it is your job to protect your stack so that you can go into battle and make a run at the final table where the big money is.
Usually, re-buy tournaments have huge payouts and if you are lucky enough to fight through what typically is a large field of players you can look forward to a very nice pay day for your efforts. Be smart and play to accumulate chips before the re-buy / add-on period is over. Remember, the real poker is played after the add-on is over.
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