Well I cashed out of Poker Stars in June (I also cashed out of Full Tilt, but who knows whether I'll ever see that money, which Phil Ivey might have blown on craps for all I know).
First a friend from Auckland wanted to play NLHE with me for play money. I gave him 400,000 chips so we could play at the high-stakes (!) tables; to be honest after playing for real money the pretend stuff doesn't really cut it. He and I were just about the only two players who ever folded pre-flop but he made it a bit too obvious when he had a big starting hand. It was a bit of fun I guess.
I had no cash left on Stars but I did have $32 of tournament money. There's a $215 single draw WCOOP tourney next month and I wanted to see if I could qualify for it, but there were no decent satellites scheduled so I fired up some micro badugi tournaments which I find blissfully stress-free, and now have a cash bankroll (if you can call it that) of $66. In my first few attempts I "bricked out" and thought I might exhaust all my T$, but I snagged a first and a second in quick succession as well as a bunch of fourths.
Hand 1
This hand came from a tournament I played last night. Only three paid. I was virtually dead and buried but hit a seriously jammy two-card last draw. From there I completed an unlikely victory, overcoming a five-to-one chip disadvantage to beat ShakirR in just 23 hands of heads-up play. I rode my luck a bit, but was very pleased with how I played heads-up.
PokerStars Game #65602422527: Tournament #420513185, $3.00+$0.30 USD Badugi Limit - Level X (500/1000) - 2011/08/06 6:20:54 ET
Table '420513185 1' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: catfishapila (5420 in chips)
Seat 3: Kadorci (2965 in chips)
Seat 5: ShakirR (16285 in chips)
Seat 7: bobina10 (5160 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 (1670 in chips)
catfishapila: posts small blind 250
Kadorci: posts big blind 500
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d Ac Th Ks]
ShakirR: folds
bobina10: calls 500
plutoman20: raises 500 to 1000
catfishapila: folds
Kadorci: folds
bobina10: calls 500
*** FIRST DRAW ***
bobina10: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [2d Ac Th Ks]
bobina10: bets 500
plutoman20: raises 170 to 670 and is all-in
bobina10: calls 170
*** SECOND DRAW ***
bobina10: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Th Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d Ac] [As Kd]
*** THIRD DRAW ***
bobina10: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [As Kd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d Ac] [9h 4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bobina10: shows [9c 7h 2s Ad] (Badugi: 9,7,2,A)
plutoman20: shows [2d Ac 9h 4s] (Badugi: 9,4,2,A)
plutoman20 collected 4090 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4090 Rake 0
Seat 1: catfishapila (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 3: Kadorci (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 5: ShakirR folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: bobina10 showed [9c 7h 2s Ad] and lost with a Badugi: 9,7,2,A
Seat 8: plutoman20 (button) showed [2d Ac 9h 4s] and won (4090) with a Badugi: 9,4,2,A
Hand 2
Four paid this time. I had a very ugly-looking tri hand here and never expected it to be good. With four left I grabbed a slender chip lead only to get rivered and lose nearly half my stack. Shortly after that I was dealt a pat 8-7 but ran straight into a dealt number seven and my promising position turned into a min-cash.
PokerStars Game #65640416707: Tournament #420514609, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2011/08/06 22:48:49 ET
Table '420514609 2' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: plutoman20 (1485 in chips)
Seat 4: MasetheShark (5945 in chips)
Seat 5: R0B_45 (3775 in chips)
Seat 6: minoti_123 (5985 in chips)
Seat 7: ROMA1207 (8020 in chips)
Seat 8: xbelieverx (13790 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind 100
MasetheShark: posts big blind 200
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4s Ks 5d]
R0B_45: raises 400 to 600
minoti_123: calls 600
ROMA1207: folds
xbelieverx: folds
plutoman20: calls 500
MasetheShark: calls 400
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4s 5d] [6h]
MasetheShark: discards 1 card
R0B_45: discards 1 card
minoti_123: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
MasetheShark: checks
R0B_45: bets 2400
minoti_123: folds
plutoman20: calls 885 and is all-in
MasetheShark: folds
Uncalled bet (1515) returned to R0B_45
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [7h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 5d 6h] [Td]
R0B_45: discards 1 card
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Td]
Dealt to plutoman20 [4s 5d 6h] [9h]
R0B_45: discards 1 card
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [9h 4s 6h 5d] (3-card: 6,5,4)
R0B_45: shows [9d Ac 5s Js] (3-card: 9,5,A)
plutoman20 collected 4170 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4170 Rake 0
Seat 3: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [9h 4s 6h 5d] and won (4170) with a 3-card: 6,5,4
Seat 4: MasetheShark (big blind) folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 5: R0B_45 showed [9d Ac 5s Js] and lost with a 3-card: 9,5,A
Seat 6: minoti_123 folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 7: ROMA1207 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: xbelieverx (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Hand 3
This one is straight out of the good folds file. In this crazy six-way family pot I might have been better off drawing two. I was pretty sure at least one of my opponents had at least a smooth seven here. I was short-stacked for most of this tournament (I'm getting used to that!), playing patiently but aggressively with the chips I did have. I was excited to get dealt a pat 8-6 on the bubble with four remaining but unfortunately I ran into a pat 7-6 for my second straight short-handed monstering.
PokerStars Game #65642470004: Tournament #420512840, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level II (20/40) - 2011/08/07 0:32:08 ET
Table '420512840 1' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 (1550 in chips)
Seat 2: Lady Debbi (1180 in chips)
Seat 4: dark tetris (3460 in chips)
Seat 5: skinlan (1660 in chips)
Seat 6: METATR0N (1420 in chips)
Seat 7: BJW..26974 (850 in chips)
BJW..26974: posts small blind 20
plutoman20: posts big blind 40
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8s 4h Qh 2c]
Lady Debbi: calls 40
dark tetris: calls 40
skinlan: calls 40
METATR0N: calls 40
BJW..26974: calls 20
plutoman20: checks
*** FIRST DRAW ***
BJW..26974: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8s 4h 2c] [Kh]
Lady Debbi: discards 1 card
dark tetris: discards 1 card
skinlan: discards 1 card
METATR0N: discards 1 card
BJW..26974: checks
plutoman20: checks
Lady Debbi: checks
dark tetris: checks
skinlan: checks
METATR0N: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
BJW..26974: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Kh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8s 4h 2c] [Qc]
Lady Debbi: discards 1 card
dark tetris: discards 1 card
skinlan: discards 1 card
METATR0N: discards 1 card
BJW..26974: checks
plutoman20: checks
Lady Debbi: checks
dark tetris: checks
skinlan: checks
METATR0N: checks
*** THIRD DRAW ***
BJW..26974: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8s 4h 2c] [Ad]
Lady Debbi: discards 1 card
dark tetris: discards 1 card
skinlan: discards 1 card
METATR0N: discards 1 card
BJW..26974: bets 120
plutoman20: raises 170 to 290
Lady Debbi: raises 170 to 460
dark tetris: folds
skinlan: folds
METATR0N: folds
BJW..26974: raises 350 to 810 and is all-in
plutoman20: folds
Lady Debbi: calls 350
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BJW..26974: shows [2h 6c 3s 5d] (Badugi: 6,5,3,2)
Lady Debbi: shows [4s 6h Ac 7d] (Badugi: 7,6,4,A)
BJW..26974 collected 2150 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2150 Rake 0
Seat 1: plutoman20 (big blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 2: Lady Debbi showed [4s 6h Ac 7d] and lost with a Badugi: 7,6,4,A
Seat 4: dark tetris folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 5: skinlan folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 6: METATR0N (button) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 7: BJW..26974 (small blind) showed [2h 6c 3s 5d] and won (2150) with a Badugi: 6,5,3,2
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
The whys of online poker
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, Full Tilt’s licence was suspended last week. Luckily I cashed out of there two or three weeks ago, but will the cheque ($1400 and change) even arrive? And will it bounce when I try to cash it? There are players with scarily large amounts tied up on that site – five years’ average salary kind of amounts – who can’t cash out and fear the money might be gone for ever.
Assuming I do get my money I’ll finally be able to forget about my poker “career”. So why do people dabble (or a lot more) in this online poker lark in the first place?
1. To make money, obviously. But just as obviously most people don’t. I’m guessing 20% of players finish in the black in any given year. For me that was part of the motivation but deep down I knew I lacked the balls to play at high enough stakes to make serious dosh.
2. To have fun, get a buzz, all that stuff.
3. To give one’s brain a workout. The scenery constantly changes; having to react quickly to situations gave me a lot of mental stimulation. This was a pretty big motivator for me.
4. To boost one’s ego by outdoing certain other players, trash-talking in chat, and getting recognition for winning this or that tournament. I never ceased to be amazed at the egos that some players have. That part of the online poker scene left me cold to be honest. In the draw games that I played, people tended to me more civil than is the case at your average hold ’em table, and if they weren’t I’d just switch off chat.
5. To get involved in the poker community, socialise with other players on forums, or joke about how a certain hand played out.
6. To escape from real life, as an alternative to recreational drugs. That was my biggest motivator of all. The realisation of this (and my new situation of trying to pursue a business idea while holding down a full-time job) made me give up.
Finally, I loved this article about Black Friday that Andrew Brokos posted on Twoplustwo, particularly the bit about the meaninglessness of other (non-poker) jobs. I entirely agreed with him.
Assuming I do get my money I’ll finally be able to forget about my poker “career”. So why do people dabble (or a lot more) in this online poker lark in the first place?
1. To make money, obviously. But just as obviously most people don’t. I’m guessing 20% of players finish in the black in any given year. For me that was part of the motivation but deep down I knew I lacked the balls to play at high enough stakes to make serious dosh.
2. To have fun, get a buzz, all that stuff.
3. To give one’s brain a workout. The scenery constantly changes; having to react quickly to situations gave me a lot of mental stimulation. This was a pretty big motivator for me.
4. To boost one’s ego by outdoing certain other players, trash-talking in chat, and getting recognition for winning this or that tournament. I never ceased to be amazed at the egos that some players have. That part of the online poker scene left me cold to be honest. In the draw games that I played, people tended to me more civil than is the case at your average hold ’em table, and if they weren’t I’d just switch off chat.
5. To get involved in the poker community, socialise with other players on forums, or joke about how a certain hand played out.
6. To escape from real life, as an alternative to recreational drugs. That was my biggest motivator of all. The realisation of this (and my new situation of trying to pursue a business idea while holding down a full-time job) made me give up.
Finally, I loved this article about Black Friday that Andrew Brokos posted on Twoplustwo, particularly the bit about the meaninglessness of other (non-poker) jobs. I entirely agreed with him.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
June monthly report (my last!)
Where did half a year go?
Two years ago I joined Carbon Poker, mainly because it had badugi freerolls. I never deposited a penny on the site and almost forgot I still had the account. Then last weekend I fired up the site again to see what their wacky half-pot limit version of badugi was like. It was five-handed with antes instead of blinds. Often everyone would check pre-draw and the five players would draw a dozen or more cards between them. I never saw anyone bet less than the max (maybe you weren't allowed to) so it played out like a limit game but with limits that increased rapidly at each round. After watching some online poker (which is surely a bigger waste of time than playing it) I entered a hold 'em freeroll in a flashback to 2009. There were over 3000 entrants of which 24 got some kind of payout; blinds increased every seven minutes. Almost amusingly I sucked out left, right and centre only to finish 32nd.
I cashed out of both Stars and Full Tilt. The Stars cheque (in Aussie dollars) was sent via courier in double-quick time; in contrast Full Tilt needed a rather embarrassing photo of me holding a piece of ID, and sent the cheque (which I've yet to receive) by snail mail.
Well I made $61 in June (including a $50 bonus!) putting me $1414 ahead for 2011 and $9004 lifetime. This weekend I'll post about the whys of online poker, I promise :)
Two years ago I joined Carbon Poker, mainly because it had badugi freerolls. I never deposited a penny on the site and almost forgot I still had the account. Then last weekend I fired up the site again to see what their wacky half-pot limit version of badugi was like. It was five-handed with antes instead of blinds. Often everyone would check pre-draw and the five players would draw a dozen or more cards between them. I never saw anyone bet less than the max (maybe you weren't allowed to) so it played out like a limit game but with limits that increased rapidly at each round. After watching some online poker (which is surely a bigger waste of time than playing it) I entered a hold 'em freeroll in a flashback to 2009. There were over 3000 entrants of which 24 got some kind of payout; blinds increased every seven minutes. Almost amusingly I sucked out left, right and centre only to finish 32nd.
I cashed out of both Stars and Full Tilt. The Stars cheque (in Aussie dollars) was sent via courier in double-quick time; in contrast Full Tilt needed a rather embarrassing photo of me holding a piece of ID, and sent the cheque (which I've yet to receive) by snail mail.
Well I made $61 in June (including a $50 bonus!) putting me $1414 ahead for 2011 and $9004 lifetime. This weekend I'll post about the whys of online poker, I promise :)
Friday, June 10, 2011
It's over nine thousand!
It's over...and I'm out.
The "over 9000" thing is some internet joke (that I don't get) based on a Japanese cartoon, but last night my profit from this online poker lark broke through the US$9000 barrier. The opportunity cost of playing has got too high so last week I decided I'd call it a day if and when I hit nine grand. It can't believe it was only a week - it felt like forever. Having a profit target wasn't much fun - the emphasis shifted from how I was playing to the raw bottom line, and I became almost obsessive about the goal. I just wanted it to be over.
This was the badugi hand that got me over the line. It was a vaguely interesting hand too. With 952 I'm never sure how many to draw. Guitarlord's surprise pat made it a fairly clear draw-one, even with the chance I was drawing dead to a slow-played monster (which in fact I almost was).
PokerStars Game #63130413643: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/06/09 6:31:16 ET
Table 'Vundtia IV' 8-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($30.25 in chips)
Seat 2: AndreiPiter ($9.55 in chips)
Seat 3: guitarlord66 ($29.95 in chips)
Seat 5: beserk007 ($21 in chips)
Seat 6: PAWWEL GOOD ($22.15 in chips)
Seat 7: Stolljar ($7.50 in chips)
Seat 8: LiLZhiMiNG ($19.25 in chips)
AndreiPiter: posts small blind $0.25
guitarlord66: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9c 5h 2c 9s]
beserk007: folds
PAWWEL GOOD has timed out
PAWWEL GOOD: folds
Stolljar: folds
LiLZhiMiNG: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
AndreiPiter: calls $0.75
guitarlord66: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
AndreiPiter: discards 1 card
guitarlord66: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [9c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 2c 9s] [Qh]
AndreiPiter: checks
guitarlord66: bets $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
AndreiPiter: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
AndreiPiter: discards 1 card
guitarlord66: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 2c 9s] [Ad]
AndreiPiter: checks
guitarlord66: bets $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
AndreiPiter: folds
teonoel joins the table at seat #4
guitarlord66: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
guitarlord66: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [5h 2c 9s Ad]
guitarlord66: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
guitarlord66: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Ad 5h 2c 9s] (Badugi: 9,5,2,A)
guitarlord66: shows [9h 7d 2s 3c] (Badugi: 9,7,3,2)
plutoman20 collected $10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.50 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: plutoman20 (button) showed [Ad 5h 2c 9s] and won ($10) with a Badugi: 9,5,2,A
Seat 2: AndreiPiter (small blind) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 3: guitarlord66 (big blind) showed [9h 7d 2s 3c] and lost with a Badugi: 9,7,3,2
Seat 5: beserk007 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: PAWWEL GOOD folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Stolljar folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: LiLZhiMiNG folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Now I face the task of cashing out on both sites. I'll try and qualify for a WCOOP event with my T$ and FPPs when the series comes around, and I've got enough Full Tilt frequent flyer points to buy into a MiniFTOPS so I'll do the badugi again if scheduling allows and I remember. But apart from that, it's all over. In the next few days I'll write a bit more about my little poker experiment - I feel I've learnt quite a bit from it.
The "over 9000" thing is some internet joke (that I don't get) based on a Japanese cartoon, but last night my profit from this online poker lark broke through the US$9000 barrier. The opportunity cost of playing has got too high so last week I decided I'd call it a day if and when I hit nine grand. It can't believe it was only a week - it felt like forever. Having a profit target wasn't much fun - the emphasis shifted from how I was playing to the raw bottom line, and I became almost obsessive about the goal. I just wanted it to be over.
This was the badugi hand that got me over the line. It was a vaguely interesting hand too. With 952 I'm never sure how many to draw. Guitarlord's surprise pat made it a fairly clear draw-one, even with the chance I was drawing dead to a slow-played monster (which in fact I almost was).
PokerStars Game #63130413643: Badugi Limit ($0.50/$1.00 USD) - 2011/06/09 6:31:16 ET
Table 'Vundtia IV' 8-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: plutoman20 ($30.25 in chips)
Seat 2: AndreiPiter ($9.55 in chips)
Seat 3: guitarlord66 ($29.95 in chips)
Seat 5: beserk007 ($21 in chips)
Seat 6: PAWWEL GOOD ($22.15 in chips)
Seat 7: Stolljar ($7.50 in chips)
Seat 8: LiLZhiMiNG ($19.25 in chips)
AndreiPiter: posts small blind $0.25
guitarlord66: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9c 5h 2c 9s]
beserk007: folds
PAWWEL GOOD has timed out
PAWWEL GOOD: folds
Stolljar: folds
LiLZhiMiNG: folds
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
AndreiPiter: calls $0.75
guitarlord66: calls $0.50
*** FIRST DRAW ***
AndreiPiter: discards 1 card
guitarlord66: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [9c]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 2c 9s] [Qh]
AndreiPiter: checks
guitarlord66: bets $0.50
plutoman20: calls $0.50
AndreiPiter: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW ***
AndreiPiter: discards 1 card
guitarlord66: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [5h 2c 9s] [Ad]
AndreiPiter: checks
guitarlord66: bets $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
AndreiPiter: folds
teonoel joins the table at seat #4
guitarlord66: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW ***
guitarlord66: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [5h 2c 9s Ad]
guitarlord66: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
guitarlord66: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Ad 5h 2c 9s] (Badugi: 9,5,2,A)
guitarlord66: shows [9h 7d 2s 3c] (Badugi: 9,7,3,2)
plutoman20 collected $10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.50 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: plutoman20 (button) showed [Ad 5h 2c 9s] and won ($10) with a Badugi: 9,5,2,A
Seat 2: AndreiPiter (small blind) folded after the 2nd Draw
Seat 3: guitarlord66 (big blind) showed [9h 7d 2s 3c] and lost with a Badugi: 9,7,3,2
Seat 5: beserk007 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: PAWWEL GOOD folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Stolljar folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 8: LiLZhiMiNG folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Now I face the task of cashing out on both sites. I'll try and qualify for a WCOOP event with my T$ and FPPs when the series comes around, and I've got enough Full Tilt frequent flyer points to buy into a MiniFTOPS so I'll do the badugi again if scheduling allows and I remember. But apart from that, it's all over. In the next few days I'll write a bit more about my little poker experiment - I feel I've learnt quite a bit from it.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Badugi hat-trick!
I've just won my third consecutive tourney on Poker Stars. All three of them in badugi! I did run pretty well this time it must be said, but I also played aggressively, betting and raising pretty much the whole time. It was a $2.20 pot-limit tourney after all (29 players entered; the other two drew fields of 22 and 49).
Here's a hand where I get lucky. Plan A was to snow after missing my first attempt at a rough seven draw, but Plan B didn't work out too badly! Of course if Erno Gott hadn't been so passive I never would have been able to make my hand.
PokerStars Game #62889129148: Tournament #399244797, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level V (50/100) - 2011/06/03 6:15:53 ET
Table '399244797 4' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: aus_raider (2910 in chips)
Seat 2: Enno Gott (5010 in chips)
Seat 3: 4ippolino (3110 in chips)
Seat 4: a1951 (1480 in chips)
Seat 5: HeadCrusher (2510 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: utzu09 (2600 in chips)
Seat 7: GottfriedS (3170 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 (3215 in chips)
aus_raider: posts small blind 50
Enno Gott: posts big blind 100
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4d 8s 6s]
4ippolino: folds
a1951: folds
HeadCrusher: folds
utzu09: folds
GottfriedS: calls 100
plutoman20: raises 180 to 280
aus_raider: folds
Enno Gott: calls 180
GottfriedS: calls 180
*** FIRST DRAW ***
Enno Gott: discards 1 card
GottfriedS: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4d 6s] [8d]
Enno Gott: checks
GottfriedS: checks
plutoman20: bets 530
Enno Gott: calls 530
GottfriedS: folds
*** SECOND DRAW ***
Enno Gott: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4d 6s] [Ac]
Enno Gott: checks
plutoman20: bets 1300
Enno Gott: calls 1300
*** THIRD DRAW ***
Enno Gott: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [7h 4d 6s Ac]
Enno Gott: checks
plutoman20: bets 1105 and is all-in
Enno Gott: calls 1105
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7h 4d Ac 6s] (Badugi: 7,6,4,A)
Enno Gott: shows [7c 6d As 8h] (Badugi: 8,7,6,A)
plutoman20 collected 6760 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6760 Rake 0
Seat 1: aus_raider (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 2: Enno Gott (big blind) showed [7c 6d As 8h] and lost with a Badugi: 8,7,6,A
Seat 3: 4ippolino folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: a1951 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: HeadCrusher folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: utzu09 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: GottfriedS folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 8: plutoman20 (button) showed [7h 4d Ac 6s] and won (6760) with a Badugi: 7,6,4,A
A bug has been going round the office; unfortunately I caught it so I took Wednesday off work. I had furniture delivered and managed to stock up the bookcase. I also fired up some badugi. It wasn't one of my happier times on the virtual felt as I took a three-figure hit on the first of June. After tonight's efforts I'm "only" $56 in arrears for the still-very-young month.
Here's a hand where I get lucky. Plan A was to snow after missing my first attempt at a rough seven draw, but Plan B didn't work out too badly! Of course if Erno Gott hadn't been so passive I never would have been able to make my hand.
PokerStars Game #62889129148: Tournament #399244797, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level V (50/100) - 2011/06/03 6:15:53 ET
Table '399244797 4' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: aus_raider (2910 in chips)
Seat 2: Enno Gott (5010 in chips)
Seat 3: 4ippolino (3110 in chips)
Seat 4: a1951 (1480 in chips)
Seat 5: HeadCrusher (2510 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: utzu09 (2600 in chips)
Seat 7: GottfriedS (3170 in chips)
Seat 8: plutoman20 (3215 in chips)
aus_raider: posts small blind 50
Enno Gott: posts big blind 100
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4d 8s 6s]
4ippolino: folds
a1951: folds
HeadCrusher: folds
utzu09: folds
GottfriedS: calls 100
plutoman20: raises 180 to 280
aus_raider: folds
Enno Gott: calls 180
GottfriedS: calls 180
*** FIRST DRAW ***
Enno Gott: discards 1 card
GottfriedS: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4d 6s] [8d]
Enno Gott: checks
GottfriedS: checks
plutoman20: bets 530
Enno Gott: calls 530
GottfriedS: folds
*** SECOND DRAW ***
Enno Gott: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 4d 6s] [Ac]
Enno Gott: checks
plutoman20: bets 1300
Enno Gott: calls 1300
*** THIRD DRAW ***
Enno Gott: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [7h 4d 6s Ac]
Enno Gott: checks
plutoman20: bets 1105 and is all-in
Enno Gott: calls 1105
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7h 4d Ac 6s] (Badugi: 7,6,4,A)
Enno Gott: shows [7c 6d As 8h] (Badugi: 8,7,6,A)
plutoman20 collected 6760 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6760 Rake 0
Seat 1: aus_raider (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 2: Enno Gott (big blind) showed [7c 6d As 8h] and lost with a Badugi: 8,7,6,A
Seat 3: 4ippolino folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: a1951 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: HeadCrusher folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: utzu09 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 7: GottfriedS folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 8: plutoman20 (button) showed [7h 4d Ac 6s] and won (6760) with a Badugi: 7,6,4,A
A bug has been going round the office; unfortunately I caught it so I took Wednesday off work. I had furniture delivered and managed to stock up the bookcase. I also fired up some badugi. It wasn't one of my happier times on the virtual felt as I took a three-figure hit on the first of June. After tonight's efforts I'm "only" $56 in arrears for the still-very-young month.
Monday, May 30, 2011
May monthly report
I made $231 in May, pretty good considering I only played on seven days. My profit for the year is $1353. Lifetime I'm up $8943.
With the US dollar dropping like a stone, and American players being locked out of online play, I think it might be time for Poker Stars to ditch the greenback as its currency of choice in favour of something slightly more stable. The Russian ruble, the Canadian loonie and the Indonesian rupiah would all be suitable choices, the Rupiah because it trades at 9000 to the US dollar. Last year I stayed in Bali; my hotel bill came to over four million.
There won't be many more updates I'm afraid. With my new job and plans to start a business (giving me effectively two jobs) I can't afford to be badugi-ing for much longer. It's a shame because it's a been an interesting ride, but as they say, as one door closes another one, er, slams you in the face? I hope not.
With the US dollar dropping like a stone, and American players being locked out of online play, I think it might be time for Poker Stars to ditch the greenback as its currency of choice in favour of something slightly more stable. The Russian ruble, the Canadian loonie and the Indonesian rupiah would all be suitable choices, the Rupiah because it trades at 9000 to the US dollar. Last year I stayed in Bali; my hotel bill came to over four million.
There won't be many more updates I'm afraid. With my new job and plans to start a business (giving me effectively two jobs) I can't afford to be badugi-ing for much longer. It's a shame because it's a been an interesting ride, but as they say, as one door closes another one, er, slams you in the face? I hope not.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Big-bet badugi bonanza
Last night I won my second Poker Stars tournament in a row. It was a $2.20 pot-limit badugi with 49 runners - back in the day I played those all the time. If anything the play in the early stages was even worse than I remember. With such a low buy-in I could have a bit of fun patting junk and seeing what might happen. I ran pretty well but was pleased with how I played. It was the first tournament I'd played on Stars since 9th April when I took down a 22-man limit badugi at the same micro buy-in - that time I seemed to get an embarrassingly good run of cards.
I also had a good night at the $1/$2 badugi and 25c/50c single draw cash games. Overall I made $100 for the night, which might go some way to restoring the value of my bankroll in my local currency. The NZ dollar has soared to 82 cents against the US.
Here are three hands from last night's big-bet badugiment:
Hand 1
A tiny pot, but notable because I can't remember ever snowing in a two-to-pat situation before. My short-term memory is shocking but I knew I'd seen a lot of spades even if I couldn't remember which ones. My mistake here was going for a check-raise on the turn instead of just betting out.
PokerStars Game #62610445004: Tournament #396965571, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level III (30/60) - 2011/05/27 5:54:14 ET
Table '396965571 2' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: cindyana (1610 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 (3520 in chips)
Seat 5: andrey738 (1555 in chips)
Seat 6: black813813 (5300 in chips)
Seat 7: BK1976 (2780 in chips)
Seat 8: bibisss21 (2305 in chips)
cindyana: posts small blind 30
plutoman20: posts big blind 60
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [As Ks Th 3s]
BK1976: calls 60
cindyana: calls 30
plutoman20: checks
Everybody else folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
cindyana: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 3 cards [Ks Th 3s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As] [4s 7d 7s]
BK1976: discards 1 card
cindyana: checks
plutoman20: checks
BK1976: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
cindyana: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [4s 7s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 7d] [Js Qs]
BK1976: discards 1 card
cindyana: checks
plutoman20: checks
BK1976: checks
*** THIRD DRAW ***
cindyana: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [As 7d Js Qs]
BK1976: discards 1 card
cindyana: checks
plutoman20: bets 140
BK1976: folds
cindyana: folds
Uncalled bet (140) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected 180 from pot
Hand 2
I thought I was toast here. I found Nachti's two min-raises awkward, although in hindsight he was probably just clicking buttons. I nearly broke off the ten on the flop but there was a (not insignificant) chance I was drawing dead. Had my hand been T542 I'd have broken I think.
PokerStars Game #62611517418: Tournament #396965571, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2011/05/27 6:46:10 ET
Table '396965571 5' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kepaxaneeeng (4390 in chips)
Seat 2: Aigil (2757 in chips)
Seat 3: bibisss21 (3105 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (7763 in chips)
Seat 5: cindyana (1885 in chips)
Seat 6: ramzes1975 (8033 in chips)
Seat 7: nachti52 (6030 in chips)
Seat 8: Pit theSnake (3619 in chips)
ramzes1975: posts small blind 100
nachti52: posts big blind 200
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 7h Td 6c]
Pit theSnake: folds
kepaxaneeeng: folds
Aigil: folds
bibisss21: folds
plutoman20: raises 440 to 640
cindyana: folds
ramzes1975: folds
nachti52: raises 440 to 1080
plutoman20: raises 1840 to 2920
nachti52: raises 1840 to 4760
plutoman20: calls 1840
*** FIRST DRAW ***
nachti52: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 7h Td 6c]
nachti52: bets 1270 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls 1270
*** SECOND DRAW ***
nachti52: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 7h Td 6c]
*** THIRD DRAW ***
nachti52: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 7h Td 6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nachti52: shows [Jd 6h 3s 7c] (Badugi: J,7,6,3)
plutoman20: shows [2s 7h Td 6c] (Badugi: T,7,6,2)
plutoman20 collected 12160 from pot
nachti52 finished the tournament in 16th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12160 Rake 0
Seat 1: kepaxaneeeng folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Aigil folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: bibisss21 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 showed [2s 7h Td 6c] and won (12160) with a Badugi: T,7,6,2
Seat 5: cindyana (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ramzes1975 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: nachti52 (big blind) showed [Jd 6h 3s 7c] and lost with a Badugi: J,7,6,3
Seat 8: Pit theSnake folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Hand 3
I'll admit I was trying to be the big bully here, but hey, it's not often I'm in this stack-size situation.
PokerStars Game #62613307876: Tournament #396965571, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level XII (400/800) - 2011/05/27 8:02:24 ET
Table '396965571 5' 8-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: a1951 (13194 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (47703 in chips)
Seat 5: Dr.Gerry (10332 in chips)
Seat 7: maddylow (2271 in chips)
a1951: posts small blind 400
plutoman20: posts big blind 800
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8h 9s 5d 6d]
Dr.Gerry: calls 800
maddylow: folds
a1951: calls 400
plutoman20: raises 1600 to 2400
Dr.Gerry: calls 1600
a1951: folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [6d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8h 9s 5d] [2h]
Dr.Gerry: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets 3400
Dr.Gerry: calls 3400
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [8h 9s 5d 2h]
Dr.Gerry: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets 5000
Dr.Gerry: calls 4532 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (468) returned to plutoman20
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 5d 2h] [Th]
Dr.Gerry: stands pat
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Th 9s 5d 2h] (3-card: 9,5,2)
Dr.Gerry: shows [Ad 6h 3c 4s] (Badugi: 6,4,3,A)
plutoman20 said, "nh"
Dr.Gerry collected 21464 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21464 Rake 0
Seat 2: a1951 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [Th 9s 5d 2h] and lost with a 3-card: 9,5,2
Seat 5: Dr.Gerry showed [Ad 6h 3c 4s] and won (21464) with a Badugi: 6,4,3,A
Seat 7: maddylow (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
I also had a good night at the $1/$2 badugi and 25c/50c single draw cash games. Overall I made $100 for the night, which might go some way to restoring the value of my bankroll in my local currency. The NZ dollar has soared to 82 cents against the US.
Here are three hands from last night's big-bet badugiment:
Hand 1
A tiny pot, but notable because I can't remember ever snowing in a two-to-pat situation before. My short-term memory is shocking but I knew I'd seen a lot of spades even if I couldn't remember which ones. My mistake here was going for a check-raise on the turn instead of just betting out.
PokerStars Game #62610445004: Tournament #396965571, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level III (30/60) - 2011/05/27 5:54:14 ET
Table '396965571 2' 8-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: cindyana (1610 in chips)
Seat 3: plutoman20 (3520 in chips)
Seat 5: andrey738 (1555 in chips)
Seat 6: black813813 (5300 in chips)
Seat 7: BK1976 (2780 in chips)
Seat 8: bibisss21 (2305 in chips)
cindyana: posts small blind 30
plutoman20: posts big blind 60
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [As Ks Th 3s]
BK1976: calls 60
cindyana: calls 30
plutoman20: checks
Everybody else folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
cindyana: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 3 cards [Ks Th 3s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As] [4s 7d 7s]
BK1976: discards 1 card
cindyana: checks
plutoman20: checks
BK1976: checks
*** SECOND DRAW ***
cindyana: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [4s 7s]
Dealt to plutoman20 [As 7d] [Js Qs]
BK1976: discards 1 card
cindyana: checks
plutoman20: checks
BK1976: checks
*** THIRD DRAW ***
cindyana: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: stands pat on [As 7d Js Qs]
BK1976: discards 1 card
cindyana: checks
plutoman20: bets 140
BK1976: folds
cindyana: folds
Uncalled bet (140) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected 180 from pot
Hand 2
I thought I was toast here. I found Nachti's two min-raises awkward, although in hindsight he was probably just clicking buttons. I nearly broke off the ten on the flop but there was a (not insignificant) chance I was drawing dead. Had my hand been T542 I'd have broken I think.
PokerStars Game #62611517418: Tournament #396965571, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2011/05/27 6:46:10 ET
Table '396965571 5' 8-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kepaxaneeeng (4390 in chips)
Seat 2: Aigil (2757 in chips)
Seat 3: bibisss21 (3105 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (7763 in chips)
Seat 5: cindyana (1885 in chips)
Seat 6: ramzes1975 (8033 in chips)
Seat 7: nachti52 (6030 in chips)
Seat 8: Pit theSnake (3619 in chips)
ramzes1975: posts small blind 100
nachti52: posts big blind 200
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 7h Td 6c]
Pit theSnake: folds
kepaxaneeeng: folds
Aigil: folds
bibisss21: folds
plutoman20: raises 440 to 640
cindyana: folds
ramzes1975: folds
nachti52: raises 440 to 1080
plutoman20: raises 1840 to 2920
nachti52: raises 1840 to 4760
plutoman20: calls 1840
*** FIRST DRAW ***
nachti52: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 7h Td 6c]
nachti52: bets 1270 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls 1270
*** SECOND DRAW ***
nachti52: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 7h Td 6c]
*** THIRD DRAW ***
nachti52: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 7h Td 6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nachti52: shows [Jd 6h 3s 7c] (Badugi: J,7,6,3)
plutoman20: shows [2s 7h Td 6c] (Badugi: T,7,6,2)
plutoman20 collected 12160 from pot
nachti52 finished the tournament in 16th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12160 Rake 0
Seat 1: kepaxaneeeng folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Aigil folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 3: bibisss21 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 showed [2s 7h Td 6c] and won (12160) with a Badugi: T,7,6,2
Seat 5: cindyana (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ramzes1975 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 7: nachti52 (big blind) showed [Jd 6h 3s 7c] and lost with a Badugi: J,7,6,3
Seat 8: Pit theSnake folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Hand 3
I'll admit I was trying to be the big bully here, but hey, it's not often I'm in this stack-size situation.
PokerStars Game #62613307876: Tournament #396965571, $2.00+$0.20 USD Badugi Pot Limit - Level XII (400/800) - 2011/05/27 8:02:24 ET
Table '396965571 5' 8-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: a1951 (13194 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (47703 in chips)
Seat 5: Dr.Gerry (10332 in chips)
Seat 7: maddylow (2271 in chips)
a1951: posts small blind 400
plutoman20: posts big blind 800
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [8h 9s 5d 6d]
Dr.Gerry: calls 800
maddylow: folds
a1951: calls 400
plutoman20: raises 1600 to 2400
Dr.Gerry: calls 1600
a1951: folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [6d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [8h 9s 5d] [2h]
Dr.Gerry: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets 3400
Dr.Gerry: calls 3400
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [8h 9s 5d 2h]
Dr.Gerry: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets 5000
Dr.Gerry: calls 4532 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (468) returned to plutoman20
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 1 card [8h]
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 5d 2h] [Th]
Dr.Gerry: stands pat
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Th 9s 5d 2h] (3-card: 9,5,2)
Dr.Gerry: shows [Ad 6h 3c 4s] (Badugi: 6,4,3,A)
plutoman20 said, "nh"
Dr.Gerry collected 21464 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21464 Rake 0
Seat 2: a1951 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 4: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [Th 9s 5d 2h] and lost with a 3-card: 9,5,2
Seat 5: Dr.Gerry showed [Ad 6h 3c 4s] and won (21464) with a Badugi: 6,4,3,A
Seat 7: maddylow (button) folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Gone burger!
I've been on a five-week badugi exclusion diet but I fell off the wagon just in time to play the MiniFTOPS $22 buy-in on Full Tilt which had a convenient start time of 9am (presumably they've moved the tourneys forward to an un-American time slot). Black Friday meant there were only 400-odd players instead of the hordes who entered last time; the standard of play on my table was surprisingly good. I couldn't make any headway, my 4000 starting stack never reached 6000, and after bricking the best draw twice in quick succession I was out. I only lasted an hour and a half.
My early exit is no bad thing. The sun is trying to break through the clouds and I've got a bunch of stuff to get from the market.
My early exit is no bad thing. The sun is trying to break through the clouds and I've got a bunch of stuff to get from the market.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
April monthly report and a wheel to start the new month
April was an understandably low-volume month. New city, new job, Black Friday and virtually no internet coverage made online poker a near-impossible task. I was up a couple of hundred at one stage, then nosedived into the red before taking a small profit for the month of $49.For all you lowballers in America who now only get nuts in your breakfast cereal, take a look at this trailer I spotted at a market in Wellington today. It’s got an extra wheel!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Apokerlypse
You probably can't read the "update" above, but I can assure you it's not good. The FBI have seized the PokerStars.com site (and Full Tilt too) and by the time I logged on to Stars the company had rerouted it to another address. US players are locked out. Can they cash out? Can I cash out (even though I'm outside the US)? I've just moved from Auckland to Wellington and right now I don't even have an address. And if everyone tries to cash out, Poker Stars' funds might have shrunk to the point that when I try to, the money won't be there. It's probably just as well I'm starting a new job on Monday.
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