Still Doing Well

I'm at 31K chips in the $425 and in 15th of 100 and 12K chips the $4,175 which is 13th place of 36. It's very likely that I'll make the top 66 and the money in the medium stakes, but it's still totally up in the air in the big one.

SCOOP Update!

I am blowing the doors off the medium and small stakes 8 game mix! I'm up to over 30,000 in the medium stakes in 3rd place of 189 and I'm over 25,000 in the low in 91st place of 703.

I slipped a little in the one that really matters though. Not too much, but a little. I'm at 8,700 and in 21st of 60. I had some trouble in the Razz, but I just got moved to a new table and it's a little softer than the one I started with.

Event #15 Underway!

I'm off to a good start in the $4,175 and $425 8 game mixed. In the first I've more than doubled my starting stack of 5,000 and am in 3rd of 74 remaining players (we started with 84). In the second I've also doubled my starting stack and am in 73rd of 314 (we started with 444).

The big one pays 9 spots and 9th is an insane $13,440 (about the same amount as you'd get for FIRST in the $44 event with 2,200 entrants!) and first is just over $100K.

Massive Choke Job!

I totally blew it in the razz! I finished in 15th of 713 (It paid $1,312) which is great. This is by far the best finish I've ever had in a razz tournament. But I still blew it!

With 17 players left I was in third. Of course since it was a limit tournament it took 5 or 6 hands going against me to do me in, and I did get unlucky towards the end. But I also overplayed a few hands. I haven't played a ton of razz so it's hard for me to look back and say conclusively whether I played bad or was just the victim of bad luck, but I feel like I could have done things a little differently.

Still it was a good result that washed away the mess of the rest of the day.

Tomorrow is a big day. I have $44, $425, and $4,175 8 game mix in the morning, and $320 Stud in the afternoon. I'm sure the big one is going to have a tough field, but after how well I've done playing HORSE even at the $1,000 level I just can't pass up a chance to play a mixed games event for big money.

In the Money in SCOOP Event #13!

The bad news is I came up short in the $530 and $55 NLH and the $22 Razz as well as a $33 with rebuys satellite (-$183 in that one).

The good news is I have a solid stack and I'm in the money in the $215 Razz. Right now I'm in 19th of 94. I need to make it to 16th to get about even for the $530 and all the satellite bricks I put up today.

But I'm running good and playing pretty well so anything could happen.

SCOOP Update

SCOOP Event #13 is underway with 2,945 players in the $22 low stakes (1st place $9,500), and 713 in the medium stakes (1st place $26,700). I have less than I started with in both, but it's been pretty boring so far.

In other bad news I came up short in two satellites. The first was a $280 attempt to win a $5,200 seat and the other was $109 with rebuys where 1st place was a $10,300 main event seat. Chalk up -$589 in the satellite column.

SCOOP $3,150 Mixed Hold'em Recap

At the point of my last specific update we were down to 52. From there we dropped to 40 players over the course of the next hour. And then the tournament came to a grinding hault.

People were still playing hands of course, but not one was being eliminated. We were stuck on 40 for maybe as long as a half an hour! I had no fewer than 10,000 and no more than 16,000 chips during that time and was boucing between 30th place and 35th place.

In a situation like this you have to balance trying to just make the money and playing your normal game which might get you eliminated, but should also lead to more chips in your stack. Normally it's an easy decision for me. I play my normal game because I want to WIN the tournament or at least finish in the top few spots. Of course just making the money is usually a few hundred not over six thousand!

Another thing that made this spot unique was the player I was up against. One was Dan_druff who is a WSOP braceltt winner (he has at least one other WSOP final table) and a high stakes online player. Another was THE_D_RY who might be THE toughest SNG player on all of pokerstars. He plays the biggest SNGs (up to $2,000 buy in!) and all of the biggest tournaments. Then there were three other players who were all very strong players. In fact I might have been the worst player at my table! I'm not sure I can ever remember a time when that was the case in any game. Even at the highest stakes I've played there's always been at least one person (usually many more) who I could point to and say "At least I know I'm better than that guy!"

Eventually ever so slowly people started to drop. I'd be surviving just by stealing blinds or winning very small pots, but then I started to get some good cards. I took my stack all the way up to 27,000 chips and was in 23rd place with 35 players to go. At that point I thought I had it locked up for sure.

Then I had a big hand that was full of tough decisions - exactly what I didn't want! We were playing limit and the blinds were 500/1,000. I got dealt A8 with the A of clubs in the small blind. The button came in raising and I three bet make it 3,000 to go. He capped it at 4,000. Uh Oh!

The flop came down J 9 4 with two clubs. I checked and he bet 1,000 into the 9,000 chip pot. I didn't have anything, but this guy was super aggressive. I thought there was a chance I could have the best hand and the pot was just so big that I couldn't fold. The turn was the queen of clubs which gave me a flush draw and a gut shot straight draw. Now I had to call, which I did when he bet.

The river was a total brick and after my opponents bet I was looking at a 17,000 chip pot. A pot that was worth $10,200 in real world dollars if you do the math on the equity. If I folded it would just be gone. So I called, and my opponent showed AT for a slightly better ace high! AHHHHHHHH!

That was 9,000 chips out the window and then I slipped some more! With only 32 players left I was down to 10,000 chips and in 29th place when the following hand came up. I was in the big blind and the very aggressive button who was the big stack at the table came in raising (we were still playing limit at the same stakes). I was in the big blind with A7 and I knew my opponent could raise literally any two cards given the situation.

I was pretty sure I had the best hand, but I wanted to play the hand as cheaply as possible since survival was more important than picking up chips. So I just called.

The flop came down A K 4 which looked like a great flop to me so I check raised. And my opponent three bet! Uh Oh! I called which mean 5,000 of my 10,000 chips were in the pot and calling a turn and river bet would cost me 4,000 more. If I lost here I was done. But no way could I fold.

The turn brought another ace which was a fantastic card, and I check called. The river was a blank and I thought about betting, but I figured my opponent would fire again no matter what he had. Sadly he gave up, checked and turned over 86 which was no pair no draw!

I would have been super pissed to finish in 32nd! But I didn't, and went on to make the money which paid $6,400! This is the most I've ever been paid and the highest net profit I've had for just making the money.

I went broke almost right away after we made the money losing first with AJ to KK and then with 2nd pair to top pair. But 30th place was just fine with me!

Recap of $3,150 Mixed Coming Soon!

Let me just say that the field in the $3,150 Mixed Hold'em was the toughest I've ever faced online and with the exception of the $5,000 NLH event at the 2006 WSOP the toughest field I've ever faced. I'll recap the action before noon PT Wedneday.

Wednesday I have $22 and $215 Razz in the morning and $55 and $530 NL hold'em 6 max in the afternoon.

SCOOP Update

After running my starting stack of 5,000 up to 15,000 in the Stud H/L I finished in 319th of about 700.

But I'm still in it in the $3,150 mixed hold'em. This tournament is going to give me a heart attack. Here is a hand history for a big hand I played. Note that Chad Brown is a sponsored pokerstars pro.

PokerStars Game #26840026570: Tournament #200904113, $3000+$150 Hold'em Mixed (Hold'em No Limit) - Level XIV (50/100) - 2009/04/07 15:23:28 PT [2009/04/07 18:23:28 ET]
Table '200904113 33' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: LockDown120 (11966 in chips)
Seat 2: FatalError (12490 in chips)
Seat 3: ACESEDAI (10916 in chips)
Seat 4: ChadBrownPRO (4290 in chips)
Seat 5: villepn (4121 in chips)
Seat 6: RonaldKosh (17208 in chips)
ACESEDAI: posts the ante 15
ChadBrownPRO: posts the ante 15
villepn: posts the ante 15
RonaldKosh: posts the ante 15
LockDown120: posts the ante 15
FatalError: posts the ante 15
ACESEDAI: posts small blind 50
ChadBrownPRO: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ACESEDAI [9s 9c]
villepn: folds
RonaldKosh: folds
LockDown120: folds
FatalError: folds
ACESEDAI: raises 300 to 400
ChadBrownPRO: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [3d 6d Qd]
ACESEDAI: bets 600
ChadBrownPRO: raises 600 to 1200
ACESEDAI: raises 2800 to 4000
ChadBrownPRO: calls 2675 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (125) returned to ACESEDAI
*** TURN *** [3d 6d Qd] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [3d 6d Qd Qs] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ACESEDAI: shows [9s 9c] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
ChadBrownPRO: shows [Kd 6s] (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
ACESEDAI collected 8640 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8640 | Rake 0
Board [3d 6d Qd Qs 4h]
Seat 1: LockDown120 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: FatalError (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ACESEDAI (small blind) showed [9s 9c] and won (8640) with two pair, Queens and Nines
Seat 4: ChadBrownPRO (big blind) showed [Kd 6s] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 5: villepn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: RonaldKosh folded before Flop (didn't bet)


He had two shots to hit a K, 6 or diamond and missed it all.

In another hand that was tense to say the least I got all of my chips in with A4 of clubs vs K8 on a board of 6 7 9 with two clubs. I made the last raise and when I got called I was sure I needed to hit to win. Instead all I had to do was fade a K, 8, T or 5. The turn and river were nothing and I survived.

Another time I flopped a flush and got it all in vs top pair and a bigger flush draw. I dodged that one too.

You might think I'm in great shape given all these wins, but I'm not. I keep losing small and medium sized pots and then winning when I'm forced to go all in.

We're down to 52 of 247 with 30 spots paying and I'm in 42nd place. Not out of it, but in need of help if I'm going to make the money.

SCOOP Event #11 Underway!

I'm already out of the medium and low stakes, but I'm doing well in the $3,150 high stake tournament. We started with 247, we're down to 159 and I'm in 46th place with 9,500 chips (we started with 5,000). 30th is the edge of the money and pays $6,400. 1st is $184,000. Also at the last minute I jumped into the $215 Stud H/L which pretty much just started for me.