FTOPS Event 4 Recap

I had it up to over 11,000 chips at one point, but then went down the tubes. They say to do well in a tournament you have to win with AK and beat AK. Well on two consecutive hands I lost all ins with 88 to AK and then AK to JJ.

What's the worst play in poker?

Here is the history from a hand I just played playing stud hi-lo.


Transcript for game #31356875870 requested by ACESEDAI (wesdave1279@yahoo.com)

*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #31356875870: 8-Game (7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit, $10/$20 USD) - 2009/08/07 15:09:47 ET
Table 'Hagihara V' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: johnny1430 ($338 in chips)
Seat 2: amosa ($420 in chips)
Seat 3: kanattack ($155 in chips)
Seat 4: Voltron3 ($282 in chips)
Seat 5: Seb86 ($414.50 in chips)
Seat 6: ACESEDAI ($1431.40 in chips)
ACESEDAI: posts the ante $2
johnny1430: posts the ante $2
amosa: posts the ante $2
kanattack: posts the ante $2
Voltron3: posts the ante $2
Seb86: posts the ante $2
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to johnny1430 [Ts]
Dealt to amosa [5c]
Dealt to kanattack [3s]
Dealt to Voltron3 [Kc]
Dealt to Seb86 [Qd]
Dealt to ACESEDAI [6c 7c As]
kanattack: brings in for $3
Voltron3: calls $3
Seb86: folds
ACESEDAI: raises $7 to $10
johnny1430: folds
amosa: folds
kanattack: folds
Voltron3: calls $7
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Voltron3 [Kc] [4s]
Dealt to ACESEDAI [6c 7c As] [4h]
ACESEDAI: bets $10
Voltron3: calls $10
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Voltron3 [Kc 4s] [Td]
Dealt to ACESEDAI [6c 7c As 4h] [9h]
ACESEDAI: checks
Voltron3: bets $20
ACESEDAI: calls $20
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Voltron3 [Kc 4s Td] [2c]
Dealt to ACESEDAI [6c 7c As 4h 9h] [2s]
ACESEDAI: bets $20
Voltron3: calls $20
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to ACESEDAI [6c 7c As 4h 9h 2s] [6s]
ACESEDAI: bets $20
Voltron3: calls $20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ACESEDAI: shows [6c 7c As 4h 9h 2s 6s] (HI: a pair of Sixes; LO: 7,6,4,2,A)
Voltron3: mucks hand
ACESEDAI collected $86 from pot
ACESEDAI collected $86 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $175 | Rake $3
Seat 1: johnny1430 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: amosa folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: kanattack folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 4: Voltron3 mucked [Js 9c Kc 4s Td 2c 5d]
Seat 5: Seb86 (button) folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ACESEDAI showed [6c 7c As 4h 9h 2s 6s] and won ($172) with HI: a pair of Sixes; LO: 7,6,4,2,A


The worst play in poker? Calling a bet on the river when you can't beat your opponents up cards! This guy called me with K high and no low when I had an ace showing!

FTOPS XIII Event #4 ($216 1R+1A NLH) underway!

This was a tournament that was always on my maybe list and with my mother and father in law in town I wasn't sure if I was going to play. But in the end it seemed like a good idea.

This tournament has a $216 buy in that gets you 2,000 chips. If you want to, for another $200 you can buy 2,000 more chips. Then at the end of the 1st hour of play on the first break you can get 2,500 chips for another $200. For anyone who is serious this is a $616 tournament with 6,500 starting chips.

Late registration is still open, but it looks like we'll have about 1,275 players.

FTOPS XIII Event #2 Recap

I finished 3rd at my initial table in today's shootout tournament. I had some bad luck which I'll share with you and then talk a little be about if it was just bad or epically bad luck.

I went from my starting stack of 3,000 chips to zero in two hands. In the first hand I was on the button holding A9 with blinds of 50/100 and made it 300 to go. The big blind called and the flop came down A Q 8. My opponent checked, I bet 500, and he called. The turn was a blank and I bet 900. Again I got called. The river was a jack and my opponent checked.

I had 1,300 left and thought about sending it all in. My opponent was a bit of a goof and he easily could have called my river bet with a worse ace or a queen. But I decided that it would be better to save that last 1,300 and give my self one more bullet to fire at this tournament if I was beat. So I checked and my opponent turned over KT for a straight.

On the very next hand the player on the button raised to 300 and I moved all in for my last 1,300 from the big blind with Q9. Not exactly the nuts, but three handed I knew my opponent would have a very wide opening range so there was some chance I had the best hand, some chance he would fold to my all in, and some chance I'd be behind, but would still win the pot. He instantly called me with KT. The flop was 99Q and I thought "good he's drawing dead, oh wait he has KT of hears and there are two hearts on board so I guess he has one out." The river was that one out, the jack of hearts making him a straight flush! ACK!

This is a perfect example of how losing players convince themselves that they are insanely unlucky. Let's look at how my hands stacked up to my opponents hands. Before the flop A9 is 59% to beat KT, and Q9 off suit is 34% vs KT suited. That means I was about 73% to win at least one of the pots if all the money had gone in preflop on both hands. That's one way to look at it.

Another way to look at it (usually the best way) is what kind of shape was I in when the money went in the pot? Well I was 34% on the second hand when the money went in and in the first hand most of the money when in on the flop and turn. On the flop I was 81% to win and on the turn I was 91%. I was pretty far ahead on the first pot, but when the money went in, but a little behind on the second one. If you look at when the money went in I was more like 90% to win at least one of the pots. Pretty good but not a sure thing.

What some people will do is look at the point at which they were most ahead. In the first pot I was 91% after the turn and in the second one I was 97.7% after the turn. So they'll say "Man! 488 times out of 489 I would win at least one pot! I am so unlucky!"

It's interesting how you can spin things so that with the same two hands you can say you were 1 in 4, 1 in 10, or 1 in 489 to lose both pots.

To sum up, I got screwed, but not horrible so.

I have my wife's family in town for my son's birthday so I may or may not play the FTOPS stuff I have on my schedule for tomorrow. If I play I'll put up a post when the tournament is underway.

FTOPS XIII Event #2 ($322 4X 6-max shootout) underway!

For those of you who don't know how shootouts work let me tell you! In this tournament 1,193 of us were split into 216 tables with either 5 or 6 players at a table. Each table plays without anyone new joining until there is only one player left. That player moves on to the next round where the 216 remaining players will be split into 36 tables of 6 players who will again play until there is one winner at each table. Then 36 players play at 6 tables and those winners play it out at the final table.

In every shootout I've ever seen (until this one) making it past the first round means you are in the money and in order to make more money you have to win your second table. But in this one you have to finish in the top 4 at your second table to make the money which is $572. If you finish 3rd in the second round you get $787 and so on with every place in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round paying slightly more. 1st place is $62,632.

Luckily I was at one of the tables that started with 5 players and after 30 minutes I'm dead even, and we've lost one player at my table.

3 Quick Comment Responses

I always make an effort to respond to anyone who comments on my blog, because first of all I like to know that people are reading and second of all if someone has a question I'm sure other people are asking the same thing.

Luis wanted to know what I thought about him playing $.50/$1 fixed limit hold 'em. I think everyone should play whatever games they enjoy and there is nothing wrong with playing low stakes games and taking it slow. There is certainly more to poker than no limit hold'em, but that's what the rookies want to play so there is good money to be made there. But that doesn't mean that there aren't other games that are beatable that might suit an individual's personal poker skills a little better. I played NL cash games for two stretches of about 6 months, but I always bought in short because I'm not great at folding big hands which you have to do when you're deep stacked. Also the bonus, rakeback or FPPs come faster at limit. I think the easiest game to learn to play very well (but not expertly) is probably Razz. It's a pretty simple game, but I'm sure the players playing the $1/$2 make a lot of basic mistakes.


As far as stakes go when I started playing I didn't have online poker so my game choices were VERY limited. I played 20 cent/40 cent limit hold'em in a home game for a few months and then after a little $1/$2 and $2/$4 at the Oaks club, I jumped to $3/$6. I played $3/$6 a few times a week for a year without every going bigger. Then I played $6/$12 for a year without ever going bigger. In fact I played for a living for 6 months before I ever played a game bigger than $15/$30. Now I've gone as high a $200/$400, but it's taken me almost 10 years to get to where I am. Everyone has to start somewhere and having the self control to take is slow is critical for long term success.

On to the second comment! The mini FTOPS doesn't start until September! Thanks to the poster who pointed that out. I feel like on previous FTOPS the mini ran at the same time, but I could just be getting confused with the SCOOP.

Lastly I don't expect the goofy FTOPS challenges to affect people's play very much and there won't be anyway to tell if someone is thinking about them. But anytime a player has some outside influence (normally in the form of a big last longer bet)that makes them do something they normally wouldn't do, it means they aren't playing their best. While it's not much of a good thing, it can't be a bad thing!

FTOPS XIII Event #1 Results

I have to say that after my strong start I did not have any luck. I got a slew of what I would describe as marginally playable hands and I played them, but never really connected hard with a flop. I fired out a few bluffs, but ran into real hands (or super dynamite expert re-bluffs) every time.

In the end I got my money in good. In fact you will almost never come across a situation where moving all in preflop is such a clear choice. The blinds were something like 120/240 and a player 2 off the button made it 700 to go. The button called and I was in the big blind with 3,500 chips and AK suited. That is go time if I have ever seen it.

Surprisingly the original raiser moved all in for 10,000 or so (I think) with KQ. He flopped a Q and that was it.

Tomorrow $322, six handed quadruple shootout!