Tourney

I played in my bi-monthly NLHE tourney this past Saturday. It was the second time I played. I couldn't make the last one due to work although I did show up late and got in the side games as tables opened up and allowed it. There were 52 or 53 that showed up for this one which is an excellent turnout and about all they can realistically handle.......probably 56 max. I stuck to a solid strategy of being tight aggressive early and it paid off. I won a bunch of little pots and got caught only a couple of times with my hand in the cookie jar which wasn't a big deal due to the slow build up of chips I had acquired. There were 3 solid players at my table, a couple of average calling station types, and a couple of very passive weak players.

The blinds were at 30/60 when I was dealt JJ in MP. I raised to $180 and was called by a player in LP and the button. The flop came 5 5 2 rainbow. I led out with $180......one fold and the button made it another $180 to go. I called and the turn was another 2. I bet the pot which was basically 2/3 of my stack and he went in the tank. He was one of the solid players at the table and I definitely didn't have him on a 5 or a 2 unless it was pockets and I didn't think he would have called the pre-flop raise with pocket 5's or 2's.....if he did and had quads he was going to get paid off. I put him on pocket 9's thru Q's. He finally mucked face up......pocket Jacks! As I raked in my nice pot I went back and forth on whether or not to show........I finally said...."Here are your other two" and flipped them up. The table exploded and he sat back in his chair taking his hat off in disbelief......standing up and walking around for a minute before returning and telling me nice bet. He went on tilt after that loosening up and lossing the rest of his stack within a few orbits.

That put me in solid chip lead position at my table and I was able to push a couple of people off of some hands. When we lost our next person we were all split up and moved to new tables. I had everyone outchipped at the new table I was put and immediately started putting pressure on the table with raises. After the first orbit couple of orbits we lost a player and the tables were being combined down to 3 tables. The player we got was seated to my left which was the only open seat. He was the chip leader of the tournament and I wasn't too happy about seeing him seated to my left......time to hunker down and get some hands while seeing how he played was my thought. The first hand after he sat down I was dealt A K o. I raised three times the big blind from LP and the chip leader doubled it with everyone folding it around to me. I thought about it and limited myself to two choices: 1) fold 2) put him to the test and push all in. I thought he could be trying to establish his presence at the table early with his chips although I put him on a pocket pair......9's, 10's, J's, or Q's. I pushed all in and after thinking for a few moments he called. After he called I said, "you're probably ahead." He replied, " I doubt it" and flipped over Q 7 s. I couldn't believe it! I had the Ace of his suit and he said, "let's see some spades" to which I replied, "as long as there are four of them." I hit an Ace on the flop and the board was rainbow with no flush to come. I had doubled up and was about even with him after that hand.

I rode those chips to the final table which ended up being 8 when numbers 9 and 10 were knocked out in the same hand. There were four of us fairly even with chips and the other four pretty short stacked. The short stacks were in push mode in relation to the blinds which were up there in relation to their stacks and the four short stacks went by the wayside fairly quickly. Three guys from my starting table all made the final table which was pretty amazing. I made a crucial mistake calling an all-in with pocket 5's four handed and he flipped pocket 6's taking half my stack when no 5 came to help. I got back to about even chips with the same guy in the next orbit or two when I looked down to find pocket Kings. I tripled the big blind and got only one caller. The flop came K rag rag and I was first to act......I checked. He pushed all in and I called instantly. He had middle pair and was drawing dead at the turn needing runner runner for quads to win. I had him out chipped.....Barely.....and practically doubled up. Another guy went out in third and I found myself heads-up practically even chip wise. We went back and forth for awhile both being fairly aggressive but not overly so. I had 9 8 s and saw a flop of K 9 8. He led out and I over bet the pot to make it look like I was trying to buy it and praying he didn't have a straight draw. He pushed and I thought about it for a few minutes before calling. He had K 3 o and got no help which put him practically to the felt. I won it a couple of hands later with A 8 o and got a straight using the 8.

It was a great feeling to win a live tourney of this size with lots of solid players. Very Very Gratifying. I will have a 5% bounty on my head for the next one. I hope that makes people loosen up some and gun for me......hopefully I'll catch some hands and acquire some chips.

All in all it was my first multi-table win either online or live........and my first cash of $1000 or more ($1100 total). Can't wait to defend my title in April.

Sorry the details are a little sketchy but I didn't take notes.......All from memory.

Baz Out.

Finally got back on the tables Tuesday night......4 tabled Empire to the tune of 40BB overall. Edging closer and closer to a move up in limits. It's amazing how comfortable I am 4 tabling now. I believe I actually improve my play when 4 tabling now because when I 2 or 3 table I am always reading e-mails or blogs while playing and miss turns or click wrong plays WAY more often then when I 4 table and concentrate only on playing the tables. I'm sure I still miss bets here and there from reads I could have gotten if I only 2 tabled and paid attention but I still think that overall profits will be greater overall with 4 tabling if I can do it comfortably.

Looks like I won't have a chance to play again until Friday night........it's my daughter's birthday this weekend and we have Chuck-E-Cheese tomorrow night followed by Sunday family gathering of cake and ice cream. Bi-monthly NLHE tourney is Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. My game has vastly improved since the last tourney. While I play mostly limit online.....starting hand requirements and importance of position understanding has come along way since the last tourney. Should be around 50 people or so and we'll see how it goes. I'm planning on reading the no-limit section of Super System 2 before then if I can. I haven't had a chance to pick it up yet and really read it.

Anyway.....quick random post today.........hope everyone's well.

Here there's a live WPBT event on the calendar now.....wish I could make it but it's not very likely this year with my wife getting ready to give birth to our third child. Things will be even crazier around the Baz household.

Take Care.
Baz Out

It was a long week with no poker. I wasn't able to play from Wed. Feb. 9th through Wed. Feb. 16th. We had my brother-in-law in town for the weekend which was a good time and work was busy the beginning of the week. My return to the tables at Empire last night was a good one. I played for two hours and finished up a total of 50BB. Well on the road to moving up limits again. My short term goal is to move up limits again by the end of March. I did so well I decided to fire up a sit-n-go over at PokerStars since I still have some money there from the deposit for the WPBT. I entered a 1-table limit sit-n-go and won it an hour and a half later. Not bad at all.

Unfortunately I won't get to play online again until Sunday night (hopefully). My sister-in-law and her husband are flying in Friday through Monday (they'll be elsewhere for the evening Sunday) and it should be a good time. Another weekend of PS2 wagering and heads-up Hold 'Em games. My Dad's monthly home game is this Saturday as well so I'll be playing some live home game poker which is a couple of hours of limit hold em followed by a sit-n-go. It's always a good time. Then to the bar afterwards to finish off the drinking.

My posting will even be more sporadic over the next month (I know....I know.....all 2 of you are thinking.....yeah right....like that's possible). My beautiful wife will be delivering child number three before I know it. It's exciting and I can't wait. Hopefully she makes it until the second week of March but you never can tell. We have a 3 and 2 year old now. It's a wonder I have time or money for anything much less poker. My wife does a fabulous job staying at home with the kids. I definitely couldn't do it.

Til next time.
Baz Out

I won't get to play poker this weekend until Sunday night. I knew it was coming so I busted my butt to clear the Empire bonus by mid-week........Which I did. My brother-in-law is coming into town for a quick visit. He just moved back to Iowa from Texas. It's good to have him back close enough to see more than once or twice a year. The weekend will be filled with hanging out with the kids during the day and drinking in the evening. We'll most probably head out to a local drinking establishment Saturday night after the kids go to bed for some drinks and Golden Tee. My brother and a couple other buddies will most likely join us. Should be a good time.

I've got my Dad's home game next Saturday night and a home NL tourney the following Saturday so I'm looking forward to the next couple of weekends for live poker. My sister-in-law and her husband will be in town then so much PS2 will most likely be played as well.

Hope a good weekend is had by all. Til next week.
Baz Out.

Tuesday Night Games

I cleared my Empire bonus last night while 4 tabling for the first time. It's amazing.......When I first started playing online 2 tables seemed very fast and it was all I could do to keep track of what's going on and not run out of time on one table while paying attention to the other. Then somewhere along the line 2 tables became slower.........I added a third table and it kept me busy but wasn't near as bad as when I first started with 2 tables. Then 3 tables became second nature. I 4 tabled last night for the first time and it definitely kept me busy but I didn't feel like my game suffered at all because of it. I actually think overall it was slightly better because when I 2 or 3 table lots of times I also read blogs, e-mail, surf, or whatever which takes my attention away. I really want to focus on playing when I sit down to play. I am going to try and focus my attention on the tables solely when playing. Now that the bonus is cleared I haven't decided if I will go back to 3 tables or stick with 4. It wasn't bad at all. I killed one table tripling my buy-in, broke even on two tables, and lost 10BB on the 4th. Not too bad.

I had the pleasure of sitting at a 1/2 table with Maudie last night. She only stayed at my table for about 30 minutes and played a solid game from where I was sitting. I said hello and apologize for not being more talkative but there are two reasons for this...........1. I was 4 tabling for the first time and was trying hard to pay as much attention as possible. 2. What exactly is the etiquette in that situation? I mean.....I wanted to say......"Hey Maudie, congrats and continued luck with the play." "Sorry you couldn't make the WPBT." Is that appropriate at a "regular table" meaning the non-blogger table? Would that cause a table to tighten up thinking we're old college buddies......or sweethearts talking over IM? Then again why would we talk in chat if we were talking via IM? Just curious others thoughts on this and what you've done in the past.

Lastly, I have begun working on my aggressiveness. I am too passive on the flop. I think I am aggressive pre-flop, mildly on the turn, and too aggressive on the river at times giving away bets when I shouldn't but I am definitely too passive on the flop. This is something I will work on for the future.

Gotta Run.
Take Care.
Baz Out

WPBT

Had a great time in the WPBT tonight. I was doing quite well at first.........Had built up my stack to around $4000 with the blinds at 75/150 when I made a bad call............I had AKo and flopped the A giving me TPTK. It was checked to me and I bet the pot. I was then check-raised all-in and I had him covered. The instant I was check-raised I thought AJ was a real possibility and I should muck........Then I thought about it and called. He had AJ and no help came for me dropping me down to around $2400. I was immediately moved to a new table and within the first orbit there was dealt AA in late position. The blinds were at 100/200 and it folded to me. I raised to $600 and was called. The flop was rags with 2 diamonds and I went all-in. He had me covered and quickly called with KK. The turn was a K and the river was not the Ace I needed. I was two outed and went out 69th. A little better than the halfway point. A little disappointed as I felt I was playing well and picking my spots. I definitely enjoyed it and look forward to the next tourney.


Baz Out

WPBT Tonight, Dr. Pauly's Post, Plus Random Thoughts

It's been too long since my last post............The WPBT is tonight and it will be my first time in a tourney with the bloggers. I registered this afternoon and big thanks goes out to the blogfather Iggy for putting this together. I can't wait to sit down and play with this group.........I'm looking forward to it as much for the chat as the cards themselves. I do feel like an idiot however.......when I registered this afternoon I saw the tourney listed at 21:00 hours on PS.......now I'm not the smartest person in the world but I'm not the dumbest either and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what in the heck time that was at much less what time zone.....I had to head over to the WPBT site to check for sure. That would tonight, Feb. 2nd, at 8pm CST. I'm soooo looking forward to it. It will also be my first time playing over at PokerStars so I'm looking forward to trying out their software and will most probably make a screw up or two as I learn.

I've been thinking alot about what this blog really is...............I had already started thinking about it as I seemed to simply be adrift not sure what to post at times.....or when. When I started I wanted to simply give myself direction as I found myself floundering in my online poker experience......I craved to get better......Having a place to put down my thoughts was like having a friend to sit down and talk with.........Hoping the poker blogging community would respond with comments and encouragement that I didn't think I could get elsewhere. Then I think I drifted..........I had started reading poker blogs and instantly fell in love and wanted to become a part of what looked like a wonderful community. I didn't know what exactly I could contribute if anything.......Maybe I'd be like that kid from the neighborhood while growing up that was never invited but always hanging around. I have always known I'm not a good writer so it seemed from the start I was going up a stream with very little paddle.......if any. I also don't have the time to put together

Then I read Dr. Pauly's post which really hit me right where I had been thinking. Dr. Pauly posted a rant on all of the new bloggers out there and the sheer numbers of new poker blogs that are popping up daily. Dr. Pauly's blog is one of the first I visited after stumbling upon the blogfather's.........I respect what he writes and look forward to his posts. I have read several poker bloggers out there state they weren't sure where they wanted to go with their blogs when they started and it took them awhile to establish their identity or find their groove. I guess I am hoping that I am in this group.........That since my poker blog is still in it's infancy I am searching to find the voice of my blog. Dr. Pauly's post today contains suggestions for new bloggers on how to help them find that identity for their blog. He states he will have more and is taking suggestions from others in the blogging community. I enjoyed his suggestions and look forward to additional ones. I also am going to be thinking hard about my poker blog and implementing some of these suggestions. I felt that I needed to post these fabulous long posts that were insightful and was failing miserably so ended up posting random thoughts and stuff.

Thanks to the couple of you that still visit here from time to time.............I will be hopefully implementing some changes and getting this blog going in the right direction. Which is the right direction? Time will tell.

See you tonight at the tables.......and thanks Dr. Pauly.

Baz Out