A good start....?
Well that went well. I played my first game of my new self set task; a $5 STT on Pokerstars. I instantly doubted myself when i lost a third of my stack in the first hand. On a nondescript board that had been checked to the river by myself and two opponants i found myself sat in the big blind with A4 looking at 2 pair. I bet 300 on the river and one person raised to 500. I figured they must have pegged me for stealing and have 2 high cards or an ace kicker at best. I was getting great value to call for my 2 pair so i did and they showed trip 2's which the had hit on the flop and checked to the river.Fortunately i recovered ( i have learnt not to do your whole stack blind, ie without having some idea of what your opponants hold, a very important point i think!) and went on to win the table. It was a struggle from my poor start, down to the last 4 when i edged into the chip lead and never lost it. I was helped by someone who chose to sit out the tourny when down to the last five players and as he was on my left i simply stole his blinds uncontested with a raise every round.Anyway....phew. Off to a positive start with a first place and a $22:50 win.
If it's like this i'll do it in 6 months.
Sadly the same could not be said of my 2nd game, another $5 STT, when i gave free cards to a broadway draw against my trip 5's. I never recovered from the damage that did and i finished 4th and i lost the next one as i read the paper and watched tv. I must learn to focus. In my fouth game i fared rather better having switched off the tv and put away the newspapers and it had a dramatic effect; another 1st place. Bugger another 4th. And again, goddamn it then some fool with Q9 off suite sucksout to my AQ on the river! Unreal.......maybe this is going to be harder than i thought?
Results on the Pokerstars $5 STT's so far are - 1st, 4th, 6th, 1st, 4th, 4th, 9th.
Damn i'm back to square 1. Right concentrate. I only need two 1st places in a row...come on!
Start again then... 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st There you go it's easy when you concentrate. So let's try my hand at a $10 STT then.
Well that was botched....I went out in 6th to a freak hand. I flop the broadway straight with KQ and limped until two fools went all inwith A2 and A7. The turn and river came TT goving them both a Full House. What can you do eh? These things are gonna happen. Normal service is resumed on the next table with a win.
$10 STT - 6th, 1st
Alright.....cashed in 5 of the last 6 STT's i can cream this task in 6 months at this rate.
Couldn't resist a couple of $5 STT's on William Hill but i got nowhere with impatient tired play. They are lower stacked tourneys and faster blind rising rates than Pokerstars though. And one last game on Pokerstars which i came 4th in.
Blue Square - $115:84
Pokerstars - $39:42 - $113:42
PartyPoker - $23:19
Ultimate Bet - $95:00
Ladbrokes - $17:10
William Hill - $34:55 - $23:55
Original Total - $325:10
New Total - $388:10
TODAYS PROFIT $63:00
TOTAL PROFIT $63:00
I have been concerned recently about my performance on Blue Square, which is where i play mostly. I have been performing reasonably well in the MTT's there and regularly going deep but something has gone a little wrong lately. Iam making final tables and the cash places (down to 27) but i seem to have lost the knack to finish and make the big money places. Often this has been the result of being short stacked and picking a poor moment to go all in with. That is the key point, 'picking a poor moment', because the cards are really not that important are they?Well the most important thing is to be first into the pot when you're short stacked. Don't go all in with a caller in front of you and definately not with an all-in in front of you. Harrington refer's to this as the first in momentum, or something similar. I can usually get this right but sometimes forget and make a foolish play. They can be corrected but the key is to ensure you are doing this with a stack big enough to make your opponants think twice about calling you. Surely this has to be when you can stand less that 4 or 5 combined big and small blinds. I also take note of who is currently in the blinds and if it is a monster stack of perhaps a very short stack i tend not to push all-in then. If my cards are not important it's because i'm looking for people to fold, i don't want action. A very small stack in the blinds is more likely to think 'what the hell' and call and a very big stack may call because they can afford to and they know i'm desperate. So being first into the pot, selecting your blind opponants and position if you can get it are important here. the trouble is i can do all these things and this isn't what's bothering me. It's the cards....Are they really unimportant? I think i would be lieing if i said that they didn't matter when i pushed all-in. You need to give yourself a chance in case you are called, don't you! Well i have been stewing over what are the sort of cards you choose in this moment? And i can't decide. Sometimes i think it has to be any reasonable ace...A5 or higher because you have top card if you are called by KQ or KJ or even JT etc. But then i think that you are most likely going to be called by people with an ace and a decent kicker if you are called because they know your starting hands have dropped dramatically. in which case when you are called your ace is likely to be counterfeited and your kicker dominated. Which leads me to the other alturnative....suited connectors. Are these better cards to push with? If you do then yes you are likely to be dominated by higher cards but you can be fairly sure the will be live cards and you offer yourself flush and straight possibilities.I really don't know which is best to push with....but an interesting article i read on 'Two-plus-Two' went through the maths on this very topic yesterday. I am not sure of its findings, which don't seem to offer too much clarity but more a reassurance. Anyway i attach the link and any thought on how best to push would be most welcome. http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/current/kagan0706.html
If it's like this i'll do it in 6 months.
Sadly the same could not be said of my 2nd game, another $5 STT, when i gave free cards to a broadway draw against my trip 5's. I never recovered from the damage that did and i finished 4th and i lost the next one as i read the paper and watched tv. I must learn to focus. In my fouth game i fared rather better having switched off the tv and put away the newspapers and it had a dramatic effect; another 1st place. Bugger another 4th. And again, goddamn it then some fool with Q9 off suite sucksout to my AQ on the river! Unreal.......maybe this is going to be harder than i thought?
Results on the Pokerstars $5 STT's so far are - 1st, 4th, 6th, 1st, 4th, 4th, 9th.
Damn i'm back to square 1. Right concentrate. I only need two 1st places in a row...come on!
Start again then... 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st There you go it's easy when you concentrate. So let's try my hand at a $10 STT then.
Well that was botched....I went out in 6th to a freak hand. I flop the broadway straight with KQ and limped until two fools went all inwith A2 and A7. The turn and river came TT goving them both a Full House. What can you do eh? These things are gonna happen. Normal service is resumed on the next table with a win.
$10 STT - 6th, 1st
Alright.....cashed in 5 of the last 6 STT's i can cream this task in 6 months at this rate.
Couldn't resist a couple of $5 STT's on William Hill but i got nowhere with impatient tired play. They are lower stacked tourneys and faster blind rising rates than Pokerstars though. And one last game on Pokerstars which i came 4th in.
Blue Square - $115:84
Pokerstars - $39:42 - $113:42
PartyPoker - $23:19
Ultimate Bet - $95:00
Ladbrokes - $17:10
William Hill - $34:55 - $23:55
Original Total - $325:10
New Total - $388:10
TODAYS PROFIT $63:00
TOTAL PROFIT $63:00
I have been concerned recently about my performance on Blue Square, which is where i play mostly. I have been performing reasonably well in the MTT's there and regularly going deep but something has gone a little wrong lately. Iam making final tables and the cash places (down to 27) but i seem to have lost the knack to finish and make the big money places. Often this has been the result of being short stacked and picking a poor moment to go all in with. That is the key point, 'picking a poor moment', because the cards are really not that important are they?Well the most important thing is to be first into the pot when you're short stacked. Don't go all in with a caller in front of you and definately not with an all-in in front of you. Harrington refer's to this as the first in momentum, or something similar. I can usually get this right but sometimes forget and make a foolish play. They can be corrected but the key is to ensure you are doing this with a stack big enough to make your opponants think twice about calling you. Surely this has to be when you can stand less that 4 or 5 combined big and small blinds. I also take note of who is currently in the blinds and if it is a monster stack of perhaps a very short stack i tend not to push all-in then. If my cards are not important it's because i'm looking for people to fold, i don't want action. A very small stack in the blinds is more likely to think 'what the hell' and call and a very big stack may call because they can afford to and they know i'm desperate. So being first into the pot, selecting your blind opponants and position if you can get it are important here. the trouble is i can do all these things and this isn't what's bothering me. It's the cards....Are they really unimportant? I think i would be lieing if i said that they didn't matter when i pushed all-in. You need to give yourself a chance in case you are called, don't you! Well i have been stewing over what are the sort of cards you choose in this moment? And i can't decide. Sometimes i think it has to be any reasonable ace...A5 or higher because you have top card if you are called by KQ or KJ or even JT etc. But then i think that you are most likely going to be called by people with an ace and a decent kicker if you are called because they know your starting hands have dropped dramatically. in which case when you are called your ace is likely to be counterfeited and your kicker dominated. Which leads me to the other alturnative....suited connectors. Are these better cards to push with? If you do then yes you are likely to be dominated by higher cards but you can be fairly sure the will be live cards and you offer yourself flush and straight possibilities.I really don't know which is best to push with....but an interesting article i read on 'Two-plus-Two' went through the maths on this very topic yesterday. I am not sure of its findings, which don't seem to offer too much clarity but more a reassurance. Anyway i attach the link and any thought on how best to push would be most welcome. http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/current/kagan0706.html
posted by Stephen Daughton at 7:23 pm
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