The Poker Thread

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:Nice one, RD. It says I need to collect VPPs to release the bonus. Say I deposit $20 now, how long would it take for me to collect enough VPPs?

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:Nice one, RD. It says I need to collect VPPs to release the bonus. Say I deposit $20 now, how long would it take for me to collect enough VPPs?

Drumstick wrote:Nice! Last night Aaron, Rex and myself all headed over to The Isle to play the £20 freezeout. We agreed in advance that we'd each take a third of each other's action. I had never played live before so I wasn't exactly sure how I would fare.

Starting stack of 7500, blinds changed every half an hour and started at 25/50.

My table then. After speaking with Aaron and Rex it seems like I had one of the better tables (i.e. better standard). I didn't really want to play a hand too early on but in the second hand I got tens in middle position. I made a raise to 300 and the button called. As I said it was the second hand and didn't know anything really about the people I was seated with, but the flop came ace high, I bet 300 and he instafolded.

A couple of notable hands at my table early on included a guy I named Biff/Biffa. He lost a chunk of his stack early. He and a guy who seemed pretty good and we will call David saw a flop of JTK. They got it all in, Biff had AK and David had JT. Turn was a king and Biff took the pot down.

Another Biff hand: he saw a flop of 578 and ended up getting all in with another guy who had flopped top two, Biff flipped over his 55 which held and now had a large stack.

I ran pretty card dead and stayed in between 7-8k until shortly before the break. I was dealt A4 in the big blind and two people limped in. After some small betting I made a straight on the river which also gave a third diamond. I made a bet of 800 which was about half the pot size. I was called by David who we found to be pretty good with a middle flush and so I dropped to around 5.5k before the break.

It turns out that after some chatter at the break we were all in pretty bad positions and I in fact had them covered which was disappointing. We shared notes in case we got moved to each others tables and talked about some big hands and some especially donk play we had observed. Sometime after the break Aaron's table broke and he was seated at my table. I was still running really bad,had about 4.5k and picked up KQss in middle position. Blinds were 200/400 and I raised to 1200. It folded to the BB who after thinking about it for a while went all in for 3k. I didn't really want to call as I felt I might be behind but I figured I have a decent hand and can't sit around waiting for a better one at this point. I called and he flipped over aces.

Flop AJX Turn X. River 10. Everyone omg'd and the guy wasn't too happy. After talking with Rex later apparently this guy went over to his table and started going off on one about it.

Anyway I'm now back up to around 8k but way below the chip average. Rex came over to our table as he had gone out. Sadly Aaron was eliminated soon after by a guy I named Blue Jacket who was to my immediate right. Blue Jacket was a little dodgy IMO. He called an all in for 75% of his stack with AJ and KO'd a guy who had JJ. Aaron pushed all in for his remaining 3k and this guy called with AT. Aaron flips over KK. Flop comes ten high. Turn is another ten leaving Aaron needing a two-outer and predictably it didn't come.

After this I didn't really get involved in another hand on this table, and it got broken so I moved table. I was still pretty short stacked at this time, but I managed to pick up AJ and AQ, went all in pre and everyone folded and boosted myself to around 12k which was ten big blinds. I eventually got blinded down to around 8k. I picked up AKss in the small blind and went all in. The big blind suspected I was just trying to steal so he called with KQ, and my AK held.

Soon there were only two tables left. My next big hand was a little while later against a really tight player I called New York because he was wearing a NY hat. He raised to 7k from early position in my BB. I think I had around 16k at this point, and looked down to find QQ. I took a few moments and announced all in. New York took ages thinking about it, he counted out the chips it would take to call and looked how much he'd have left. He elected to fold and I was up to around 25k. I don't think I got involved with any other hands until the final table arrived. Incidentally whilst it was hand for hand there were two knockouts so we started with eight instead of nine.

Before this there was a break, so the three of us talked about what we knew about everyone at the table.

Seat 1: Biff (quite tight, seemed okay but not great)
Seat 2: Gaz (aka The Big Stack, hadn't been seated with him until the FT)
Seat 3: New York (very tight, possibly tighter than me)
Seat 4: Black Ben (good player, was on the final table when Rex won this event a while back)
Seat 5: Blue Jacket (pretty dodge, but tight)
Seat 6: Jamie (Rex had played with him and he was a good player, had made a brilliant call earlier when I was seated with him)
Seat 7: Joey (Rex advised he was pretty good and he was on my table when it got down to two)
Seat 8: Me (first live tournament, forgetting to post blinds, antes, general noobstick)

I was the short stack at the table and with ten or so big blinds I was playing a push or fold game. My image was pretty good but I didn't really utilise that. I was dealt KK UTG and got no callers after shipping pre. A little while later I picked up KQdd and decided to just call from the early position. Gaz, who had just lost w/ 55 vs. AJ to Biff for the majority of his stack said that it was surprising as I been folding or pushing up until this point. I just about had him covered and he pushed all in. I thought for quite a while before calling. He flips over JT but the board didn't improve either of our hands so I doubled to around 55k and had an average stack for the first time since the start of the tournament. Some time later Jamie got it all in with Blue Jacket. Jamie was getting a little short and tried to bluff, however BJ called and turned over AQ to Jamie's 89o. Jamie made a straight to really dent BJ. Blue Jacket then went out next although I can't remember what happened, meaning I made the cash.

My next big hand was against Black Ben. He had a pretty big stack, probably around 80k or so, I have about 40k at this point and look down to see AQ UTG/UTG+1. Blinds are 2k/4k I think and I raised to three big blinds. Everyone folded until it came around to Ben. He stared me down and after a minute or so announced all in. This was a tough decision as I knew he was a very good player but I went with my instinct and called. He flipped over AJ and although the board gave him a flush draw at the turn my hand held after nobody improved.

Soon after he went out when his QQ failed to hold against Jamie's AK. After this, New York went out after being blinded down and we got four handed. Eye witnesses suggest he had a VPIP of lower than 5%.

Another hand after this I gained chips from was against Biff and Joey. Joey limped in from the button (blinds now 6k/12k I think). I made up the remainder with 22 and Biff checked the big blind. The flop came 6d 4d 2x. I bet out 12k, Biff called and Joey folded. Turn was Jh. This time I bet out for 24k. Biff seemed to get annoyed here. He mumbled something about how I had been playing push or fold earlier (maybe he didn't see my small stack). He elected to fold.

At this point my lack of short-handed play started to count against me I think. I called from the SB with 85ss against Biff and I checked the dry flop. Biff went all in and I mucked, but I remembered this for later.

Jamie had a monster stack now with Biff in second. I had around 80k for a long time and Joey was the shorty. The next hand I remember was when I called w/ Q5 in the small blind against Biffa. We saw a flop of QX5. I checked the same as I had before thinking Biff might make the same play as before. He checked back at me though and we saw a turn of 4x. Against check-check. I made a boat on the river with another queen and I made a min bet to try and extract some value. Biff thought about it and folded.

After this nothing really seemed to go my way and I was getting dealt some awful cards. Some time later Biff makes a big raise UTG which is for most of my stack. Jamie and Joey fold and I look down to see 77. Obviously I insta-all in here and Biffa calls. He flips over AK and the flop brings an ace ending my run. £110 for 4/57.

Drumstick wrote:Well played.

I don't mind running the awards. Again though, if someone else wants to run it then by all means give it a bash. If not, I'll do it. For now we should come up with a decent sized list of possible awards.