Playing 100-200 in round 4.
In seat 3 we raise to 575 with AK. Everyone folds and we pick up the blinds.
Seat 8 raises to 550 and everyone folds to us in bb w K5o. We fold.
Seat 5 raises to 400. Seat 6 calls. Everyone folds to us in Sb. We have 57o and fold. Not very exciting but thought I'd share it with you.
Seat 5 raises to 750 and we have 78h in seat 7. We go into the tank for a minute. If we hit, we could double up. We fold. Bb calls and we get to see the JQK flop. We had nothing.
Next hand plays the same way. Same guy raises to 450 and we fold 35d. Flop comes rainbow 46K. Both players check and turn comes 7. We would have had a straight!
Even though we have about 6000 in chips the blinds are going up fast and we already have only 20x the blinds. We can play poker now, but if we don't increase our stack considerably we will wind up short stacked and having to push or fold with no poker in between.
Old guy next to us limps from seat 4 and we raise to 750 from seat 5 with TJ. Everyone folds to old guy but he bucks the ageist odds and calls again. Flop comes 59K rainbow. Not what we were looking for but the more important question is whether it was what he was looking for. He checks and we bet 800. He folds. Good sign the flop was not what he was looking for.
Seat 8 raises to 450 and everyone folds to us in the bb. We call with 8To. It's only 250 to see the flop. The flop is ugly and we fold.
Everyone folds to us on the button and we raise to 575 to try to steal the blinds with A6o. Sb calls and flop comes 3TJ with 2 spades. He checks and we check. Turn comes 4d and he bets 675. We fold.
Round 5 - pots now have 25 antes from everyone making stealing more important.
Seat 3 limps and we are in seat 8 w QQ. We raise to 775 and seat 3 calls. Flop comes 45T rainbow. Perfect. He checks and we bet 900. Unfortunately he folds, but okay.
Next hand everyone checks to us and we raise to 475 with A7c hoping to steal. Everyone folds. Excellent, that's a 475 profit.
Level 6 starts. We're playing 150-300 with 25 antes. We were up over 7000 in chips and have slowly wasted to 6800. We are down to about 11x. Opening bets are 1000 now. Poker is getting harder to play. We need to double soon or claw chips in large chunks.
We are also half way through day 1, which only 15-18% will survive. Getting through with a moderate stack should make cashing fairly likely.
In seat 3 we raise to 925 with 22 and everyone folds. Great result.
Everyone folds to Sb who limps. We go into the tank and then check with Q6. Flop comes 345. He checks and we check. Turn comes A. He bets 500. He could have a 2, but betting would be a little aggressive. If he had an ace he would likely have bet pre-flop. We raise to 1300 and he pushes all in. Hmmmm. Not good. We fold.
Everyone folds to us on the button and we raise to 775 with 58 hoping to steal. The blinds fold. Great.
Our entire room breaks and we head with 6200 in chips to the pavilion and sit down at a full 10-person table.
The first cards dealt to us at the new table are pocket aces. Welcome to the table! To make it better, seat three limps and seat four raises to 750. We re-raise to 1900 in seat 5 hoping for a call. Everyone folds to seat 4 who calls and then checks blind. The flop comes 77K and its on us. We have about the same amount of chips as are in the pot and push all in. He snap calls and shows 77. He flipped quads!!!!
We are out, but will resume play in another wave of this Colossus tournament at 11:45 tonight!
This is a great tournament. Well worth taking another stab at it.
All the best,
Dinkey on break
Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Colossus no limit hold them, browns one, two and three
Opening hand. Seat four limps for 50 and we have Q9o. In s7. Not a good hand but we raise to 250. We are trying to buy the pot thinking seat 4 will fold because he is an older man, which generally means that he will hold. Long story, but true.
The bb and seat 4 call. Flop comes 56Q w 2 clubs. They check and we bet 525 wanting to pull it down before another club or A or K fall. They fold.
We win a similar hand and have about 6500 in chips when s4 raises to 175. We flat call from the button w AK. Blinds fold and flop comes 459 with 2 clubs. He bets 300 and we raise to 600 to see where he is. If he has a big hand he should raise. If nothing fold. He calls. Hmmmm. At least the raise should stop him from betting the turn. Turn comes 9c putting a pair and 3 clubs on the board. He bets 1500. Hmmm. Flush? 9? We have the Ac so we call hoping for an A K or club. River comes 2h. He pushes all in and we fold.
We don't play for a while and then wind up calling a very short stack all in with AJo. He has QK and rivers a Q to take it down.
Now we are short stacked and wondering whether to line up for the 7pm start!!! Wow this has started badly.
Seat 4 limps and we raise from seat 7 w AA to 175. Everyone but seat 4 folds. Flop comes 237, all hearts and we have the Ah. He checks and we bet 225 hoping for a call, which we get. Turn comes As. Amazing. He checks. We check hoping he will hit something on the river. We only have 1400 in chips so hopefully we can get it all in on the river. River comes 7 pairing the board. He bets 400. We doodle with our chips counting them for a bit and then push all in. It's now 1000 to him to call a pot that is about 2700. He calls and shows 23? Yes he flopped 2 pair, but on the river they lost a lot of value. Oh well, we have aces full and we are back to 3700 in chips. Still down but at least we have a little ammo.
Seat 9 (the 23 guy) raises to 150 and we call from the bb with k5s. Not a great hand but it's only 100 to us. Flop comes K72. We check and he bets 300. We min raise to 600. Let's see if he has a K and in any case bet before an A falls. He calls and the turn comes 5. Giddey up! 2 pair. Perfect turn. We check again and he checks. River comes 4. We bet 700 and he calls. We show and he shows a 74. He rivered a second pair. Lucky for us as ours is larger. Strange he didn't raise though? Could we have bet more? 700 seemed like something he would call with one pair or a weak king, we couldn't have hoped he had 2 small pairs. Could we?
Okay - back to 5000! Play ball.
To be clear - we have had some great luck for a couple hands and have no right to be sitting here save for the fact that luck swings a lot. Calm Donkey - go fishing.
Round 2 playing 50-100. Yep, all of the above happened in 40 minutes!
In seat 4 we have 56h and raise to 200. Button and bb call and flop comes 89J with 2 hearts. We have flush and gunshot straight draw. A 7 would give anyone w a T a bigger straight. Bb checks and we bet 350. Button calls and bb raises to 1100. Hmmmm. Any T destroys our straight and he could have hearts, which would certainly be bigger than ours. We fold and the button calls. This was an amazing hand to watch. They went all in on the river so we saw everything. The turn was 7s, which would have given us a straight, but the big blind had the 7 10, so he already had not only the straight, but the bigger straight. The river was the four of hearts, which would've given us the flush, however the big blind's 7 10 were both hearts and the button had the Queen King of hearts. The king and queen of hearts took it down. Lucky we got out!
Seat 4 and the button limp. The SB calls and we check w q9o in the bb. Flop comes 8QK. Everyone checks to the short stack button who bets 400 of his 1400. Probably a bluff. Prob doesn't have a K, but a decent Q beats us and he will push the turn even if he's bluffing. Not worth 1400 To find out. We fold.
We play lightly and fold a few hands and are down to 4000.
Playing 8 handed seat 7 limps, sb limps and we raise to 400 from bb with 9Js. Seat 7 calls and flop comes 9TJ w 2 hearts and a spade. Fantastic flop. We bet 450 on our 2 pair and he calls. Turn comes Qh. Worst possible card. Brings flushes and easy straights. We check and he bets 1200. We fold. He shows the Kd as he scoops the pot. Amazing flop went to total crap . . .
We are down to 3000.
Round 3 - playing 75-150.
Seat 4 min raises to 300 and seat 7 calls. Sb folds. We are in the bb with QQ and raise to 1150. They both call and the flop comes 35T with 2 clubs. Great flop for us. We push. We only have 1800 in chips and can't afford to let them see a card. Wish we didn't have to act first. Fine if they fold and we win 2400. Fine if someone rolls the dice looking for an over-card. They both fold, one showing a jk. Alright, back up to 5000!
Everyone folds to us on the button and we have AA. Wow. 4 premium hands so far. We raise to 350 and the blinds fold. Sad. Wasted aces.
Strange play we weren't in. Two players see a flop of 68J with 2 hearts. First player bets 500 and second player raises to 1300. First player says "re-raise call" and puts in a 1000 chip, sufficient to call but not raise. What? Was he trying to call the raise? Floor comes and makes the obvious call which is that he has to raise. He puts another 600 in to complete the raise and player 2 seizes the moment to push all in. Player 1 calls with TJ. Player 2 had TQh and turned a heart to take it down with a flush.
In seat 7 we raise to 375 with TJh and get called by the button and SB. Flop is a terrible 23k with one heart and two clubs. Everyone checks. Turn comes Tc giving us a mid pair but putting a flush on the board. Sb bets 1100 and we fold.
Seat 3 limps and 2 others limp. Sb calls and we check from the bb with Q3s. Flop comes 56J with 2 spades. We think about betting the flush draw but wait to see what seat 3 does. Seat 3 was player 1 from the weird hand above and now has about 1700 in chips. He bets 500 and everyone folds to us. Strange he didn't push. We call looking for a spade and get the 4c. We check and he checks. The river comes 9h. Did we have a 9. Think so, but strangely can't remember and don't want to look at our cards. He probably has nothing and wants to play another hand so we push. He folds and we check out our cards. Nope. It was a 3. Now we remember.
We end round 3 with 5700 in chips. Five people got knocked off of our table, which is likely consistent with the rest of the room. So the average stack is likely close to 10,000.
Hopefully no more for two hours.
All the best,
El Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
The bb and seat 4 call. Flop comes 56Q w 2 clubs. They check and we bet 525 wanting to pull it down before another club or A or K fall. They fold.
We win a similar hand and have about 6500 in chips when s4 raises to 175. We flat call from the button w AK. Blinds fold and flop comes 459 with 2 clubs. He bets 300 and we raise to 600 to see where he is. If he has a big hand he should raise. If nothing fold. He calls. Hmmmm. At least the raise should stop him from betting the turn. Turn comes 9c putting a pair and 3 clubs on the board. He bets 1500. Hmmm. Flush? 9? We have the Ac so we call hoping for an A K or club. River comes 2h. He pushes all in and we fold.
We don't play for a while and then wind up calling a very short stack all in with AJo. He has QK and rivers a Q to take it down.
Now we are short stacked and wondering whether to line up for the 7pm start!!! Wow this has started badly.
Seat 4 limps and we raise from seat 7 w AA to 175. Everyone but seat 4 folds. Flop comes 237, all hearts and we have the Ah. He checks and we bet 225 hoping for a call, which we get. Turn comes As. Amazing. He checks. We check hoping he will hit something on the river. We only have 1400 in chips so hopefully we can get it all in on the river. River comes 7 pairing the board. He bets 400. We doodle with our chips counting them for a bit and then push all in. It's now 1000 to him to call a pot that is about 2700. He calls and shows 23? Yes he flopped 2 pair, but on the river they lost a lot of value. Oh well, we have aces full and we are back to 3700 in chips. Still down but at least we have a little ammo.
Seat 9 (the 23 guy) raises to 150 and we call from the bb with k5s. Not a great hand but it's only 100 to us. Flop comes K72. We check and he bets 300. We min raise to 600. Let's see if he has a K and in any case bet before an A falls. He calls and the turn comes 5. Giddey up! 2 pair. Perfect turn. We check again and he checks. River comes 4. We bet 700 and he calls. We show and he shows a 74. He rivered a second pair. Lucky for us as ours is larger. Strange he didn't raise though? Could we have bet more? 700 seemed like something he would call with one pair or a weak king, we couldn't have hoped he had 2 small pairs. Could we?
Okay - back to 5000! Play ball.
To be clear - we have had some great luck for a couple hands and have no right to be sitting here save for the fact that luck swings a lot. Calm Donkey - go fishing.
Round 2 playing 50-100. Yep, all of the above happened in 40 minutes!
In seat 4 we have 56h and raise to 200. Button and bb call and flop comes 89J with 2 hearts. We have flush and gunshot straight draw. A 7 would give anyone w a T a bigger straight. Bb checks and we bet 350. Button calls and bb raises to 1100. Hmmmm. Any T destroys our straight and he could have hearts, which would certainly be bigger than ours. We fold and the button calls. This was an amazing hand to watch. They went all in on the river so we saw everything. The turn was 7s, which would have given us a straight, but the big blind had the 7 10, so he already had not only the straight, but the bigger straight. The river was the four of hearts, which would've given us the flush, however the big blind's 7 10 were both hearts and the button had the Queen King of hearts. The king and queen of hearts took it down. Lucky we got out!
Seat 4 and the button limp. The SB calls and we check w q9o in the bb. Flop comes 8QK. Everyone checks to the short stack button who bets 400 of his 1400. Probably a bluff. Prob doesn't have a K, but a decent Q beats us and he will push the turn even if he's bluffing. Not worth 1400 To find out. We fold.
We play lightly and fold a few hands and are down to 4000.
Playing 8 handed seat 7 limps, sb limps and we raise to 400 from bb with 9Js. Seat 7 calls and flop comes 9TJ w 2 hearts and a spade. Fantastic flop. We bet 450 on our 2 pair and he calls. Turn comes Qh. Worst possible card. Brings flushes and easy straights. We check and he bets 1200. We fold. He shows the Kd as he scoops the pot. Amazing flop went to total crap . . .
We are down to 3000.
Round 3 - playing 75-150.
Seat 4 min raises to 300 and seat 7 calls. Sb folds. We are in the bb with QQ and raise to 1150. They both call and the flop comes 35T with 2 clubs. Great flop for us. We push. We only have 1800 in chips and can't afford to let them see a card. Wish we didn't have to act first. Fine if they fold and we win 2400. Fine if someone rolls the dice looking for an over-card. They both fold, one showing a jk. Alright, back up to 5000!
Everyone folds to us on the button and we have AA. Wow. 4 premium hands so far. We raise to 350 and the blinds fold. Sad. Wasted aces.
Strange play we weren't in. Two players see a flop of 68J with 2 hearts. First player bets 500 and second player raises to 1300. First player says "re-raise call" and puts in a 1000 chip, sufficient to call but not raise. What? Was he trying to call the raise? Floor comes and makes the obvious call which is that he has to raise. He puts another 600 in to complete the raise and player 2 seizes the moment to push all in. Player 1 calls with TJ. Player 2 had TQh and turned a heart to take it down with a flush.
In seat 7 we raise to 375 with TJh and get called by the button and SB. Flop is a terrible 23k with one heart and two clubs. Everyone checks. Turn comes Tc giving us a mid pair but putting a flush on the board. Sb bets 1100 and we fold.
Seat 3 limps and 2 others limp. Sb calls and we check from the bb with Q3s. Flop comes 56J with 2 spades. We think about betting the flush draw but wait to see what seat 3 does. Seat 3 was player 1 from the weird hand above and now has about 1700 in chips. He bets 500 and everyone folds to us. Strange he didn't push. We call looking for a spade and get the 4c. We check and he checks. The river comes 9h. Did we have a 9. Think so, but strangely can't remember and don't want to look at our cards. He probably has nothing and wants to play another hand so we push. He folds and we check out our cards. Nope. It was a 3. Now we remember.
We end round 3 with 5700 in chips. Five people got knocked off of our table, which is likely consistent with the rest of the room. So the average stack is likely close to 10,000.
Hopefully no more for two hours.
All the best,
El Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Colossus no limit hold em rounds one, two and three - precursor
We start in the Maranda room table 4 seat seven. This is interesting because we have never heard of the Maranda room before. It turns out that they have converted the "poker kitchen", normally a dining area, into a room of poker tables to fit all of the players. They are truly in overflow. In addition to the approximately 4600 players I'm starting with, there will be multiple ways including players to replace those who gets knocked out.
There should be a lot of those open seats, because we expect to see a lot of people get knocked out with loose play.We expect to see some very loose play for two reasons. First, and most important, there will be a lot of fish who do not know how to throw away an ace, no matter what their other card is or what the board looks like.The more seasoned players will stick around a little longer in order to take advantage of these fish, resulting in even more money in the pots. Second,we are starting with relatively deep Stack's, playing 25–50 with 5000 in chips. This will promote a lot more action and a lot more players in each pot.
Each round is only 40 minutes, so this will be a fast-moving tournament. The stack size will not remain so deep unless we see a lot of people get knocked out quickly. We fully expect to see exactly that.The over under for the first two hours is that 3.5 players will get knocked out of our table. In most tournaments, the over under would be closer to one.
I'm about to sit down, but just had a man brush past me to spit into the trashcan I'm standing by. Welcome to the classy world of poker. Let the cards fly!
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
There should be a lot of those open seats, because we expect to see a lot of people get knocked out with loose play.We expect to see some very loose play for two reasons. First, and most important, there will be a lot of fish who do not know how to throw away an ace, no matter what their other card is or what the board looks like.The more seasoned players will stick around a little longer in order to take advantage of these fish, resulting in even more money in the pots. Second,we are starting with relatively deep Stack's, playing 25–50 with 5000 in chips. This will promote a lot more action and a lot more players in each pot.
Each round is only 40 minutes, so this will be a fast-moving tournament. The stack size will not remain so deep unless we see a lot of people get knocked out quickly. We fully expect to see exactly that.The over under for the first two hours is that 3.5 players will get knocked out of our table. In most tournaments, the over under would be closer to one.
I'm about to sit down, but just had a man brush past me to spit into the trashcan I'm standing by. Welcome to the classy world of poker. Let the cards fly!
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
Friday, May 29, 2015
NLH Colossus
Dear Herd:
Tomorrow we enter "The Colossus" - a No Limit Hold'em tournament that promises over 20,000 entries. This is a new event at WSOP offering 4 different entry options, and people who get knocked out of one can enter another later. Probably about 10,000 players, but 20,000 + entires. That's a lot of fish for a pescetarian Donkey.
We start at 10am with 5,000 in chips and play until we get cracked, or about 7pm. I will try to survive long enough to write about some interesting hands.
All the best,
All the best,
Your Donkey
Sunday, May 3, 2015
The Donkey Cometh
Dear Herd,
May 28 approaches at a snail's pace, but it comes, and the Donkey will rise again . . . With a bronze medal last year, it's time to trade up to the gold bracelet . . .
On a side, yet not unimportant note, I am doing an audit of the current mailing of this blog. If you would please take a moment to email your name to eric@kurtzmans.org , I would much appreciate it.
All the best,
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
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