ANZPT Queensland. Beautiful one day, want to jump off a building the next

Day 1 ANZPT

After deciding to change my flights I rocked up to Jupiters on the Gold Coast feeling pretty good about things this morning.

Last night didn’t get too crazy, I met up with Dan for a few drinks at one of the many clubs Aussie pro poker player Jamie Pickering owns on the Gold Coast, before retiring to bed at a reasonable hour.

So I showed up to my table and only recognised one person, Andy Meldrum who was 2 or 3 seats to my left. I’ve played a little with Andy in the past and he is definitely very good, but not one of the super aggressive players who could make life hell having him on my left.

I picked up a few chips early after raising 34dd in MP and firing again on the Q67dd board.

I turned the flush and bet again, and got a 3rd street of value on the river when my opponent made 2 pair.

Sensing that my table (apart from Andy) was fairly weak, I played much more aggressively than usual, and managed to pick up a lot of chips fairly quickly, and was up to about 36k when the following hand came up.

A player UTG opens to 400 at 50/100 I flat with JTs on the button and Andy calls out of the BB. The flop is 78x, Andy checks, original raiser checks, I make it 1050 Andy calls and the OR folds.

The 9 on the turn gives me the super nuts and I bet once again after Andy checks. He calls. At this point I discount a set because I feel Andy would have either checkraised the flop or turn … but I still don’t love the 8 repeating on the river.

I hate my life when Andy leads for close to 4k and elect to call and wince when he shows his 98 for a turned 2 pair and rivered full house. I actually think it’s a pretty clear fold on the river. So I was down to under 30k.

I continued to pick up small pots for a while with relative ease.

Sometime after the 2nd break I played an interesting hand with an older guy, who seemed very tight on my immediate right.

At 200/400 – 25 he opened UTG and I found QQ and 3b him fairly small. QQ isn’t the best hand to play from UTG+1 in a 3b pot so I didn’t want the pot to get huge.

The older guy called and we saw a flop of 562.

UTG checks, I bet 2/3 pot UTG calls.

Turn 8, UTG checks I bet fairly large and after saying “ok let’s gamble” UTG calls again.

The dealer drops the 9 on the river and UTG grabs for his chips (in a way where I know he is NEVER going to bet) and I deliberate for a minute before deciding I can get value from worse hands and bet about half the pot. UTG insta mucks and I rake in a nice pot.

Soon after I bust a young kid who I had been 3 betting all day when I pick up AA to his KK. Cooler spot for that guy given how many pots I’d already taken from him.

After the last break the table has gotten a bit tougher mostly due to a good player on my immediate left picking up a lot of chips (mostly from me when I turned the K hi flush v his A hi flush).

First hand after the break the BB is sitting out and I open AQs from UT, the cutoff who is a rock 3bs me and I stupidly decide to put him to the test. A test I fail miserably when he rolls the AA over and I’m down to just over 30k.

Fortunately very next hand it’s raised UTG, re-raised by a new player to the table with a big stack and I find KK. I put on my best tilt act and jam my chips in the middle and get looked up by QQ. Easy game … back to about 70k.

Not much happens for the rest of the day and I finish level 7 with just under 60k.

I go out for dinner with Punty and Dan (who are both still in) and Dan loses Credit Card Roulette again, and we get a fairly early night.

Day 2

I make the stupid mistake of playing tennis with Dan at our hotel in the morning. Despite getting through 2 sets (both of which I lose costing me $100) I manage to injure my back bending down to pick up a ball and can’t move without being hunched over.

I get back to the room and crash on the bed in agony and sleep for an hour or so, take some Panadol and get up again and make my way to the Casino.

My seating draw isn’t really ideal with 2 strong players to my left (the young kid from my first table who caused me problems, and Sydney reg Danny Joukhadar with the overall tournament chip lead).

Nothing much happens for the first few hours, I try to stay aggressive, but get 3b a lot pre flop and blind down to under 45k.

I hover around the same mark for the first 2 levels, before going on a mini rush and chipping up to about 70k by the time of the 2nd break.

At 500/1000 a player opens to 4k on the button and I call with Ac5s. The flop comes 985 and the button instantly jams for 2x pot after I check.

I think for a few minutes before deciding to go with it and call and win again the BBs A6o.

A short time later I play one of the more interesting hands of the tournament.

The button with about 38k opens to 4000 at 500/1000 and I call with 5c5s.

The flop comes 8s7s2x. I check planning to call any bet and the button checks back as I’d seen him do with hands like AQ AJ etc, so I figured he had 2 overs.

The turn was the 6s giving me the low end of the gut-shot straight flush draw. I check and the button bets 11k which I call thinking my 5s are still best.

The river is not a great card when it comes the Kh.

I check and the button jams for about 30k which is a fair % of my stack, and I think for as long as I’ve ever done in a tournament before going with my read and calling. His face tells the story as he flips up AT and I slam down my 5s which are good.

Before the day ends I also manage to pick up KK v KQ and win some chips off a lady who actually deals Hi Stakes Poker in the US. She dealt the biggest hand ever played on TV between Tom Dwan and Barry Greenstein which was cool.

I also manage to make another good call with 88 on a Q924 board against a player with AJ but he rivers his ace which to win a 80k pot.

I end up finishing the day with 160k which puts me about 10th of the 40 players who come back for Day 3.

We go out for dinner at Zen Chinese restaurant and Chris Levick loses Credit Card Roulette and pays the $1200 bill. I’m running super good at CCR the last few months which scares me as I think a big bill is just around the corner …

We contemplate going out but instead head back to the room to watch the cricket and get to bed.

Day 3

Despite my back still hurting from yesterday I manage to lose another 2 sets of tennis and $100 to Dan, but feel pretty damm good about my Day 3 draw. I have a fairly tough table, but am in a great spot with the 2 big stacks on my right.

Early on in the day I get it in with KK v a very short stacks AA and get there with a K on the turn, and at this stage I’m actually considering the possibility that I might make a deep run here.

At some point in the early going Scott ‘Punty’ Smith gets moved to our table and we have 4 of the top 6 stacks in the room … all on my right.

We get down to 27 when Dan is knocked out on the exact bubble and then redraw for seats.

At some point after the money bubble bursts a player jams and I make the call with red 88s and hold vs his KcJs despite a pretty bad flop of AQ3 with 3 spades and I’m over 250k for the first time in the tournament.

With blinds at 3k/6k –1k a player UTG makes it $15k I call on the button with 66 and the BB squeezes to $35k with about $150k behind. I make the call and to my surprise the BB announces he is all in blind. I remark that I guess I will have to flop a set – which obviously I do on the A64 flop and win easily v AJo which is drawing dead by the turn.

Soon after we re-draw at 18 players and I change seats to a table with good friend Joel Dodds 2 on my right.

We get down to 15 fairly quickly after some short stacks bust and I continue to win a lot of hands preflop or on the flop and by the time we are down to 12 players I have about 750k and the overall chip lead of the tournament.

Unfortunately with 11 left things start to crumble in a hand I start with about 680k.

A fairly aggressive player with about 375k makes it 40k at 8k/16k-3k and I elect to disguise my hand by flat calling QQ out of the BB.

I check the J74dd flop planning on making a big checkraise but Scott checks back aswell.

The turn is the interesting Qd.

I lead for 60k and Scott instantly jams his last 280k or so in the middle which I instantly call.

He shows Ad4x for bottom pair and a flush draw.

If I can fade a diamond I’ll have more than 20% of the chips in play on the Final Table bubble, and have a very real shot at my first title.

Unfortunately the dealer drops the Td and I am absolutely shattered. Being a poker player I should probably be able to deal with a beat like this … just brush it off as part of the game, but this one really hit me hard. I felt for the last 3 days that I had a legitimate shot at winning this tournament … apart from the one mistake on Day 1 with the AQ I thought I played really well. That’s not to say there isn’t things I can do better, but I was extremely confident.

I bust shortly after in 11th place when my AJ fails to improve against Joel’s 88 and I head straight for the exit – not even worrying about picking up the $9k in prize money. I just wanted to get out of the casino and ended up sitting by the river for about an hour by myself.

This is by far the most disappointing result I’ve had so far … much more disappointing than last years Vic Champs Final Table where I busted 9th because for 3 straight days here I gave myself every shot of winning, and had it taken away with one card.

But I’ll continue working hard, and hopefully get some better results in the future.

Congratulations to Joel Dodds (3rd), Punty (5th) and Danny Joukhadar (6th) and to Scott Kerr for winning the tournament.

Yes he had some luck, but poker – like many things – you have to make your own luck and capitalise on it, which Scott did.

Next up in Victorian Poker Champs this weekend ... so back to Melbourne, and hopefully back to the Final Table in this event.

Off to Vegas in 3 days

3 days and counting til I leave the frigid cold Sydney mornings for the ridiculously hot Desert heat in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I'll try to update the blog as often as I can however you can stay up to date with what is happening at www.pokernews.com/live-reporting

Hopefully somewhere along the way I'll be able to write about a big win !!

Busto from Melbourne Champs Main Event

Made a very last minute decision to fly to Melbourne for the Melbourne Championship Main Event.

I arrived at Crown 10 minutes before the tournament started, quickly registered and settled in for a long day of live poker.

About 30 minutes in the following hand came up:

Effective stacks 20k.

Julius Coleman opened to 250 at 25/50 and was called by another player. I re-raised to 875 from the SB with AKcc and only Julius called.

The flop was 9c7c2h with 2 clubs. I led for 1300 and Julius called after a moment of thought. The turn was the Kh and I bet 2300 and Julius made it 6k with about 11,500 behind. I jammed and he reluctantly called with JThh for a flush draw and double belly-buster straight draw. Unfortunately the river came the 9h and I was left with 1800 chips which I got in a few minutes later with 66 and lost to A9.

Fortunately this event is a repercharge event, so I was able to rebuy on Saturday. Unfortunately I woke up feeling like death, and proceeded to get worse throughout the first 2 levels. By the start of the 2nd level I was having troubles actually reading the cards - so I was constantly running to the bathroom to stick my head under a tap. I finally managed to track down some Panadol and also had a neck and shoulders massage at the table which started to help and soon enough I felt well enough to play.

At 50/100 I 3b KK in LP and got flatted by Chris Chronis. We both checked the AQx flop, then I called a 2/3 pot bet on the turn confident I was ahead, then the worst card in the deck another Q fell on the river which ensured the hand was checked through and MHIG.

Through a mixture of bad flops and no decent starting hands (QQ once) I get all the way down to 9950 before going on a bit of a heater and working my stack to almost
30,000 without showdown - mostly through aggression as I was still yet to pick up a hand better than 88 or AJ.

As it turned out the cards never improved and with an hour left in the day I tried to make a re-steal with J8hh when the button raised 2 limpers and he tank-called with 55. The flop actually made me a favourite when it came KK9 with 2 hearts, but I couldn't get there.

With 2 tables left in play I have several frinds still in the hunt including Steve Topakas and Mark Iskander, aswell as PNW regular Kristian Lunardi. Hopefully one of them can ship it.

Leaving for Vegas in 2 weeks ... but many friends are already over there taking part. Hopefully one of us can do something memorable !!

GL all.

FML FML FML

Yesterday I played in a one seat guaranteed WSOP Main Event qualifier.

First got a $12,000 package and 2-10th got $650.

PokerStars Tournament #163611009, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $30.00/$3.00
189 players
Total Prize Pool: $17820.00
Target Tournament #180000000 Buy-In: $11000.00
1 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2009/05/23 23:30:00 ET


Dear luckyshades,

You finished the tournament in 2nd place. A $650.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.


Congratulations!

F
M
L

Lost in translation ? I doubt it.

Not a lot to report (which begs the question why are you blogging I guess), but things have been fairly quiet.

I have been playing a little bit of 1/2 and 2/4 HU PLO which has been going pretty well. On Monday night I saw down at a 1/2 HU PLO table with a French player, who I quickly established was terrible at PLO, and won a few buy-ins. To my delight he was online the next night playing 2/4 HU PLO and I once again took him for about 2 buy-ins. Repeat for Wednesday night, another 3 buy-ins at 2/4 ! This guy was quickly becoming my favourite player and my personal ATM. In an effort to keep things friendly I would even throw in a few pleasantries in French into the chat. Bon Chance, Au Revoir and things like that (IPhone translator is really great for this type of stuff!)

Alas last night I logged in to find my buddy sitting alone at 2/4 HU PLO table. I sat in and before I could even type Bonjour he typed "no" and left the table.

I still managed to have a small winning session when I got it in for a full stack with AK86ds v AxQx5d6d on Ax7d8d board and miraculously faded the 4 9 or diamond.

I'm not going to make a habit out of playing cash games because my focus is tournaments, but they are a good option when you only have a short amount of time (and even better if you can locate a guy like my French friend!)

33 days until Vegas ... can't wait.

Preliminary Vegas schedule

Some of these events overlap, meaning in the event of making it to Day 2 I won't be able to play the event starting the next day. Hopefull that happens a lot !!

Arrive Vegas June 16th and check in at Ceasers.

17th June $550 NLHE @ Venetian
18th June $2,000 WSOP Event 36 NLHE
20th June $1,500 WSOP Event 39 NLHE
21st June $1,590 NLHE @ Venetian
23rd June $540 NLHE @ Ceasers
25th June $550 NLHE @ Venetian
27th June $1,500 WSOP Event 51 NLHE
28th June $3,000 WSOP Event 52 Triple Chance NLHE
30th June $5,000 WSOP Event 56 6 Max NLHE
2nd July $550 NLHE @ Venetian
5th July $10,000 WSOP Main Event

Hopefully the $10,000 Main Event will be the final event I play in Vegas, but if I were to bust there are plenty of other tournaments around town I can entertain myself with. Also, once I bust the Main I'll probably go visit friends scattered around the Country.

So all told it's close to $30,000 worth of tournament entries. When you see it on paper, it really makes you realise how expensive this is going to be - and I will need to be playing my absolute best every single day.

Won't be playing any live tournament series until Vegas, but will try and get a few online tournaments in. I have also been busy watching a lot of videos at LeggoPoker and PokerXFactor so I can be as prepared as possible for the gruelling few weeks ahead!!

ANZPT Main Event Recap

We started Day 1 with 20,000 in chips at 50/100.

I had a fairly soft table, with the only player of note Emad Tahtouh opposite me. Emad lost most of his chips really early, but managed to grind his stack for quite a few hours.

Anyway, nothing happened in the early going, I won and lost a few small pots and was sitting around 24k when the first really meaninful hand happened.

My first meaningful hand came at 100/200 where I opened to 600 with 67ss from the cutoff and was flatted by a solid Canadian player in the BB.

The flop came 9s9c2s

The BB checked and I bet 1100. BB called.

The turn was a red 10.

BB checked, I bet 1900 (I wouldn't hate checking back here with a good draw, but I bet because if I miss I know I have to fire a 3rd bullet on the river to win). BB calls the 1900.

River is a really good card without being THAT good for me - Kd.

Once again the BB checks, and I'm pretty certain he has JJ - and figure that I absolutely have to bet again here so I make it 3100. The BB tanks forever and seems to want to call, so I start talking to him and figure he is curious and might just call, so I offer to show him my hand either way and he snap folds.

I showed my hand and after exclaiming "GOD WHO FIRES 3 BULLETS THESE DAYS??" told me he had Jacks.

The next hand comes up at 200/400 - 25. A new player limps UTG and I overlimp AJcc. I guess I could raise here, but I'm happy to play smallish pots. Anyway, Emad jams about 6500 total, and after a bit of thought I call and hold against his A5. This takes me up to about 30,000.

Very next hand I play a somewhat interesting pot.

At 200/400 - 25a I open AQhh to 1150 utg and the button flats. My read on the button is that he is very tight, but in the last 30 minutes or so he seems to have lost his patience / focus and is seeming a bit down on his current situation.

The flop comes K93r with 1 heart. I bet 1800 and villain flats.

The turn is the As completing the rainbow. I check and the button bets 3k which I elect to flat.

The river is the Kc and I'm pretty sure my hand is good, but I'm happy to just show it down or call a small bet. Well the button decides to jam for about 1.25x pot.

I really think his range is pretty much 9s full or air so I call and my hand is good.

After this I get moved tables to what looks like a fantastic table with 2 big stacks on my right. Unfortunately I don't pick up any hands and soon have Andrew Jeffreys (Adgee) moved to my right who opens a ton of hands.

After the dinner break I spew off 20k of my 45k with 57cc on a Kc8c5d board to some old guy's AK and although I manage to open a few pots and win a few with 3 bets my stack hovers in the 20ks until we bag up at the end of Day 1 - me with $26,200 chips.

Day 2:

I know with my short stack I need to mix it up early and hope to run good. Sadly I don't and within the first 20 minutes with my stack already down to under 20k I jam 77 on Jai Kemp's BB but unfortunately Khac Trung Tran wakes up with JJ in the SB and flops a set to bust me.

In happier news though, I want to congratulate some friends of mine!

Firstly and most importantly to Paren "Puzz" Arzoomanian who won the ANZPT Main Event for $200,000 !! Well done mate.

Secondly to Daniel Neillson for shipping the $10,000 Hi Rollers event for over $100k

Importantly both Puzz and Daniel are staked by the same guy who stakes me - so great result !!

Lastly to Majed Haddad who just last month won $50,000 for his 2nd place at the APL Poker Classic following it up with 5th at the ANZPT Main Event for another $55,000 !!!

Can't wait to hang out with Majed in Vegas in a few weeks as he takes the USA by storm.