1,000,000 Reasons to Play

It was a nice all around poker day on Monday. My buddy managed a 2nd place finish on an Absolute Poker $20 tournament which netted him $300. I got to watch the final table and sweated him a little. The action was fast and furious from the time the table started until the very end. He just sat back with a big stack and watched the other players bust out. It feels good to watch others bust and you aren't in the middle of it. Did I mention my accomplishment? I qualified for the Sunday 1,000,000 tournament on Pokerstars. This is by far the biggest tournament that I will have played in. If you don't know, Pokerstars boasts that every Sunday they have a million dollar guaranteed tournament.

This past weekend, I had been playing some double shootouts. I had never played before this weekend, but I heard that they were a good way to get a cheap entry. I decided to put some money in my account and give them a try. On Saturday, I played in three of them during the day. Now, I know what you are thinking... However, these tournaments actually run fairly quickly. Basically, all you have to do is win two sit n' go tables to get the big prize. They have a max of 64 players, so that is eight tables with 8 players in the first round. Winners of the eight tables move on to the final table where the prizes are awarded. Usually all the people at the final table get a prize. The big prizes are held for first and second place with those being entries to larger tournaments.

Like I said, I played three of these shootouts. In the first, I barely missed making the final table. I got down to three handed and busted out with getting anything. During the second one, I faired much better. I not only managed to make it to the final table, but I finished third. The tournament entry was awarded to first place and the rest of us got $35 for our troubles. So close, but I was hooked like you wouldn't believe. They are really fun tourneys and the price is right at $10 a pop. For just $10, you can parlay that into maybe something huge. The third tourney was just like the first barely missing the final table. All in all not a bad day, I had made $35 in one of the shootouts and that covered my losses on the other two. The real prize was the experience and confidence that I gained in knowing that I could be successful.

On Monday, I decided to give the shootout another try. I spent the afternoon at my buddy's place. He cooked hamburgers and we all celebrated Memorial Day. Not to mention, a much needed day off from work. We also got to see his newborn as well. She is doing very well and dad is so proud. It was late afternoon and I got on Pokerstars to play another shootout. Primo was there along with another buddy of mine. We kind of triple teamed that tourney and it worked out. I played the first round and quickly busted my table. I moved on so quickly that there were 6 other tables still playing. That gave me a little time to regroup for the second round of the shootout. Once we got down to five handed at the final table, I picked the intensity and forced the action. I knocked out most of the players and received one of the two $200 tourney entries that was awarded. Next Sunday, I get to play for the first time in the million dollar tourney. I can't wait and I am sure that no matter what, it shall make for a great story...

Pokerstars Blogger Championship

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7380593

Poker and A Baby Girl

On Wednesday, Primo was playing in a partners qualifer on Bodog. He has been a partner with them for almost a year now. In appreciation of all their affiliates, Bodog is hosting a series of points tournaments. All the partners get to play in these tournaments free of charge with the goal of gaining points each time. The top 30% or so with the most points at the end get to play for a seat to WSOP 2006 Main Event. Bodog has been giving away tons of seats and they haven't forgotten their affiliates. I think this was the 3rd tournament so far and he hadn't been doing very well. I played in the second tourney and did horrible for him, but he was looking to make a comeback.

He was playing Wednesday and doing very well. For most of the tourney early on, he was the chip leader dictating all the action. Then about 9:30 pm, he called me on the phone and was in a panic. His wife, who was 8 months pregnant, had gone into labor. She was in a lot of pain and he was taking her to the hospital. I was to take over the tournament for him and be sure that I placed in the points. He was doing very well and I didn't want to screw it up for him. After he hung up, he rushed his wife to the hospital. Later on that evening, she gave birth to their first child.

As for the tournament, I finished in 16th place and I hope that was good enough for some points. However, Primo got something even better than points. He now has a baby girl to share all his poker stories and bad beats. Congratulations to Primo and his wife on the birth of their baby girl.

Really disappointing

I almost forgot to write about my "big" tournament cash last weekend. I played in a $5 rebuy tourney on Absolute. I don't usually play rebuys because I can't stand the structure. Everyone goes crazy until the first break and then they finally decide to start playing. If you haven't played in a rebuy tourney before, I will set the scene. Players go nuts looking for the quick and easy double up. They can afford to do because the rebuys are so cheap and plus they are unlimited for the first hour or until the break.

Back to the tourney, I bought in for $5 and that got me 1,500 chips. Right away, I did a rebuy which everyone does and got an extra 1,500 chips. Now, I started tournament with 3,000 chips and was invested for $10, so let the mayhem begin with 139 players. Like I said earlier, it was crazy at my table. Players were going all-in left and right trying for the quick score. If they busted, just a quick click of the button and they were back in trying again. This one guy at my table must have gone through $40 (doing the math, that is 8 rebuys). He was the chip distributor at my table. Everyone loved the fact that he was there because he was giving away chips like it was Christmas.

During that first hour, I played exactly one hand the entire time. Yes, that is right one hand. Can you guess what hand it was? Pocket aces and I doubled my chips to 6,000 or so. Now I say I only played one hand, but that was to the river. I played others and stole the blinds with no flop, so I don't really count those at all. We got to the break and I was sitting at around 6,000 chips. That was good enough for a place in the top 20 chip leaders.

After the first break, the rebuy period was over. We did have an opportunity to do a double add-on for $5 each. That gave us 1,500 more chips for each $5 spent. I did the double add-on and that push my chips to nearly 10,000. To recap, I am now invested in this tourney for $20 ($10 from the buy in and rebuy; $10 from the double add-on). The tourney began right now with players getting serious. We had a few bust during the first hour, but they would start coming fast now. Believe it or not, some people chose not to add-on or even re-buy. That left that in a serious chip deficit because most of us bought more chips. That leaves a huge hill to over come later on with blinds moving up.

My strategy early on was to play tight and conservative. With so many people left, I wanted to buy my time. I only played premium hands or hands that I had position on. If I played a hand, it was for a raise. As I anticipated, the bust out came with a fury. We got below a hundred pretty quickly. I was doing well so far. I would pick up a few blinds and that kept me on pace for the tournament. During the second hour, I didn't really play any significant hands. The blinds were still relatively low compared to my chip stack. That gave me the option of folding a lot and not having to worry about becoming short stack. All that being said, I managed to go into the second break adding a few thousand to my count. I was roughly around 12,000 once the break. I was feeling good that I managed to keep my position on the leader board.

In the third hour, I played a huge hand with a monster pot. I picked up A-7 suited in spades and made a raise in late position. I got two callers both of which were the blinds. The flop came out A-J-5 with two spades. That gave me top pair with the nut flush draw, so I was looking to get paid off. The small blind checked and so did the big blind. I made a bet of about half the size of the pot. The big blind was the only caller and we saw the turn. It was no help to me, but I thought the same of my opponent. I didn't think it helped him either. When he checked the turn, I checked behind him. The river card was a spade completeing my nut flush. On the river, the other player made a pot size bet. At this point, I put him on A-K off suit or maybe even two pair. What was even more curious is that he bet out with a flush draw out there. I finally concluded that he must have the King of spades and some other spade as well (maybe K-J of spades). With that read, I went over the top and move all in for the rest of my chips. I had about 15,000 at this point. I knew my hand was the best and maybe I could entice him to call with the overbet. Sure enough he called my raise. He mucked his cards, but I was pretty sure that he had the King high flush. I raked in a pot of over 45,000 chips and that vaulted me to the top of the leader board. I was in 1st place and feeling great about my chances to win this tourney. With this size chip stack, I could cruise right into the final table.

The payout for this tournament was top heavy. First place would get $600 and the rest of the pool was divided among the others. The top 18 would get paid for the efforts, but the big money was in the top 5. I needed to make it there in order to make any kind of profit for my time and effort. After that big hand, I only into one other confrontation before the third break. I made a slight miscue and lost a sizable pot. However, I was still in good shape and in the top 15 on the chip leader board. As we closed in on the third break, we were right at the money bubble with about 21 players remaining. Only the top 18 got paid anything, so the action grinded to a halt.

We had been playing for over 3 hours now. We started the tourney with 139 players and were down to the final 20. I continued to play tight, but aggressive when I was in there. Players were busting, but other players were getting their chips. My position on the leader board sank a little, but I was still in good shape. Shortly after the break, we burst the bubble and got into the money. Once the severe short stacks were gone, it took a awhile to bust someone. We all had a lot of chips and the blinds were still low. They were up there, but they were only at 500-1000 with a 75 ante. I had over 35,000 at this point and could afford to fold a few blinds away. We got down to 17 and it took forever to lose a player. After about 20 minutes, we lost another player and were down to 16. That is when this key hand came up that changed everthing.

I happened to be in the small blind and got dealt pocket jacks. Action went around the table with two limpers and the button as well. When it was my turn, I decided to make a push and raised out of position. I got one limper to fold, but still had two in there including the button. Pocket jacks is the kind of hand you don't want to see a flop. I started to get this funny feeling and sure enough it was right. The flop came out A-10-5 with 2 suited cards. It was the worst kind of flop you could imagine for pocket jacks. I stayed strong and backed my raise with a healthly 2/3 the size of the pot bet. I got one player to fold, but that stubborn button was still in there. It was just hard to put him on an Ace, so when the turn came I pushed all-in. It didn't even matter what it was, I decided to go on my gut and read. I moved all-in and the action was on him. He instantly called and when I say "instantly" the computer didn't even have time to catch up. He flipped over pocket aces and had top set. I was drawing dead for all intense purposes. The only way to win was to catch running jacks and do you know the odds on that. Let's just say...very, very small. He had me cover in chips and I busted out in 16th place extremely upset with myself. I had jacks and made a play, but ran into a big hand. Nothing else I could have done.

What did I receive for 3 and a half hours work? 16th place paid out $20.39. Let me refresh your memory... Remember that I was invested in this tourney for $20 with the rebuy and add-ons. Let's do some math... $20.39 - $20.00 leaves me .39 cents profit. I played poker for three and a half hours and made a whopping .39 cents profit. I found that in my couch later on and doubled my money...

Last Chance for Champs

Tonight, the Spurs must win in order to stay alive. No more planning or preparing, they must fight, claw, scratch, bite and do what ever it takes to win. In fact, they have to win out just to advance to the next round. They are down 3 - 1 to the Mavericks and lost two heartbreakers over the weekend. If there ever was a MUST win, then tonight is the night. I will be there cheering and screaming my head as I have always done.

I played in the weekly SAPC Full Tilt tourney on Monday. We have 12 players which is just about what we are averaging. I played really well and managed to build my stack to over 6,000 chips. Then I ran into the monster of all hands, quads. I have A-K and raised in early position. The other player had jacks and he made a re-raised in late position. The action was folded around to me, so I called and we saw a flop. The flop came 5-J-J and I checked to the raiser. He made a check as well and the turn card was a King. That gave me top two pair with top kicker as they say. I checked again with the intention of check raising his bet. He made a curiously small bet which should have been a warning sign. However, I put him on a lower pocket pair. Also, he didn't have many chips left and I forced the action. I check raised all in to put him all in. He called instantly and flipped over pocket jacks. He flopped four jacks and had me drawing dead. He slow played it beautifully by checking and letting me catch up. It is a great lesson for young players. When you flop a monster hand, check and let your opponent try to catch up. You are either going to get paid off or win a small pot.

In this case, my opponent let me catch and I thought my king was good. He played it perfectly and managed to take a HUGE chunk of my chips away. I never really recovered from that hand and busted out of the tourney. We are playing again next week, so I'll get my chance at redemption.

Retama, the Derby and a little poker

Last weekend, I went out to our local horse track for the first time. It was Derby day and Retama Park was packed with people. Everyone was anxious trying to get their bets in for the big race. My buddies and I went out there for the day. I arrived just in time for the 9th race at Churchill Downs. The 10th is the Kentucky Derby and it followed about an hour later. Like I said, the place was filled with people looking to wager. Primo and I stood in line for 45 minutes and still didn't get to place out bets. It was okay because none of them hit, so we saved a few bucks in the long run.

After the big race, we stayed for the live racing later on that night. It was the first time that I had seen live horse racing. I have been to the dog tracks before down in Corpus Christi, TX. We placed a few bets and I managed to hit a $1 exacta bet in the 5th race. I was excited because it was the first real bet that I had ever one. The $1 bet paid me $16 back. Not bad, but it helped to cover my other losses. You can say I was freerolling the rest of the evening. I meant to make it a $2 bet, but the lady taking bets was in a hurry and screwed up my bet. My buddies and I placed a few other bets, but none of us hit it big. They each won a few smaller bets, but I was the "big" winner for the evening. All in all, we had a great time and are maybe looking to do it again. The Preakness is in one week...hmmm.

Also, I got back to playing a little online poker the other night. I jumped on Absolute (my new home because I get rake refunds from RakeRefunds.com) and played a little at their 3-6 limit tables. I meant to play 5-10, but no one was playing. I ended up wondering to the 3-6 tables and did fairly well. I played for about an hour and a half while watching TV. At the end of my session, I was up about $60 plus my bonuses. I really didn't get into too much trouble. I only had one hand where I should have called it down. I had flopped a set and the other guy made a flush on the turn. He would bet and I followed with a raise. Then he would three bet it and that should have been a red flag. However, I fell in love with my set and was looking for some money.

Poker Time

Over the last couple of night, I have found a little time to play. I worked my way through some SNG' and had a 50/50 record. The very first one that I played was a points SNG where I put up a 100 of my points. The winner got 500, second got 300 and third received 200 for their efforts. The next one was a $10 SNG for cash money. You battle your way through a single table and try to get in the money. I really liked SNGs because they are a great way to sharpen your skills. Lots of action for a really small price. If you play in enough and do well, the money can really start adding up. Finally, I played in the SAPC Invitational the other day on Full Tilt.

The first SNG was a points buy in. Ten players put up 100 pts from their accounts to try and win more. The table started out fine and I was picking up a few good hands. I managed to build my stack to take the chip lead. Then on this one hand, I had J-10 suited and limped to see the flop. I flopped the nut straight and am looking to bust a few players. There is only one player in and to my delight he was betting into me. On the turn, I raised his bet when my computer lost the internet connection. I couldn't believe it happened right when I had a huge hand. For almost 20 minutes, my computer was down and there was nothing I could do. Then finally it came back and I was still at the table. Four players had busted out while I was gone and my stack had gone down. I was now sitting in fourth place and really had to do some work. Fortunately, I was dealt some sick cards and manage to win the SNG for 500 player points. I was getting some awesome cards and catching monster flops. There was really nothing the other players could do. The train was rolling and they couldn't get out of the way. The other SNG that I played was a different story all together. Talk about being card dead the whole time. I tried several time to make some moves, but got snapped back each time. Every time I would make a play, another player would play back at me. My chip stack dewindle down and I was eventually forced to go all in. I failed to improve my hand and was busted out in 6th place.

A couple days ago, I played in the SAPC Invitational on Full Tilt. It was a private tourney that Primo and I set up for the member of the SA Poker Club. We had a pretty good showing with 12 players signing up to play. I didn't fare too well in the tourney either. I had K-J suited and pushed hard. The other player in the hand kept calling and I knew that he had a jack as well. However, I didn't know that he had a monster draw as well. He had J-9 and had flopped top pair as well as a flush draw. The turn card brought him a straight as well. I don't blame him for calling my all in on the turn because he had lots of outs. He rivered a straight to bust me out in 11th place. Not exactly the kind of result I was looking for, but it was my fault for pushing so hard with top pair.

There's your poker lesson for today: Don't go broke with one pair.

It's Not Personal, It's Business

I haven't really played a lot in the last couple of weeks. Sure, I have played some SNG's and other small tourneys. However, I just haven't sat down to a real good session of poker lately. I have been spending all my free time the last couple of weeks pursuing business opportunites involving the game of poker. It is the biggest thing around and we all want a piece of the action. I have been fortunate to have a few opportunites come up and have been actively pursuing them. If all goes well, they could lead to even bigger opportunites down the line for me.

The first project that I had been busy with was a tournament that we just completed. My buddy and I helped run a huge event last weekend. There were 100 players and over 11 dealers. We had to coordinate 11 different tables and the dealers that go with them. We had to pass out chips, move players and combine tables as players busted out. I spent the majority of the day dealing cards. As we got down to the final few tables, I was relieved of my dealing duties and helped with the floor management. Overall, it was a great success and everyone that played seemed to be happy with the management of the tourney. One minor project that I undertook was to train my other buddy on how to deal. He had never done it before, but wanted to learn. I spent the previous weeks leading up to the event training him on the finer points of dealing. He did a great job and gained some valuable experience. Everything went well and this could lead to several more big tourneys for us in the future.

Finally, I have been working on a new long term project. I have partnered to create a new rake refunds site. It is going to be called RakeRefunds.com. We are going to try and entice players to join our site. The goal is for them to join one of our affiliates and play online poker on that particular site. As an incentive, we are going to refund them a portion of the rake that they generate on that site. It could be a few dollars or several hundred dollars a month. It all depends on how much that person plays and it is really that simple. Just play online and we'll refund your rake back to you. We are working on the final details for the site as well as the content. It should be ready in a few weeks and we'll go live. I am going to add the name of the site to my poker stuff links on the right side of the page. I just won't make it an active link yet because there is nothing online right now. If you are interested in getting rake refunds, shoot me an email or just drop me a comment and I will get back to you.

I am really excited about these business opportunites right now. The only problem is that they take away my poker playing time. Stay tuned and check back often for more details on RakeRefunds.com.