Not another Bad Beat story

Hey Blog! Long Time......

2011-05-19T13:54:00.005+08:00

It's been a long while since I last posted in my Blog. I have a lot of materials to write about. I'm already excited to start posting again. Im just kinda stuck with everything that's happening around me. First of, I am now a proud owner of my very own poker card room. It's called the Empire Poker Sports Club in Pasig City, Philippines. Also, I had a chance to visit London and got a chance to play at the place where the World Series of Poker-Europe is being held. Likewise, I also had a chance to play some of the biggest cash games in the Philippines. One game I played appeared to be just medium staked game, with the blinds at $5-$10. But the game had an ante of $70! By Philippine standards, that's about what one person earns in a month! Of course, in all of these experiences comes a lot of hand situation worthy of my "not another bad beat" tales.

I will start posting in a couple of days. Let me just get my thoughts together and get caught up in a writing mood. Til then.

High Stakes Poker

2010-10-12T16:52:00.001+08:00

I've had several opportunities to play in what I consider as High Stakes poker. I often play the 50-100 or the 100-200 blinds. Normally, the buy-in would be between 10K to 30K. I find myself comfortable in these games. I particularly choose my seat so as to avoid acting before the aggressive players. So far, I've had good success in these games.

However, last weekend, I was invited to a high stakes poker game. Blinds 200-400. Ok, I thought, "how could this be any different from the games that I've been playing". I'm thinking that I will just buy-in for 50K and play my usual game. And so I thought it would be so. Just when were about to start, one of the players suggested to have a 200 ante. Hmmm, this sounds like an action filled night. When we started (8 players), 5 of the players bought in for 100K. The game started well for me. In 2 hours, my 50K was now 110K. However, everytime a player loses 10 to 20K in a hand, that player tops up his stack with 50K. I figured that this game was designed for someone with deep pocket to win, coz even though I was winning, everyone had me covered. I sensed that if ever I was dealt a bad beat, all my chips would vanish. I had to be really careful. And the inevitable happened. I had JJ at utg +2. I raised to 5K. 4 players called. Flop shows J, 9, 7 no flush draw. I have top set. I bet 15K. Only 1 player folded. WTF! Turn showed a 2. I figured that its Take Down time, so I made a bet of 30K. 1 player called, the 2nd folded, and the 3rd guy pushes All In for 55K. I had about 60K behind. Top set with no flush or straight draw, so what am I suppose to do? I went All In! The 1st guy folded. With over 200K in the pot, the dealer ask for the players to show their cards. Still top set for me and the other guy shows 88! What?! And now the river card. Burn, flip and a 10 on the river! Whoa! He just made a straight!!! Ouch!.

I re-bought for another 50K. However, at the back of my mind, I thought that this game was not for me. I would probably break this game if I had a million with me. The players were all gamblers and I am suppose to be loving it. But one thing I learned from this game is that no matter how high the skills level you bring to the table, it would be equalized by a gambler with very deep pockets. With just one beat, you can easily be felted.

Valuable lessons in less than an hour of cash game

2010-08-03T15:04:00.009+08:00

I have not posted a blog in a long while. I have been very busy in the last 2 1/2 month on my latest poker-related project. I promise to write about it in my next blog.

In the meantime, I would like to share last night's session. It was probably the shortest live cash game session I have played. I was ready to play longer coz I had enough money to make 4 max buy-ins at a 50-100 game. I had to quit though as I felt that last night session was not gonna be productive for me as I was on super tilt mode. Let me tell you why.

A friend invited me to a 50-100 game last night. He said that the table was gonna be filled with people we know and that it was just gonna be a "friendly" game. No sharks. No Fish. Just friends playing. First of all, there are no such thing as a "friendly" game. It's either you go after their stack or they go after yours. Its as simple as that. So playing with friends was never a comfortable proposition for me. However, since I didn't have anything to do last night, I decided to go play with my friends. It was probably on the 2nd hand that I played when I went on super tilt. I was at the dealer button position and was holding a K 10 offsuit. I simply called. Mind you, the action was folded around to me and the card I was holding was a favorite against the 2 random hand of the small blind and the big blind. Normally I would have raised. However, the invitation of it being a "friendly" game stuck at the back of my mind. The small blind called and the big blind checked. The flop showed

Q J 9

I just made the nuts straight! The small blind led out with a bet of 350. The big blind called. I declared a raise and that before I placed my bet, I said that holding an AQ was no good. I don't normally do that, but in the spirit of the game being friendly, I decided to go along with the night's theme. Then I placed a bet of 800. The small blind folded, but before doing so he asked why I made a raise. I said that I have K 10. Now that's really being friendly. The big blind, who happens to be a very, very good friend of mine was next to act. Whenever I play with this guy, I always play soft especially when we are heads up. I check it down and let him buy his draw.s for free I never re-pop his bets. I don't value bet on him even if I have the nuts. I remember even asking him one time to stop betting coz I had the nuts. At one time, I even returned the money he put in the pot as a friendly gesture. In other words, his money is no good to me. So it really came as a shock to me when he declared he was ALL IN. Was he protecting a big pocket pair like AA or KK? Does he have 2 pairs? Did he make a set? No matter, I had THE NUTS and he would need to hit his draw to make a better hand. I must admit that I was a bit upset that he can's let go of the total of 400 he put into the pot. I had no choice. I had to call. I immediately showed my K 10. To my surprise he shows 10-2 of spades! All he had was an open ended draw and a back door flush draw. Now I was really upset. Was he stealing the pot from me? That was not friendly at all. I would have understood it had that move come from someone I didn't know. He said that he didn't believe that I had it. No matter. He didn't have anything too. Why the ALL IN move?! Worst, he made a runner-runner spades to make a flush!! He had me barely covered as I was left with less than 500 in my stack. I was so upset that I pushed my remaining stack without looking and immediately left the table. Before I left, he ask if I was angry at him and why I was leaving. I answered him yes that I was upset with him and that I was leaving coz I don't want to pretend that it was alright coz it's not! I was not gonna be able to play at an optimum level on a super tilt mode. Quitting was the only option for me.

I learned so much from that session. In less than 1 hour, I realized a lot of things that I needed to do to improve my game. Lesson # 1 "There is no such thing as Friendly Poker." You have to be ruthless, everyone else at the table is! Everyone is playing with real money. You always have to go after your opponent's stack. As B.A. Barrachus would say "I pity the fool!" Last night, I pity myself! Lesson # 2 "Compassion and Poker doesn't mix!" Whenever you are playing poker, you have to be ready to run over anybody, including your grandma! Be kind to kids. Be kind to the poor. Be kind to the elderly. But never be kind to anyone playing at the same table with you. Lesson # 3 " Quitting is always an option." Whether you are winning or losing, one has to consider quitting. Quitting may be temporary, say let a few hand past. Go for a smoke, Restroom break or grab a drink. The break will give you the necessary space to set you back into your proper mindset. Don't play your rush as you would be making decisions based on feel. Same when you are losing, quit and take a break so that you would not be deciding based on emotions.

Optimum play is based on having a clear head. Emotions or rush should not be a basis for winning or losing. Tilt is part of playing. However, controlling one's emotion gives a player an edge. The 3 lessons I just picked up from the session I had last night are very valuable in my quest to be a winning player.

Life is like Poker

2010-05-06T14:23:00.001+08:00

For this post, I will be writing something about my life's adventures and how my life growing up has influenced my game. Just like in poker, one doesn't need to be dealt good cards in order to win in this game called life.

I found this out early since I come from a poor family. My dad always preaches how important a good education is in order for us to succeed. Unlike my siblings, I was never the disciplined one. I was always out in the streets playing with my friends. I was not a good student in school. While my siblings were getting honors in school, my mom was just content that I passed. However, I always assured my parents that I will be entering the best university in the country. Of course, they don't believe me, as all of my siblings failed to make the cut in their attempt at the entrance exams. When it was my turn to try, my dad refused to give me money for the entrance exam. He thought that it would just be a waste of money as they were so sure that I won't make it. I had to sell some of my stuff, including my favorite sneakers, just to get a crack at the entrance test at the Univeristy of the Philippines, the premier school in the country. To add to the pressure, I chose one of the toughest course to get into, Economics. I did make it.

I also remember how passionate I was about basketball. My mom won't allow me to play 'coz I was asthmatic. I was also very thin and stands only 5'6". But that didn't stop me from learning how to play. I would go to the basketball court at 4am while my mom was asleep. I worked on my defense and ball handling, as everyone of my friends loved to shoot. I less than 6 months, I was already being invited to play in various local leagues. I even had MVP award when I was 19 yrs old.

After college, I joined a real estate company that developed golf courses. Having access to several golf courses, I was intrigued by the game. Not having access to golf books and videos, as well as my inability to hire a pro to teach me, I went to the driving range 3x a week. I would hit balls and eavesdrop on pros who were teaching around the range and apply what I would pick up from them. In less than a year, I was winning amatuer golf championships almost every month. I was constantly being nominated as the Team Captain or Manager of my home club's golf team.

When I started working, I was just a clerk in the office, receiving minimum pay. In 4 years, I was able to move up to senior management position. It even reached a point that I would ride a helicopter to attend my meetings, I would have access to a yatch for my vacation, and take a private plane for my out of town meetings. The once poor boy is now on top of the world. I even had a chance to become a Chief Operating Officer of a big real estate company.

I retired from the corporate world even before I reached the age of 40. Then I started to play poker. I self taught myself. I didn't buy any book on this game. I relied on my management skills and the one book that have guided me in my corporate career, Sun Tzu's The Art of War. In less than a year from picking up the game, I won my first poker tourney championship, The Philippine Poker Bar Tour. I won several more events before I finally won one of the biggest event in the Philippine Poker scene, The Filipino Poker Tour.

I did NOT come from a rich family. I do NOT claim to be the greatest golfer. I am not an excellent athlete. I am NOT the best poker player in the country. But I am a champion in the game called LIFE. Notwithstanding having bad cards or being short stacked, I didn't let that stop me from succeeding in accomplishing everything and anything that my heart desired. My blog is not for recognition, nor to brag about what I have accomplished. My blog is for myself, my children and my family. Its for the people who are searching for inspiration. Its for anyone who wants to learn. Life has been good to me and my family. My blog is my celebration.

Poker is not just Texas Holdem

2010-04-24T15:03:00.004+08:00

Before I got hooked on Texas Holdem, the very first variation of poker that I learned to play was Pot Limit Omaha. I have included in this article a video link on How to play Pot Limit Omaha or PLO. This was the most popular form of poker back in the day in the US. A lot of the poker greats are PLO champions, such as David Sklansky, Dewey Tomko, T.J. Clouteir, Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, and lots more. However, when the WPT started airing on TV, Texas Holdem became popular. I really would like PLO to pick it up in the Philippine Poker scene. Its a very interesting form of poker which I feel the filipino poker players will embrace once they learn the game.

Another variation of poker which I am trying to learn online is the 7-Card Stud. Check out the video link on How to play 7-Card Stud game. It is also another game we use to play in our home games back in the day. I must admit that I really suck in this game. That is why I am trying to re-learn this game online. Some of my poker buddies still play this game and I am getting tired of being their "milking cow" whenever we play.

Lately, I have also been playing a lot of Razz online. Like Texas Holdem, bluffing skills comes into play a lot of times in Razz. I am sure that given the right exposure, this game will be as big as texas holdem.

I believe that by playing and learning a lot of the other variations of poker, one can truly understand the game of poker. In my desire to be a better poker player, understanding the game is a must and should be the very first step in improving one's poker skills.

A really, really bad day at the office

2010-04-15T11:27:00.002+08:00

I had a terrible poker session last night. In fact, the word terrible is an understatement. I haven't seen myself run as bad as I did last night.

Let me start with the best looking card in Texas Holdem (after AA of course), the AK. I was dealt this "beauty" 8 times last night! Most of the time there was a raise before the action got around to me. Since I'm not just gonna sit back and limp with it, surely a healthy pot ensued. Sadly for me, I lost all 8 times. Oh yeah I tried to bluff with it and all the time the bluff blew up in my face as my opponent would hit 2 pairs or a set at the river. In one of my miserable run, I had AK at the button. 3 people limped around to me. Like in the other times I had these cards, I raised it to 4.5X the BB since there were limpers already. The SB folds and the BB goes All In. It was folded around to me. As expected, I called. Heads up. BB shows A9. I have him dominated! Flop show A A 10. I am sooo ahead. Turn 2, no help to the other guy. River....you guessed it, 9! Oh AK, why have you forsaken me? A couple of times, I went up against AK too. One time I had QQ and the Ace shows up right away at the flop. The other time was worse. The tightest player at the table raised with a bet of 2.5X BB. 2 other people called. I had a suited 9 10 at the button. Putting the raiser with a hand like AK, I called simply because I feel I can outplay him if no A or picture card shows up at the flop. I called. Flop shows 9 10 A. Perfect! The tight player leads out with a pot size bet. Everyone else folds around to me. Not seeing any threat on the flop, I flat called his bet. Turn card was a "harmless" 3. Tight player checks. I bet half the pot. He calls. River card...... 3 Ouch!!! He checks. Knowing I'm beat I check as well. What do you know? He shows AK!!! In hindsight, AK is nothing more than a couple of drawing cards. As they say in the poker world, AK is often called Anna Kournikova (after the beautiful tennis star), "looks good, but never wins". With the 8 times I was dealt AK, I am beginning to believe its true.

If you think that my miserable night started and ended with AK, there's more. Twice I made straight on the flop. Both times I didnt slow play as I was already stuck big. Both times I went All In after seeing the Flop and making my nuts hand. Both times I lost! Both times I lost to a 2-card runner. One for a bigger straight only after having an over pair, the other for a flush on a rainbow flop! Oh yeah, I also made 2 pairs on the flop 4 times. All those time, either one of my pair got counterfeited or an idiot with a pair (not even an overpair) commits himself All In and hits set on the river.

I lost an insane amount of money last night. I was already 2nd guessing my plays. I was already very tentative (or scared) everytime I was involved in a pot. I had to quit. Or so I thought. Driving home, I cannot believe the run that I just had. I remember a friend telling me an advice he got before, the once one gets involved in a car accident, one must try to get into a car and drive as soon as possible so as to shake off the trauma. I did just that. Stubborn as I am, I detoured to the nearest card room and sat down. I told myself that I am just gonna play for an hour, just to shake off the "trauma". Luckily for me, I doubled up in less that an hour. I was able to cut my losses significantly.

Last night was definitely one horrible night of poker for me. It surely feels like I got one whole month of bad beats in just one night. I still feel sick just thinking about it. Nothing I can do about it.

Fresh start, Same ol' grind

2010-04-05T14:23:00.003+08:00

I've been away from the tables (both live and online) for almost a week already. I took my annual Holy Week break. No poker at all. Not even books nor videos. I'm not really a religious guy but somehow the family tradition dictates that I have to observe Holy Week in a quiet and spiritual manner. That means no beach, no parties, no booze, and NO POKER for one week.

Its all good coz my time out from poker will eventually develop some "hunger" in my game. I hope to come out more aggressive and more decisive in my poker sessions. It also relieves me of any poker fatigue. Oh yeah, I really believe that there such animal as "Poker Fatigue". It is when you have been running bad for a long time, your decision making becomes questionable from all the beats you've been getting. I'm not saying that I've been running bad. In fact, my cash games have been profitable as of late. Still, there's fatigue when you're running good. The rush and high energy you get everytime you're running good will somehow get to you sooner or later. Time out or quitting is always a good thing to recharge yourself. It also helps you put matters into proper perspective. I have been reading a lot about The Noble Eightfold Path. Among the topics in this Buddhism teaching is about Right Mindfulness or the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is by taking a time out that one can somehow achieve a controlled faculty of cognition, that which is "tilt-free". I believe that having this as among your poker guides, one can somehow assure himself of having his A-game every session. In my future posts, I will try to share some of my learnings from the Buddism Teachings and its relevance to my poker game.

In the meantime, I will get myself ready for the start of a new poker grind.

Barry Greenstein, 5 6 of hearts, KK & QQ

2010-03-20T23:40:00.006+08:00

My $1 Million Tourney pursuit ended today. In fact, it ended just 12 minutes before the end of Day 1. Heartbreaking indeed. However, I would like to share some of the highlights of my tournament.

Barry Greenstein. In the last 2 levels of the tourney, Mr. Greenstein was moved to my table. I didn't get a chance to see him in action as most of the time he was folding his hand to the maniac to his right. The guy to his right would, at all time, make a ridiculous raise of 7 to 8X the BB. He was doing this with regularity. Mr. Greenstein was a cool player. He was quiet and very unassuming. We talked about his son, Joe. He also shared how happy and impressed he was of our country and the people. It was such an honor for me to have had the chance to play against a future Poker Hall of Famer. It really completed my feeling of playing in a High Stakes Poker Tournament.

65. This was my last hand of the night. UTG+1 raised to 1,700. Everyone folded to Greenstein at the button. Barry called. At the SB I called as well. How often can you get a chance to play apot against Mr. Greenstein. BB folded his hand. We go to the flop. The board showed;

A Q 2

I called precisely to see that kind of flop. Being the first to act, I checked. The original raiser bets 2,200. Mr. Greenstein called. I called as well. The turn card showed;

I made my flush. I checked again, thinking I will check-raise if someone bets. The original raiser led out a bet of 2,500. Barry mucked. As planned, I raised to 7,000. The original raiser goes All In. Whoa!! I played back the betting in my head. This guy was leading out in all streets. What does he have? AK, AQ, set of Q's or 2's? I was almost sure my hand was good. However, there were only 12 minutes left and I move on to Day 2. My game plan dawned upon me. Aggression and Decision making. I played the hand exactly to hit my draw. Now that I have it, what else am I being reluctant with? I called. The other player shows

7 4

He barely beat my hand!! The river card didn't really matter anymore. End of my poker adventure.

KK and QQ. Level 4 saw my stack going down to a measly 3K. QQ, the hand that I can't win with in the past 3 tourneys that I played, tripled me up!! I went All In and I got 2 callers. One had AK and the other had AQ. My QQ held up and my chips grew to almost 12K. Just after dinner, at the start of level 6, I saw myself holding KK at the SB position. The cut off guy raised to 1,700. Button goes All In. He had more money than me. I pushed All In as well. Cut off tanks, but decided to muck. Button guy had 10 10. My KK held up. Now my stack was up to almost 30K. I knew I back in the thick of things, until my adventure with the 5-6 of hearts!
These are just some of the highlights of my bitter sweet poker tournament exploit. Thank you PAGCOR Chairman's Cup for the very valuable experience.

Tweeks and Fixes before the Big Dance

2010-03-19T08:19:00.002+08:00

I played a total of 3 tournaments this week, The Poker Circuit, The Metro 3 Million Guaranteed Tourney, and the MBC Satellite for the $1M Tourney. I am pretty happy with the way I played in these 3 event. Afterall, among my objectives were to refine and improve on my tournament plays in preparation for the big event which is the $1 Million PAGCOR CUP this weekend. This past week was very "educational" for me considering that I was able to unravel some of the defects in my game. No. 1 of which is that I tend to relax on my aggression. Likewise, I saw some tentativeness in my decision making. I used the MBC event as a laboratory to practice my game refinements. Part of my experimentation was I didn't do an Add On (the tourney was a 1-time Add On or Rebuy event). I outlasted 75% of the field, and busted out when my QQ went heads up against AJ.

A side story from my participation in the last 3 tourneys was that I can't seem to win with my QQ. In the 3 Million tourney, my QQ went up against AK. I lost about 40% of my stack on that hand and I never got to recover after that. In the MBC event, my QQ went up against AJ, wherein my opponent hit an A on the river.

Speaking of AJ, I can't seem to win against AJ. Twice, this hand beat me last week. Last hand of Day 1 at the TPC, I had Q7 with my 7 hiiting the flop. Just like in the MBC event, All In situation, the AJ hits the A on the river, again!

I just hope that all this preparations will bear fruit when I play on March 20, 2010. This is the Day 1A of the PAGCOR CHAIRMAN'S CUP, a $1 Million Guaranteed prize pool. A life changing event, which I hope to do well.

Lost my cajones!

2010-03-14T08:24:00.001+08:00

I only have myself to blame for being short stacked at the end of Day 1 yesterday at The Poker Circuit. In one particular hand in the second to the last level, I felt that I played the hand so bad that I should becastrated. I was very low on chips (around 6 BB's) but this didn't stop me from limping in from the cut off position with (as everyone before me folded)

8 10

I just have this feeling that if I hit a flush or straight draw, I will get paid off. The button position called. This is where all of my decision making got screwed up. The small blind showed a lot of anxiety, carved out some raising chips, and with his shaking hands, splash his a lot of chips but mustered the word CALL! In his excitement what he wanted to say was RAISE. He must be holding a pretty strong hand. The dealer returned some of his chips and just allowed him to fill up for a call. The big blind was just happy to call. The flop showed

9 9 J

The small blind, still disgusted over his boo boo, checked. So as the big blind. I checked. I just got the flop that I was hoping for yet I checked. Where are my balls?! I was so distracted over the small blinds antics, that I was afraid he had AA or KK, that he was trapping us. But now I realized that if he indeed had that kind of hand, he is exactly the person who would pay me off if I hit my draw. The button checked as well. The turn card showed a

Now I hit a pair in the board. The SB and the BB checked. Its up for me for to take the pot. I really need to go back to the parking lot, coz looks like I left my balls in my car. I saw another diamond in the board and I got scared of the flush. If I will be afraid to pull the trigger each time I see a scare card, then I shouldn't be playing poker. The button checked as well. All of them showed no interest in the pot on the flop and on the turn. I should have my chips right there and then. The river was

I made the buttom straight. The small blind fired a bet equivalent to half of the pot. BB folds. Giving the SB credit for having a K I folded my hand. The button folded as well. SB showed AK.

The pot was just up to me to take it at the flop or at the turn. I lost my cajones. I should have shoved. Even if the SB had a big pair, I had to gamble at that point coz it was practically useless for me to bring my low stack to Day 2. Also, as I always tell my poker friends, you've got to win some coin flip situations to last in a tournament.

So next time I go to a tournament, aside from making sure that my iPod is fully charged, and I've packed a bag of snacks and a bottle of water, I should also make sure that I have my balls with me to get myself involved in situations like this.

Play to win!

2010-03-13T22:49:00.000+08:00

Though I made it to Day 2 of The Poker Circuit, my poker campaign was no different from how my tournament ran yesterday at The Metro Card Club tourney. I was short stacked most of the time. Rarely did I get big hands. I really had a very tough time playing. Frustrating most of the time, I would steal blinds just to cover for the cost of blinds and antes. I just hope that all this grind would pay off really soon. The excruciating experience I'm going through in both these tourneys should be a big help in developing my game.

In this particular tournament, I noticed that I was not playing to win, but rather I was afraid to lose. Especially towards the latter part of the tourney wherein the blinds and antes were really hurting my stack. I remember 3 times where a player with lesser stack would shove All In and I was holding KQ. All 3 times I mucked my hand, not wanting to gamble on coin flips. Another situation where I limped with a suited 10-8 at late position hoping to catch a flush or straight draw. The flop showed 9 9 J. I got what I was hoping for, but I got scared shoving my stack on a possible full house with the paired board. On the last hand of the night, realizing that my stack wasn't good for Day 2, I pushed All In with Q 7. Everyone on my left had me covered, while everyone on my right had less chips. Why did I do that? Well, I was hoping for a double up or bust from the big stacks, and to re-enter the tourney the next day, or steal from the low stack hoping that they'll just give it up coz its the last hand of the night. Someone with low stack called with AJ. I hit my 7 on the flop. Unfortunately, I got rivered by an A! I ended up with a single 5000 chip. A chip and a chair on Day 2.

In hindsight, I guess I have to step up my aggression and improve on my decision making. Hopefully, with all the lessons and improvements that I need to address, I will be prepared to conquer the big dance, the $1 Million PAGCOR Chairman's Cup next week.

3 Million Tournament - DONE!

2010-03-13T07:39:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, I played at The Metro Card Club in their 3 Million Guaranteed Tournament. Starting stack was 10,000 and the blind levels increases every 30 minutes. My first impression was that, the starting stack didn't allow to be creative by making some plays at the pot. However, I felt that it was important to increase your stack within the first 2 hour (4 levels) coz you would be short stacked by then.

In the first 2 levels, I already saw 3 AA's and 1 KK. I can't be running this good! However, with just min raises, my big hands were not paid off. I don't like how my tournament was turning out. With all those big hands, I was only able to increase my stack by 20%. I guess everyone else at my table shared my initial impression. The table was really tight!!

Towards the end of the 3rd level (blinds were 100-200), I had QQ in late position. Before the action got around to me, there was a raise and a call of 650. I re-raised it to 2K total. The original raiser called while the other player mucked his hand. The flop showed;

6 K 8

The original raiser, who happens to be Pokerstars country representative Allan Escano, bets 1K. This is a bit puzzling for me coz the bet was so small relative to the pot of almost 5K. In order to define Allan's hand, I raised his bet to 2.5K total. He tanks and asked if I had AA or KK. He eventually called the additional 1.5K. He made it look like it was a "crying call". I figured he had AK. The Turn and the River card didn't help and were insignificant cards. It was checked down, as we both figured that there was no money to be made on the last 2 streets. I knew right there and then that I was beat. As expected, Allan showed AK. My stack was down to 7,500. Soon after, the blinds went up to 200-400 with 25 ante. Just like that, I was now down to around M of 8 (M represents the cost of poker per round, wherein if the blinds were 200-400, that's a total of 600. Add the antes for 1 round. If the table is 10-handed, then 1 round would cost you 250. Blinds + Ante = 850.).

The blinds were now eating up my stack. My being card dead was not helping as well. In the middle of level 6, wherein the blinds were 400-800 with antes of 50, the action folded around to me with a suited K9 at the button position. I pushed my remaining 5,500 All In. The Big Blind wakes up with AK and ended my tournament.

Today, I am hoping for a better run at The Poker Circuit at The Big Ace Poker Club. This is a 1 Million tournament with the champion, aside from getting a cash prize of around 230,000.00, will also get a seat to the $1 Million PAGCOR Tournament in 2 weeks and a seat to the Asia Poker King tournament in Macau.

Mega Million Tournaments

2010-03-11T20:11:00.002+08:00

Earlier I posted an article called March Madness. Well, tomorrow is the start of several rich poker tournaments in the country, The Metro Card Club P3Million Guaranteed Tournament. There will be 2 Day 1's, and I will be playing in the first one, which starts tomorrow. They expect around 200 players tomorrow. Its going to be a very tough field. I am just hoping to survive my Day 1. I will try to approach this tournament conservatively. No fancy moves. No 3 bets (unless I have AA or KK). I will try to use the same formula that I won with last year at the Filipino Poker Tour. I will try to sell the image of a tight, conservative player. Day 2 will be a different story. I will blog about it if ever I survive Day 1.

The follwoing day is the start of the The Poker Circuit (P1Million Guaranteed Tournament). It would be a record of sorts for me if ever I will survive and make the money in both tourneys. If it will be allowed, I will try to tweet the progress of my Day 1 in both tournament.

You can follow me at http://twitter.com/pokermaxx

Straight Flush....No Good!

2010-03-07T15:44:00.002+08:00

How rare is it to hit a Straight Flush in Texas Hold’em? According to Betstarter.com Odds of Poker, the odds of hitting a Straight Flush is 1:64,974. In my 5 yrs or so playing the game, I finally hit one last night. Making a straight flush is like making a Hole in One in golf.

But that is not my story here. The straight flush I made last night did NOT win the pot!

Let me share to you my story. I was playing in the 100K guaranteed tournament at Big Ace last night. We were already deep in the tourney when my very “interesting” beat happened. I had about 30K in chips (average stack) and the blinds were 800-1,600 with an ante of 200. I was at the Big Blind position holding

3 7

Four players limped in the pot. I checked. The Flop showed

8 J 9

I just made flush on the flop. I made an almost pot size bet of 7,500. The bet I made was for 2 reasons, 1.) for an outright takedown of the pot, or 2.) to find out if anyone has a flush or is drawing for a bigger flush. The guy to my immediate left FLAT CALLS. This call kinda threw me off ‘coz he only had 14K total and the 7.5K call was more than half of what he had. All the others folded. Without doubt, he was drawing for a bigger flush. That was what I was afraid of, ‘coz if any spade shows up on the turn, he certainly would have me beat. The turn card showed a

I just made a straight flush! I checked hoping that he would bet his made flush. Sure enough, he bets 2,500. Again, the small bet threw me off, but I dismissed it ‘coz I knew I had the nuts. I raised him All In and he insta-called. I declared proudly, “I have a straight flush, Sir.” And his reply was “Me too.” He shows

Q J

Wow! How sick was that?! The river card was

That severely crippled my stack leaving me with just 8 BB’s. A couple of hands later, at the cut off position, I got an

A J

and pushed All In my remaining stack, and unfortunately, the BB wakes up with

A K

which was enough to end my poker adventure last night.

POKER....... As I know it.

2010-03-02T17:36:00.004+08:00

I played at a 20/40 table last night. It was an action table. A lot of raises and 3-bets. That made me look back to the time when I started playing the game. The game, as I know it, have already evolved to a level that the playing style of old is no longer deemed profitable. When I started playing poker, re-raises and 3-betting were considered “bold” moves. Back in the day, a raise of pot size or more was enough to take down a pot, and if you encounter a re-raise, you are most likely up against AA, KK, or QQ. The aggression of most players comes from the quality of their hand, first and foremost, rather than making a “play” to win. Bluffs were random and most players played solidly back then. A lot of the “old school” pros use to base their game on reading their opponents and finding tells. The game was so simple back then. Post flop plays, then, was seldom used as most betting ends after the flop.

Now, there are a lot of young and aggressive live and internet poker players. Add to the fact that a lot of the tourneys now are deep stack. The game has opened up with a lot of fancy plays and 4-bets. Be careful when raising with AQ as someone might go over the top with a stronger bet, not necessarily with a better hand. You don’t want to bust out with that kind of hand. Also, most tourneys have very nice structure that allows an aggressive player to lose 30% of his stack and still have a lot of time to recover with the slow increment of the blinds and longer blind levels. It, therefore, allows an aggressive player to see a lot of flops with marginal hands that gets paid off when they hit. Nowadays, a lot of the players with advance skills, tends to raise with suited connectors. This conceals their hand and eventually gets paid when they hit the board. Plus, most players now have more knowledge about the game, and they just don’t give up on hand, especially with the pot odds, implied odds, etc.

“Old school” plays will win you small pots with your big hand and will often be outplayed when misses the board. New guys, on the other hand, can play any 2 cards and can easily outplay you coz’ you will give them credit of hitting the flop.

The game of poker today is far more complex compared to 5 years ago. To learn and to put a lot of time studying, watching videos, playing online are keys to improving once game. I have my work cut out for me if I intend to stay competitive in this game called POKER.

Online Poker and Bad Beats

2010-02-22T22:34:00.004+08:00

People with weak heart, stay away from online poker. Bad beat and online poker are mostly spoken in one sentence. If you are a regular cash game or tourney player, it would be best that you try to spend some time online. It will surely build your resistance to tilt whenever you encounter bad beats. Suck outs or out drawing a hand is a common occurence online. I not sure, but I guess they designed the software as such so you would get hooked on it. Afterall, it's so difficult to leave a table when you're stuck.

A lot of the young poker phenoms now started as online pros, and have now crossed over to live games. Durr Dwan, Elky Grospellier, Ilari Sahamies are just some of the online poker sensations that have now invaded the a lot of the high stakes live games in Vegas and other parts of the world. You should see the range of hands that these guys play with! Check them out in HIgh Stakes Poker or Poker AAfter Dark. Online, these guys play between 12 to 20 tables at the same time. They spend more than 8 hours playing online. So if you put together the number of hands that they have played, a guy like Durr would have played more hands than a seasoned pro like Barry Greenstein. These online pros have seen more hands than any of the old-school pros, and since they are playing multi tables online and with time pressure, they can react quickly compared to a live game pro. They've seen a variety of hands, flops, turns, and rivers. They have figured out the odds on how their cards would hold up or suck out.

It is for this reason that I have been spending at least 3 hours online everyday. I am hoping that the collective hands that I've played live and online would help me become a better poker player. As it is right now, I am very much surprised on how my game have opened up a bit. How I float with middle pair, and how I open a lot of pots with suited connectors. Eventually, my objective is to evolve and become a complete player, able to mix up my game, and being able to compete at a very high level. Clearly, like me, a lot of poker enthusiast are serious in improving their poker savvy, which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill.

March Madness

2010-02-16T10:38:00.005+08:00

Next month, there will be a lot of big payout tournament all over the city. First stop, starting on the 12th of March is the 3 Million Peso Guaranteed Tournament at The Metro Card Club at Metrowalk with a buy in of P5,000.00. The next day is the start of The Poker Circuit (TPC) at the Big Ace Poker Club in Mandaluyong, which also has a buy in of 5,000.00. This tourney guarantees a prize pool of 1 Million pesos. Both these tourneys will surely attract a very big field, with some players coming from the international poker community. These 2 tournaments are just "warm up" events to another bigtime tourney, which is the PAGCOR Chairman's Cup on March 20, 2010. This event will have a guaranteed prize pool of $1 Million! Pokerstars and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour are co-sponsoring this event. With their participation, this tourney will surely attract a lot of international poker pros.

I am already assured of an entry to the TPC and The Chairman's Cup. I am playing in a satellite for the P3 Million tourney at The Metro Card Club in a couple of weeks. It would be a record of sorts for me if I will be in the money for all of the 3 events.

The PAGCOR Poker Department, the government regulatory body that oversees the operation of all the poker club in the Philippines is doing a great job in making poker big in the country. A couple of years ago, in order to join a P1M Tourney, one needs to pay a minimum 10K to join. Poker clubs are being operated very professionally, and their tournaments are very well organized. With the rate that the poker industry in the Philippines is growing, I wouldn't be surprised if the Philippines soon becomes the Poker Mecca in Asia.

On A Roll, Baby!

2010-02-11T11:40:00.001+08:00

Just like last year, I am starting this year with very good finishes in tourneys. Last night, I won the 50K Tournament at Big Ace Poker Club. There was a field of about 70 players and the tourney lasted around 8 hours. Aside from the cash prize of 14K, I also won a ticket to the 1M tourney of The Poker Circuit, which is scheduled next month. It was a well organized tournament. The structure was pretty long for a small buy-in tourney, but nonetheless a good structure. It allowed players to make some plays without hurting their stack. A few days ago, I also won a satellite seat at Manila Bay Poker Club (MBC) for the $1M Tournament Chairman's Cup of PAGCOR this March, as well. Last month, I placed 4th in the 100K tourney at MBC. I'm having a pretty good run.

Last year, I won about 3 or 4 tourney heading to the Metro Hi-5, which is the biggest tourney I've won in my poker career. I won 2 million pesos and a seat to the APPT, which was held in Cebu last November. At the APPT I finished 48th in a field of over 300 players. The Metro Hi-5, which was held August of last year, is by far, the biggest tourney held in the country with 667 participants. I ended the year by winning the 1st Rotary Charity Tournament held at MBC last December.

Will this year be another successful poker year for me? With all the bigtime tournaments scheduled which include the $1M Chairman's Cup, The Poker Circuit, the APPT, and so much more, I am hoping to continue my good run and , just maybe, win another major title again.

Slow Roll

2010-02-06T12:30:00.000+08:00

Wikipedia defines Slow Roll as "To delay or avoid showing one's hand at showdown, forcing other players to expose their hands first. When done while holding a good hand likely to be the winner, it is considered poor etiquette, because it often gives other players "false hope" that their hands might win before the slow-roller's is exposed." The key words here are "poor etiquette". But how come a lot of players get a kick out of slow rolling another player? Slow rolling happens in both live and online games. Some of the usual practice is to timebank and leave it til 1 second before making the call preflop with Aces. However, not everything that seems like a slow roll online is really a slow roll. Keep in mind that people can have slow internet connections or be playing multiple tables, creating a delay in their actions. At the same time, if someone lets his clock run down, then uses his time bank and lets that run down to a second before calling with the nuts, then it's ok to put a curse on his family.

It is in the live games were most slow roll happens. It is when all betting is done and the river card has been shown, and the guy with the winning hand or nuts would be the last to show his hand in a slow and deliberate manner, making the other guy hope that he won. Now that's bad.Getting a guy to tilt when the hand is over is just low. In some card rooms in the U.S., you can get kicked out of the card room, or worst, you get a bloody nose for slowrolling.

I am one guy who doesn't have a lot of patience for slow rollers. I call them out. At times, just to control my emotions, I just leave the table or call a time out for myself. Rarely can anyone to put me on tilt, but slowroll is oust one thing that really gets to me.

My WBCOOP campaign is over!

2010-02-01T07:15:00.000+08:00

After 6 days and 7 events, my WBCOOP campaign is now over. I busted out of the Main Event at 447th place. I went ALL IN preflop at late position with JJ. One player called and showed 99. He immediately made his set at the Flop. My JJ's didn't improve. I made a good move and the other guy just got lucky. Who knows what could have been had I doubled up.

I am happy with the way I played today and throughout the WBCOOP. I was in the money at event #6, and I bested more than 75% of the field in the Main Event. Considering that it is only lately that I have involved myself on online poker, I think I did a pretty good job. I play mostly live. I didn't know that playing online can also be fun.

Time to play some online cash game.

WBCOOP Main Event

2010-02-01T05:59:00.000+08:00

The Main Event started with 2062 participants. We have been playing for almost 2 hours already. The field has been trimmed down to 799 players after the 2nd break. I am currently at 401st place but my stack of 5057 is below the average stack of 6566. I still have a lot of poker left with my stack. No need to press the panic button yet. I can still play some pots. I just have to limit the range of hands that I will be playing with. Position play at this point is also important. I just hope I can hang in there to make the bubble and hopefully go deep again in this tourney.

WBCOOP Event #6 part 3

2010-01-31T07:57:00.000+08:00

This is the deepest I've been in a WBCOOP event. I was playing so tight that at one point, there was a raise before me preflop and I threw away pocket 10's. The raise was equivalent to 60% of my stack. I made it in the money. I finished at 66th place out of 1939 participants. I went All In preflop with KQ heads up vs 99. His 99 held up. For my finish, I won an $11 entry to the SCOOP Tourney at Pokerstars. This is good 'coz I feel I am getting some kind of system in playing this event. Just in time for the Main Event tomorrow. By the way, the Main Event sked runs at the same time as the Celtics vs Lakers game tomorrow. Let's Go Celtics!!! I guess I have something to do while folding my way through the Main Event.

WBCOOP Event #6 part 2

2010-01-31T06:41:00.000+08:00

I just tripled up! I pushed All In preflop with JJ. 2 other players called. I am now 130th/190. Just like my blood pressure. I hope I can hang on. Just waiting for a few more people to bust out.

WBCOOP Event #6

2010-01-31T06:34:00.001+08:00

I am currently playing in this tourney. The tournament started with 1939 players. We are now down to 200 players. I'm pretty excited 'coz by far, I haven't gone this deep in any of the WBCOOP events. Although, I'm very low in chips and currently at 191/200. Just waiting for the right cards and the right time to shove All In. The bubble is at 154. I hope I make it.

My Blog's new look

2010-01-29T19:53:00.000+08:00

My daughter read my blog and the first thing she told me was to change the way it looked. In other words, "Dad, you don't have taste!". Ouch! Alright, I get it. I must admit that, aside from clicking the Fold, Call, Raise buttons, I really do not know much about computers. So I let her do her thing. After a couple of hours, she showed me my blog's new look. Wow! I'm impressed. I really like it.

Although she's not yet happy with what she has done. She told me to have this new look for a "test run" and see what my friends think, especially on the colors and the lay-out.

Help me out guys! I would appreciate any comment you can throw my way regarding the look of my blog.

Fun Poker Night

2010-01-29T12:56:00.000+08:00

Last night, I played at Big Ace for about 6 hours. I tell you, Poker hasn't been fun for me in a long time. By the way, I stood up from the table exactly with the same amount of money I sat down. It was a very relaxed 10/20 table. It is only now that I've realized that you don't have to win to have a genuinely fun night at the table.

First, 3 of my friends were at the same table, so there were a lot of chit chats. Mind you, though we're friends, we were going after each others stacks. Some of the big pots I played were against my friends.

Second, I was getting a good mix of hands. I was getting premium hands about 3 to 4 times an hour. Say, I lost a P600 pot on one hand, less than 10 hands later I would win a big pot of around P500 to P700.

Third, maybe I'm wrong, but I felt that the table was playing rather soft. I seldom saw a 3-bet situation that night. Very rarely that anyone would re-raised back, and whenever it happened, the board would show a 4-flush or a 1-card straight board, that your set or two pairs can get away.

Counting the rake and the tips I gave within the 5+ hour session I played, in my mind, I left the table up by about P800 (costs of rakes and tips). I stood up feeling really good even if I had the same amount of money I sat with. Its a welcome break from all the grinding and agony of bad beats that I have gone through within the last few weeks. It really felt like a home game with all your buddies on a Saturday night. Sessions like this makes you love the game of poker even more. If only I can try to pull out such a mindset even on big tourneys. I guess the pressure of winning a big tourney, coupled with the stress, intense concentration and the long hours at a poker tournament really gets to you. It would be nice to have fun cash game sessions from time to time to recharge you and to remind ourselves why we fell in love with this game called POKER.

WBCOOP Event #4

2010-01-29T09:10:00.000+08:00

I almost forgot that I was registered in this tourney. When I logged in at Pokerstars to play cash game, the tourney table popped up and I saw that I was already almost an hour late. My remaining stack was just 720. I got a little bit of a card rush. My chips grew as much as 15,000. At some point, I even cracked the top 80. However, as the law of gravity says, what comes up will eventually come down. In my last hand, at preflop, someone raised All In for over 20,000. I had AQ of hearts. I called thinking the bet was so big that he must have a small pair and didn't wanna be called. Coin flip, as they say. I was sooo wrong!!! He had AA. The worst thing was the flop were all black cards. As usual, I ended my tourney in misery. However, this is by far my best finish. I busted out at 281st place. Considering that there were a total of 1,876 participants, I am very close to my goal of finishing in the top 10%. If my math serves me right, I ended in the top 15% of the field. A pretty decent finish. Time to play cash game to celebrate. 'Til the next WBCOOP event (I am registered in the WBCOOP Event #6, which will be in a couple of days), Mabuhay!!!

Gone again!

2010-01-28T07:19:00.001+08:00

WBCOOP Event #3 went pffft! Gone in 21 minutes. First I doubled up with my KK. Then, a couple of hands later, at late position, I got AA. There was a raise at early position for 3X the BB. Another player called. When the action got around to me. I re-raised it to 600 total. A very big bet! The original raiser called. I guess he must be holding a pocket pair. Flop show a rainbow board of

8 9 7

He leads out with a bet of 300. I go ALL IN. He calls. He shows A 10. What a jerk! He calls a 600 raise pre flop with that!!! Oh well, I got him dominated. Oh I forgot, this is pokerstars!! Where being behind is a big advantage. Where being a donkey is rewarded. Where making stupid play works. Where suck out happens. True enough, the turn card shows;

That's the end of my event #3. D' Ghostman bows out (again!) at 1,586th place.

WBCOOP Event #3

2010-01-28T06:21:00.000+08:00

Here we go again. Its about 40 minutes before the start of event #3 of the WBCOOP tourney at Pokerstars. I try to limit my participation to the NLHE events, since this is the kind of poker that I feel I can really compete. As of now, there are 1,783 registered participants. I'm sure it will reach to more than 2,000 by the first hour of the tourney.

I plan to be more patient this time. Probably, limit the range of hands that I will be playing. Most importantly, I also checked with my internet provider to make sure that my connection wouldn't be as crappy as the last time. Afterall, being in the top 10% of this tough tourney would already be a significant accomplishment for me.

Like a couple of days ago, I will try to blog about my progress in this tourney.

Out of the tourney

2010-01-26T06:34:00.000+08:00

I never expected myself to be out of the tourney this early. First, I limped in at late position with KQ. 3 people in the pot. Flop shows K Q 6. I hit top 2 pairs! First player bets 100. The other player calls. I raised with a bet of 300, and the unfortunate happened.......I got disconnected! By the time I got back in the tourney, my stack was down to 1,600. Ouch!

A couple of hands after, I get KK at UTG+2 position. I raised 3X the BB. 2 players called. Flop showed 6 6 Q. I checked. One player bets half the pot. The other player called. I raised with half my stack (feeling that no one would be playing with 6 since I raised preflop). The original bettor goes ALL IN. The other player folds. Putting him on AQ, KQ or QJ, I called. When the cards were shown, I almost fell off my seat when I saw that he played 6 2 offsuit. WTF!

So, for the WBCOOP Event #1, D' Ghostman bows out at 1528th place. See you in the next event!

WBCOOP underway

2010-01-26T06:06:00.000+08:00

Cards are in the Air! The first couple of hands were already dealt in the WBCOOP event #1 at Pokerstars. A total of 1696 players are registered. With just 4 min in the tourney, 30 have already been felted. I will try to blog more on the tourney and my progress in this event.

To be or NUTS to be?

2010-01-19T14:42:00.000+08:00

In one of the games I played a couple of weeks back, I played a very interesting hand in a 25/50 table. I was at the cut off position when the action got around to me. UTG+2 raised with a 200 bet. 3 other players called before my turn to act. My hole cards show QJ suited. At late position and having the pot odds to call, I made the call. Everyone folded around to the raiser. The pot now has 1,075 in it. The flop showed;

10, 9, 8

Perfect flop. NUTS. The original raiser bets 500. Looks like a continuation bet to me or at best top pair. The next 2 guys folds. The 3rd guy calls. He might have a draw. Since I find no threat to my hand, I flat called. The turn card was a;

Not a good card as it brings them closer to their draw, if they had a drawing hand. The original raiser checks. The other guy checks as well. I thought that the pot is good enough and that I would make it expensive for them to hit their draw. I bet 2,300 to a pot of 2,575. The original raiser calls while the other guy folded. The river card;

WOW! My nuts was now reduced to a mere 2 pairs and now I am playing the board. The original raiser makes an All In bet of 5,500. If he were playing KQ,

KJ, AK, then my hand is no good. He was the original raiser preflop. I have to give him credit for a big hand. A bluff is the only hand I can beat at this point. I mucked.

Be as it may, I dont think I will ever change the way I played this hand, 'coz no matter how many times we run this hand again, the chances of having that kind of a board is very slim.

Bad Beats Galore!

2010-01-12T17:48:00.000+08:00

Last night, I went to play in my regular Monday tourney which was a 100K Guaranteed Rebuy/Add-on tourney at Manila Bay Poker Club. I started slow. In fact, I had to rebuy when my QQ got beat by AJ when the A showed at the turn (Bad Beat #1). At the 8th level, I was among the chip leaders in the tourney. I was even the chip leader at my table when a succession of bad beats run me off the tourney.

Bad Beat # 2 - Blinds were at 500/1000. I have about 33k in Chips. Preflop, I raised 2,800 from the cut off position with 9h 8h. Button and BB Calls. Flop shows 9d, 6d, 8c. Top 2 pairs for me! BB fires a 3k bet. He has 8k behind. I bet 11k, enough to put him All In. Button pushes All In for 19k. BB goes All In as well. At this point I really feel someone is on a draw, but I call the additional 8k thinking that I was already priced in with my 11k bet (8k more to an almost 42k pot). Dealer says, "show your cards". BB shows pocket 7 for an open ended straight draw. Button shows Ad Qd for the nuts flush draw. The turn shows a 5c, making BB's straight. River is a 2d for a flush for the guy at the button. Now my stack is down to 14k.

Bad Beat # 3 - Three hands later, I'm at the BB position. UTG goes All In for 6k. It was folded around to me. I have As Js and since I already have 1k in, it was just 5k more for me to try to eliminate someone at our table. When the cards were shown the other guy had 7 3 offsuit. Apparently he was just making a play at the pot since he was gonna be blinded out soon. Flop shows 6 4 5! Ouch!!!!

Bad Beat # 4 - Several hands later, and I was at the button, when I saw I got JJ. Before the action got around to me, 3 people have already limped in. Without hesitation, I pushed my remaining 9k All In. Two players called. Flop shows 10 3 6. Turn 10. River A. When the cards were revealed, player 1 had A 4 and the player 2 had A 5. Later I found out that someone threw away an A, so the river card was the case ace!

Bad Beat #5 - To blow off some steam, I sat in a 25/50 table. I bought in for 3.5K. My stack have already grown to 5k when the last bad beat for the night happened. From the BB I had KK. The table was 7 handed and before the action got around to me, 3 people had already limped in. Not wanting another bad beat, I made a big raise of 500 (10x the BB)! Only one player folded. Flop shows Q 10 9. Not wanting to be out drawn, I fire a big bet of 2000. One called and the other folded. One guy called?! Does he have the straight already, or is he still drawing? Anyway, the turn card showed a 2. At this point, I really didnt want him to out draw me, so pushed All In with my remaining 3K. He calls and shows QQ! Wow, that really hurts!

Five Bad Beats in one night! This must be a personal record for me. I decided to stop playing 'coz I believe that my game has already been altered with my decision making already badly influenced by all the beats I've been getting. I guess, bouncing back from an excruciating experience like this will surely be a character builder for me in my quest to be a good poker player.

How do you sniff out a better hand?

2010-01-11T15:22:00.001+08:00

In an unraised pot pre flop (10/20 game), you have

A 9

at late position with 3 other people, including the SB and the BB. The flop shows

A 6 5

It was checked around to you. Hitting the Ace, you make an almost pot size bet of 70. Two players flat calls. Now you're assuming that one guy has a draw, while the other probably has a weak Ace.Turn card shows a

You now have the nut flush draw and Top pair with a pretty decent kicker. You fired again at the pot with a bet of 160. The first guy folds, while the other guy tanks, then Calls. You are almost sure that he doesn't have an AK 'coz he would have raised preflop, and you are still putting this guy on a draw or a weak Ace. River showed a

If he was on a draw, then he missed his straight. If he had a weak Ace, then your 9 would most likely be good. So you fire a value bet of 250 at the pot. He comes back over the top with an 800 bet! WTF!! Did he actually held on to 10's and hit trips at the river? Ace 10 giving him 2 pairs? Did he already have 2 pairs on the flop (he should have raised at the flop or at the turn)? QJ for a straight? or is this a Bluff bet?? You fired in all streets, so is it possible that the 10 helped him?

In this particular situation, I was the guy who kept on calling. My hand was

K 10

Why? First, I didn't give him credit for hitting the Ace on the flop, and I figured that he was just trying to steal the pot. True, I didn't hit the board as well, but I thought of floating and make a play at the turn. When the K showed at the turn, that card helped me. His 160 bet at the turn just gave me 3 to 1 to my money to call. The river card gave me 2 pairs. I knew I was good and that a raise would surely be paid off as he would assume that I am making a bluff bet on a missed draw. True enough I got paid off.

Replaying the hand in my head, I ask myself, how could I sniff out a better hand if I were the guy who had A 9? How could the guy improve the way he played the hand? Trust me, its best to figure out situations like these 'coz hands like these can break one's backroll just like that.

Bad Beat Jackpot

2010-01-09T09:03:00.000+08:00

Some poker rooms award Bad Beat Jackpot as promotions for Cash Games wherein a minimum hand of a Full House of Aces over Tens, if beaten, will be awarded the Jackpot prize. Manila Bay Poker Club is one those poker clubs that offer such promo. Last December 21, 2009, I was part of the table that hit the Bad Beat Jackpot.

I was playing in a 10/20 table. Pre flop, a guy in early position raised with 100. Everyone folded to the small blind who Calls. Big blind folds. Heads up. Flop is A A 10. Small blind guy Checks. The original raiser makes a bet of 120. Small blind Calls. Turn card is an A, showing 3 Aces on the board. Small blind Checks again. I'm thinking this guy must be drawing 'coz he's just calling the bet. The original raiser continues firing at the pot with a 220 bet. To my surprise, the SB flat calls again. This time, I feel like SB has an Ace and is just slow playing it, while the other guy either have the 10 or a bigger pair. The river card shows an 8. SB checks and the other guy checks behind and shows JJ, suspecting that SB has an Ace. SB shows AQ!

SB has A A A A Q while the other guy has A A A J J. Bad Beat Jackpot!!!

Jackpot prize was 340K, with the guy recieving the beat getting 40%. SB gets 20%, while the rest of the table splitting the remaining 40%.

In retrospect, its a good thing that SB played his AQ passively. Otherwise, the other guys would have sniffed the Ace of the SB and would have gotten away from his hand. There wouldn't be a jackpot had he folded.

2 days later we were paid by the Poker Club, just in time for Christmas!

Pocket Aces 1

2010-01-08T10:36:00.000+08:00

I'm sure there have been a lot of horror stories about pocket Aces being cracked. I myself have not been spared of this situation. However, my first pocket Aces story (I have several) is not about a bad beat. Its about a situation that involves Chip Stack management, bubble, and surviving in a major tournament.

This situation happened in, by far, the biggest tournament (in terms of field) in Asia. This was the Metro Hi-5, wherein 667 participants, including some notables like WSOP Bracelet winner Isaac Galazan, Poker Pro Isaac Mizrachi and Filipino Champs Neil Arce and Kent Del Rosario.

Let me set-up the scenario. Less than 20 minutes left before the end of Day 2 of the 4 day event. I had about 40K in chips, while the average chip stack was about 55K. Not so bad, right?! Before looking at my cards, the UTG (under the gun) went All-In with 12K. The next guy Calls. He's got around 80K. The guy after him goes All In as well with 32K. Two guys after him folded. Now its my turn. You guessed it, Pocket Aces!!

Its been said a lot of time that Pocket Aces would most likely be cracked whenever 2 or more people are in the pot. That's exactly what's going on in my mind in this situation. This tournament is particularly special 'coz its the biggest tournament held in the Philippines, probably in the whole of Asia as well, and finishing good in this tourney would be life-changing.

One could make an argument for either calling and risking one's tournament life or folding and surviving Day 2 with a relatively good stack. Here is a situation where 2 guys were already All In and another guy who seems interested and could possibly afford to call because of the pot odds. I can easily call the 12K but the 32K All In would really hurt me. In the end, I decided to go ALL IN and put my poker fate on 2 Aces.

But before I did so, I made a little speech on "why I should NOT be involved anymore,... blah, blah, but I am going All In as well, coz if I bust out and my hand gets cracked at least I have a story to tell". I did my little speech to make the other 3 people (the Button, SB and BB), who still has to act after me, to fold their hand, and for the UTG+1 to fold as well. I don't want people to get the crazy idea of calling 'coz there's pot odds for them. The speech worked and they all folded. The UTG+1 had JJ. Now its a 3-way All In;

Player 1 - QQ

Player 2 - AK

Me - AA

Flop - 2, J, 7 Turn - 10 River - 3

Had I not made the speech, the guy with JJ would have called, and my Aces and my tournament life would have been over and done with.

I went on to Day 3 among the Top 10 in the leaderboard and ended up winning this event. Check out the write ups on this tourney;

http://www.metrocardclub.com/

http://www.fpt.ph/

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=493185&publicationSubCategoryId=69

World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

2010-01-08T09:12:00.001+08:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Free Poker Download at PokerStars
Registration code: 452306

Why did I create this blog?

2010-01-06T10:43:00.000+08:00

I'm sure that there are a lot of bad beat stories to tell. I created this blog, not to dampen your poker spirits, but to catalog some of my bad beats and somehow look back on how I should have played the hand. After all, in order to be really good in this game, one must strive to learn and hone one's skills.

I have been playing poker, mostly texas holdem, for more than 5 years. I'd say I've had some success in this game. Do I consider myself as a "winning" player? Maybe. It really depends on how one perceive a poker player as being a winner. For me, a night of poker (5 hours) playing, say 10,000.00, and standing up with the same amount of money, is a fairly successful night. Why? Say you were playing in a 25/50 table. On the average, you pay a rake of 400-500 per hour. That's already 2,500.00 for 5 hours! That's not yet counting the tips that you gave the dealer every time you won a hand. For the 5 hours that you have been playing, you've already spent over 3,000.00. So standing up and bringing home the same amount of money you started with when you sat down 5 hours ago is already a successful night for me.

Now back to why I started this blog. I wanted to document all the "interesting" hands that I have encountered so I can look back and see if I could have played it any other way. As they say, hindsight is always 20/20. I also want to look at my betting paterns and the range of hands that I have played. I do not claim to be an expert in the game of poker. I am encouraging you to share your views as well on the situations and the hands that I will be posting on this blog. Feel free to post your insight. Hopefully, all of these information will help me become a better player.