Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

OK, I lied.

Well, maybe I didn't lie so much as I eventually called an audible.

I said I wasn’t going to play any poker today since it is college football Saturday. And initially, that held true.

I started the day watching on TV my Michigan Wolverines play Northwestern at Wrigley Field. People who know me were surprised I didn’t go to the game in person given its proximity to me. I really never considered going. I don’t like going to road games. I prefer going to Michigan home games. And yes, I get that Michigan fans probably outnumbered Northwestern fans at the game, but I’m talking about all of the pageantry that goes with going to a game in The Big House. Sure, Wrigley Field is a historic baseball stadium. But I’m not a fan of baseball, so Wrigley Field holds no special allure to me. Plus, I’ve been to Wrigley Field plenty of times over the years. It’s not a bucket list item for me.

I’m especially glad I didn’t go to the game, because it was mostly a horror show for Michigan. They did everything possible to give the game away. Lost the turnover battle 5-0. Missed two field goals (although one was from 60 yards). Stupid coaching decisions. Pure annoyance for the most part. Yes, Michigan won the game on a walk-off field goal to end the game, but it was more relief than joy given the ugliness of the team’s performance.

In the late afternoon window of TV games, Oklahoma-Alabama was compelling so I was not tempted to play poker. For some reason I didn’t watch any of the Texas A&M-South Carolina game which started as a massive potential upset when South Carolina raced off to a 30-3 lead, and it turned out to be either a historic comeback or historic collapse depending on your rooting interest as third-ranked Texas A&M came back to win 31-30. I stuck with the Oklahoma-Alabama game start to finish.

As for the early evening window of games, the big matchups were SEC games. The Georgia-Texas game matched two top 10 teams (although I was not really buying Texas as a Top 10 caliber team), while the Ole Miss-Florida game proved to be more competitive than expected. Ultimately, though, I’m a Big Ten guy. The team I root for is a Big Ten team. The teams I hate/root against play in the Big Ten. Ohio State-UCLA was a night game, but as a Michigan fan I had zero desire to watch the Buckeyes’ juggernaut destroy a badly outmanned UCLA squad. So, I watched the SEC games with no strong rooting interest (hoping for competitive games), but I also signed up for a 756-person online tourney since the SEC games were not demanding my 100% laser focus.

I would say my attention was 60% watching college football, 40% playing poker. Given the competing demands on my attention, I did not write down hand histories. I had a consistently solid chip stack throughout. The blinds were not a concern for me at any time leading up to the money bubble. The middle of the tournament highlight was when I had A-A, flopped a set and then check-called the table maniac on every street until I had all of his chips. When we got significantly past the money bubble, the blinds pretty much became a problem for almost everyone once we got down to the final 25. The blinds were far too high at that point in relation to the total chips that were in play. With 19 players remaining and my table being six-handed, I was dealt A-7 suited and went all-in from the cutoff. The big blind was the massive tourney chip leader and he called -- mostly because he could afford it, I guess -- with J-6 suited. He flopped a 6, and I didn’t improve. I suppose I could have folded pre flop since there was a small pay jump from 19th to 18th, but I didn’t care about that. I think I was 12th in chips at the time. At a time when the blinds were a problem, I got it in good, and if my hand had held up, I would have had the chips to have a bit of playability and possibly make The Final Table, at which point anything is possible.

The late, late night game I watch is BYU-TCU. BYU is a little bit of a side team for me. My best friend in high school went to BYU. We have lost track of one another (he located in California after college then moved to Nevada, and now I’m not sure where he is). But I know he is out there somewhere rooting for BYU, so I root for them too. The game is not that competitive in BYU’s favor, and I find my interest wandering. I look for a tournament to play, but there is nothing ready to start for a while.

I decide to try something else. I am thinking of moving up in stakes online. I’m not ready to pull the trigger just yet, but I’m getting close. I decide to observe a tournament at these stakes to see if/how it differs from the less expensive tournaments I’ve been playing in. I like the fact that starting stacks are bigger than what I am used to. My initial observation is that in the middle stage of the tournament I select to watch, players seem to be willing to get it in a bit lighter than what I am used to. Really tiny sample size, so I have no idea if this is actually a thing, or if it is specific to the table I have picked to watch.

Eventually there is a tournament I can play. I’m not making hands, but I am picking good spots to bluff my way to added chips. I keep bluffing in post flop action and people keep folding. In one case, I get to the river with two over cards to the board. I have been betting on each street, but villain is sticky. I go all-in following the river card with only Ace high, and fortunately villain folds. Phew. My bluffs are all getting through. Until one doesn’t. I open with K-Q suited from early position and get one call. The flop is J-8-2 rainbow. I bet and get called. The turn is a 3. I bet and get called. The river is a 7. By now you’d think I’d read the memo and give up. But I decide that I think villain has a weak Jack since he has not raised me at any point, and I convince myself I can blow him off a Jack with a kicker problem. I go all-in. He calls with J-10. I read his hand right, but I read his willingness to fold top pair, kicker problem wrong. I’m out of the tournament well short of the money. I need a telescope to see the money bubble when I get bounced from the tournament. I almost never get eliminated this early (there is probably 50% of the starting field still remaining).

My aggressiveness/bluffing worked until it didn’t. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Still, I like the fact that I am becoming more aggressive in a departure from my old tight aggressive approach. I am still tight aggressive much of the time, but I am willing to bluff liberally when I see a “spot.” I don’t just have to get dealt premium hands to add to my chip stack. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I probably need to rein in the aggression a bit, but I am adding tools to my poker toolbox.

I was curious when the WSOP schedule got released for WSOP 2025, so I went back in time to see what I could find. The schedule was released February 17, 2025.

That means we are 3 months away from the schedule being released for WSOP 2026. I am already counting the months, weeks, days until I can see the schedule and plan my trip!!! I am already feeling impatient.

I am just as excited about WSOP 2026 (which will be my fourth WSOP) as I was for my first one. I hope this feeling never goes away.

Does the WSOP need to be fixed?

WSOP 2026 is in the news, so I figure I’ll comment.

Phil Hellmuth has very recently brought to the forefront his belief that the WSOP has too many bracelets available to be won.

https://www.poker.org/latest-news/negrea...

“I think it’s ridiculous that there are all these bracelets,” Hellmuth said. “If you keep giving out 300 bracelets a year, you’re cheapening the bracelets horrendously.”

I have a couple of opinions on this that may seem at odds with one another. On the one hand, I think Hellmuth has selfish motives for his stance. On the other hand, I don’t think he’s wrong.

Let’s start with Hellmuth’s motives. I think his stance is mostly that of self-interest due to the fact that he sees the escalation of bracelet events as a threat to his all-time lead in WSOP titles. A couple of years ago I would have said his all-time record of 17 bracelets was unsurpassable. The rapid escalation of WSOP bracelet events now means that 17 bracelets might be reachable. Given that he has perceived motives that are for his, and only his, benefit I think Hellmuth is the wrong person to be banging the drum on this issue.

As poker.org writes, “It’s not surprising to see Hellmuth step up here. He has won 17 WSOP bracelets, more than anyone else in poker history, and six more than Phil Ivey in second. Bracelets are his legacy, and the more bracelets that are awarded, the more chance that someone will have of beating his record. We’re sure that if the WSOP decided to award just one bracelet a year, Hellmuth would be all for it.”

I think this issue as it pertains to Hellmuth and his legacy reminds me of a column I wrote back in the day when I covered the NFL about Dan Marino. I wrote that while Marino was unquestionably Hall of Fame worthy, I thought he was overrated in terms of where he ranked among the all-time great quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame. Marino never won a Super Bowl and only played in one of them. His legacy among the all-time greats was dependent on his incredible passing statistics and the major records he owned. I said that a huge part of QB legacy is Super Bowls won. All of the quarterbacks in the highest rungs of the all-time great debate had won Super Bowls (or championships in the pre-Super Bowl era) except for Marino. I said this was a giant, gaping hole in the argument for how highly people ranked Marino. Recency effect. I said that as Marino’s statistical records got broken over time, the argument for him as a top five QB all-time would weaken. I think that has in fact happened.

I think it’s the same thing with Hellmuth. The argument that he is the Greatest Of All Time is based entirely on his WSOP results. Remove the WSOP, and the argument for Hellmuth as the G.O.A.T. is severely weakened/destroyed. Of course, you can’t remove WSOP results. It’s the most important series in poker, and second place is not even in the picture in my opinion.

But given the escalation of bracelet events, it has suddenly become conceivable that someone (or multiple someones) can someday surpass Hellmuth’s 17 bracelets. And once that happens, the argument that Hellmuth is the G.O.A.T. takes a major hit.

For example, also drawing on my past career as a pro football writer/columnist, I used to believe that Packers WR Don Hutson was the pro football G.O.A.T. His statistics for his era were Wayne Gretzky like crazy insane. Then Jerry Rice came along and by the time Rice retired, I wasn’t sure if Hutson was still the greatest wide receiver of all-time, which made it difficult to still argue that he was the greatest pro football player (regardless of position) of all time.

So yes, Hellmuth has very selfish motives for his stance. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

For starters, I do not think that WSOP online events should count on WSOP totals. I think online bracelets should be their own category. They should be WSOOP (World Series Of Online Poker) bracelets. I think online poker is different than live poker. I also think that the fact that WSOP online events can only be played by people in a limited number of states kind of dilutes the player pool to those in a handful of eligible states plus a small percentage of people in Las Vegas that multitask (play live and online at the same time). I’m not saying that WSOP online bracelets don’t count. I’m just saying I believe they should be in their own separate category. It’s not a hill I am prepared to die on, but it’s what I think.

As for the number of live events at the WSOP in Las Vegas, I think it is fine as is. I think it would be a mistake to cut it down to 50 events in Las Vegas as Hellmuth is calling for. I think if you do that, a lot of the mixed game tournaments that are so increasingly popular would have to be eliminated. I think that would be a huge mistake. Mixed games are currently growing the popularity of poker and adding to the player pool of people who go to the WSOP. As a purely No Limit Hold’Em player, I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I think the escalation of popularity of mixed games should be cultivated not eliminated.

Do I think the significance of winning a bracelet has been cheapened? Yes, I do. But poker is not alone in going down this path. Just look at sports.

In college football, the playoff has recently changed from four teams to 12 (and probably headed to 16).

In Major League Baseball, the postseason once upon a time only had four teams. The present day wild card system cheapens the regular-season playoff race at the top, but has made it so that so many more teams are playing meaningful games down the stretch.

The NFL has significantly increased the number of wild-card playoff teams.

The NBA has added play-in games to the postseason structure.

College basketball has doubled+ the number of teams that qualify for March Madness from what I watched growing up. It has really rendered the regular season much less significant/exciting other than it leading to a tournament seed. Teams are remembered for their March Madness tournament results almost to the exclusion of conference titles.

What about non-sports examples? My state (and I’m sure other states) comes out with an annual magazine of Super Lawyers. The top lawyers overall. The top lawyers in a ton of sub categories. Top lawyers under age 40. Top women lawyers. Just an avalanche of lawyers highlighted. The magazine is thick. Does this dilute the significance? I doubt the lawyers cited would think so. And there are similar publications/awards for doctors, real estate brokers. A lot of people being acknowledged. Nothing wrong with this.

So, I’m not going to be an old man screaming get off my lawn in regards to the increasing number of WSOP events that we now see. That said, I don’t think more increases are warranted/needed. I’d leave things as they currently are other than the fact that I think online WSOP bracelets should be a different category than live WSOP bracelets. As is, the WSOP offers something for everyone. There are a wide variety of non Hold’Em events. There are a wide variety of price points for everyone from recs taking an inexpensive shot to crushers who play nose bleeds. Something for all levels of poker players in the ecosystem. This is what I think makes the WSOP great. It has a place for someone like me, which isn’t the case in more traditional sporting events. Poker popularity exploded because of the Chris Moneymaker effect. An accountant with a dream and a great name who caught lightening in a bottle. Proponents like Hellmuth of a more exclusive system should be careful not to legislate away this type of player in an effort to make bracelets more difficult to win. Eliminate the recreational players of the world who want a shot at the fantasy, and I think the impact will be very detrimental to the WSOP brand. The beauty of the WSOP is that a recreational player like me show up and rub shoulders with the giants of the game. (And yes, just like Hellmuth, I have my own selfish motives for feeling the way I do).

If the WSOP wants to find a way to make a more limited number of WSOP events more prestigious then maybe it should identify a specific 50 events (or whatever number is deemed ideal) as being WSOP Player of the Year events. This would add a level of prestige to a more limited number of events, while not eliminating the bracelet chase in the other events. Or maybe leave the regular Player of the Year race as-is, but add an award for the 10K events points leader. Or something else that acknowledges a Player of the Year in the big boy events (but there has to be a minimum number of entrants to avoid tiny field nose bleed tourneys from having outsized influence). I’m sure there is a creative solution of some sort.

And yet, any further changes will satisfy some and outrage others. There are too many vastly different agendas for any fix to make everyone perfectly happy. It’s the nature of the WSOP beast.

Norman Chad speaks up regarding the debate over whether WSOP bracelets have been cheapened (see above post).

https://pokerati.com/2025/11/norman-chad-still-gambling-mad-after-all-these-years/

Pokerati -

Norman Chad - Still Gambling Mad After All These Years

Norman Chad: “The game has grown, as indicated by the size of the field in most events these days, so it’s natural we now have many more bracelet opportunities. The number of bracelets does not cheapen them to me that much, but what does cheapen them are the multiple re-entry events and the online events.”

More Norman Chad: “The most prestigious tournaments, such as WSOP bracelet events, should not be re-entry. I am still wary of online bracelets; too many of them are unlimited re-entry, and I won’t fully trust the virtual version of poker until we can see who we are playing against.”

Reaching a new milestone

I played in one poker tournament tonight (84 entrants) as soon as I finish watching the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Detroit Lions in Sunday Night Football.

I got off to a blazing start. First hand of the tournament I have K-K. A few players call my opening bet, and then another player raises. I 4-bet, three players get out of Dodge, and the player who made the 3-bet calls. The flop has three under cards that are not at all connected, and we get all the chips in the middle. Villain has not much and was clearly determined to outplay me, despite the fact that I showed nothing but massive strength. My Kings hold and I have more than doubled up. Chip leader.

It's good to be me.

From there it was a pretty smooth ride for a while. I bust a few players and get their bounties. Plus, given my chip stack, people are afraid of me and keep folding when I show aggression even though I am betting light a decent amount of the time.

For most of the tournament I have a top 5 to top 10 chip stack.

The money bubble bursts.

The Final Table bubble bursts.

At the start of The Final Table, I am third in chips. Then two unfortunate things happen. For starters, I pick this inopportune time to go card dead. Secondly, the player two to my left goes on a massive rush (not at my expense) and becomes the overwhelming chip leader. This is bad for obvious reasons regarding position as well as the fact that I have been at the same table as him for a while and I have identified him as a good, strong player.

Given that I am pretty card dead, I simply have to mostly patiently fold. I find four bluff spots that I like. Two of them get thru. Two of them get picked off by OverwhelmingChipLeader, and I have to stand down.

We get down to four-handed play. I am last in chips, but still pretty healthy. I get a few decent hands and I chip up to third in chips.

Then I am dealt Jd-Jh. I get all of my chips in the middle pre flop against OverwhelmingChipLeader, and he has Ad-9d. Nice, I have almost 70% equity before the flop.

That changes quickly and dramatically. The flop is ...

... Kd-Qd-3d.

Villain has flopped the nut flush. It’s not good to be me.

My equity has crash-landed to less than 3%. I don’t even have enough time to figure out what I am supposed to be rooting for on the turn and river, which get turned over well before I can solve the puzzle. Suffice it to say, I don’t get “there,” wherever “there” is.

Wasn’t my turn to find the Winner’s Circle.

Still, fourth place plus three bounties claimed is a quality result.

I’ve hit a new milestone as my online poker bankroll rises to $113.46, a new personal high. I don’t have a chart, but if I did it would be an almost nonstop rise at a 45-degree angle.

As I have recently written, I probably need to play higher stakes. From a competition standpoint, I seem to have proven that I am a winning player at the low entry fee tournaments I have been playing. But from a dollar amount in my online bankroll perspective, I still don’t have enough money in my Global Poker account to be properly rolled for higher stakes.

Obviously, I could simply load some additional money into my account. But I like the notion that I have never put a single penny into my account. Global Poker gave me 5 Sweeps Coins (equal to $5.00) for joining the site, and I’ve turned that into $113.46. I am making Final Tables on a pretty regular basis.

I know I’m being silly about not putting any of my own money into the account, but I like the storyline of me never putting a penny of my money into the account. I can certainly afford to make a deposit. But I like the notion that so far I have not had to do so.

When PokerListings interviewed me in January, they asked me about this, and I responded:

...

...

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Maybe we need era-adjusted WSOP statistics, even something as simple as dividing the number of bracelets won by the number of bracelet events in the given time frame. At least if you don't mind Puggy Pearson having the greatest WSOP year ever (3 bracelets in 7 events in 1973).

To a certain degree, old time records get steamrolled and forgotten due to increased volume in sports.

For example, in the NFL there used to only be 14 regular-season games, Now there are 17. That significantly impacts single season records.

In college basketball, back in the day freshmen were not eligible to play. That significantly impacts career records (i.e. Pete Maravich career scoring totals were remarkably from only three seasons).

In college football, bowl game statistics did not used to count for career totals, but I believe now they count and for some reason the old uncounted bowl stats have not been included retroactively.

In major league baseball, there are more regular season games played now than back in the day. That significantly impacts single season records (i.e. the home run record chase once upon a time, I believe when Roger Maris was chasing the record).

If someone passes Phil Hellmuth's WSOP titles some day, there won't be an asterisk in the record book. The new leader will simply be identified as having won the most WSOP titles ever. Sure there will be understanding and nuance for old-timers and historians, but as time marches on that nuance will be somewhat forgotten.

Time to create some scouting reports

With an eye on eventually moving up in stakes online, I spent much of tonight scouting out players and taking notes of players at these stakes. Given that I am starting from scratch observing the players at this level, what I do is find a chip leader at the middle stages of a tournament, go to their table, and make observations of not only that player, but also everyone else at the table. This is going to take some time and commitment, but if I am going to eventually go up against a completely foreign player pool, I’d prefer not to show up completely blind-folded. I end up with decent notes on maybe a dozen players.

I did put down my scout’s notebook long enough to play in an 18-person Sit’n’Go tournament.

Lowlight: Down to five-handed, I’m in the big blind with K-K, and everyone folds.

Highlight: I came in first place.

OK, you want a hand highlight? On a 10-7-2 rainbow flop I had Q-Jo. I went all-in against a player I had labeled as uncomfortable playing post flop, and I got the crucial fold.

With the win, that’s yet another personal record for my online bankroll, which is now $120.46. I’m kind of a (low-stakes) poker killing machine at the moment.

The art (it’s certainly not a science) of overplaying a hand ... I keep getting disconnected from the tournament ... do I try to fold my way into the money or go for it?

I enter an online tournament that has 66 participants, 12 will get paid. Starting stacks are 3,000.

I see who is at my table, and it’s a murderer’s row of tough opponents. I have extensive notes about five of these players, and in each player’s case I read that they are very aggressive, tough opponents. This should be interesting.

On the first hand of the tournament. Two players get involved aggressively. The flop has a Jack. The turn has another Jack, at which point the two players go to war and all of their chips are in the middle. One player has K-K. The other player has J-3 and now has trips Jacks. J-3, really? Must be nice to run that well.

As soon as this initial had plays out, I get moved to another table. The new table appears much better. I only have notes on one player, and he is a strong player. Still, a much easier draw than the prior table. Three hands later I’m in the big blind with J-3. Hmmm, J-3 just doubled up on the prior table. Maybe ... nah, there is a big raise and I fold since, as the saying goes, lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place.

The next time I’m in the big blind, I am dealt 7h-5h. There are a few limpers. OK, I’ll take three free cards. The flop is Ks-8h-Kd. Nothing there for me. I check. So does everyone else. The turn is the 9h. I have a flush draw, although it is a weak flush draw. Except, the 6h would give me the straight flush. It’s been a long time since I had a straight flush. Everyone checks after the turn. I’m still in the hand. C’mon, let’s see the miracle 6h. Nope, the river is the Qc. I have 7 high. I check/fold to a bet.

I am dealt nothing playable early.

Finally, I have A-Qo. There is a limper, so I bet 4x. I get one caller who has position on me. The flop is Q-10-5 rainbow, which hits my hand very nicely. I check, hoping villain will stab at it. He just checks. The turn is a 7. I bet. Villain folds.

The very next hand, I have Ah-Jh. I open 3x. The tough player I identified from my player notes when I got moved to this table, very recently lost two-thirds of his chips. He goes all in for 971 chips UTG. I have every intention of snap-calling when it gets to me. However, a player who just joined the table a hand or two ago goes all-in. I didn’t really take note of this player when he joined the table. I have a player note on him, but I didn’t notice it since the player just showed up. This turns out to be a big mistake on my part. A massive mistake. This new player has me barely covered. His 4-bet looks extremely strong. It’s really early in the tournament. I have something like 85 big blinds. Do I really want to call it off, all-in with A-J suited?

I think it through. Is there a weaker Ace that he could have than my A-J? It seems irrational to think so. I certainly wouldn’t play A-10 or worse that way. It’s far more likely that he has a better Ace than I do. The 4-bet screams A-A or K-K, maybe Q-Q, which would be awful for me. Even J-J cuts down on my outs. I suppose it could be A-K, which is also terrible for me. Heck, if he is insane and is doing this with 2-2 it’s a coin flip where he’s a slight favorite. I conclude that there is no reason to play 85 big blinds with A-J suited. It feels like playing Russian roulette.

My hand is suited though ...

... Nope, can’t do it. I fold. My immediate thought is I have made a difficult but disciplined fold.

My self-congratulatory celebration ends quickly. I got it wrong. Very wrong. Multiple reasons why it was wrong.

For starters, being results-oriented, I folded the best hand. The tough, aggressive player who had recently lost two-thirds of his chips must have been on tilt, because he went all-in for his remaining 971 chips UTG with K-5. I was certain I was way ahead of what I perceived to be his range, and I was right.

What I got wrong was my read on the new player who 4-bet. He had A-9o. This is a disaster. I had him dominated. And if I had called his huge 4-bet, my hand would have held up. I would have doubled up and then some. Still, I had no way of knowing villain would overplay A-9o this badly.

Except maybe I should have known.

As I lament my fold, I notice something that fills me with dread. I see that I have a note on this player. I open the notes section on this player, and I see I have previously written just two words, “Overplays hands.”

Arrrrrrggghhhhh!!!!!

I should have known. But I didn’t see the note icon since the player had just joined the table a hand or two ago and he is at the opposite end oof the table than me, so my focus was not on him when he appeared.

Would I have folded to Overplayer had I seen my note on him. On the one hand a 4-bet is extremely strong and extremely committed. Should be committed to a poker insane asylum 4-betting A-9o. But .......... even a table lunatic has the goods sometimes. The 4-bet from a normal player makes A-J suited shrivel up in size. But had I read my player note I would have ... well ... I can’t say what I would have done. It’s easy to say I would have called now that I know what he had. But being perfectly honest, who knows what I would have done had I read the player note first. At a minimum, I would have used my full allotment of time to give serious consideration to calling.

In real time, I see the A-9o and I regret folding. Not saying I disagree with the decision, but I am beating myself up for not noticing the player note. I take all of these notes, and then in a crucial situation I don’t weaponize the info. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I tell myself to get over it. I still have a starting chip stack, and it is very early in the tournament. Snap out of it.

It is about this time that a new player joins the table seated to my immediate left. He has a ton of chips. Probably tournament chip leader. I have notes on him. I make sure to read the notes right away. My notes say he is very aggressive and very good. Great, a worthy adversary with a boat load of chips has position on me.

I’m not happy at this time.

The blinds are 75/150. I have 2,901 chips and I’m in 26th place out of 45 players remaining. I’m not in terrible shape. I need to snap out of it.

The next hand I’m involved in presents a new type of problem for me. I am in the big blind with Q-8 suited. Five players have limped. I just check. The flop is Q-10-2 rainbow.

I get disconnected.

I frantically try to get back onto the site and the tournament. I flopped top pair poor kicker, but it seems like I won’t have the opportunity to decide what to do. I get re-connected. I get disconnected. WTF. I get re-connected.

At this point, I figure I have surely timed out of the hand since undoubtedly someone must have bet the flop. Only it turns out that no one did. By the time that I get re-connected, I see that the board is Q-10-2-10 no flush draw available. And the action is on my as soon as I get back in. I see I am running out of time to act. I quickly conclude that no one bet the flop. Given that no one showed any aggression on the flop, plus there is a turn scare card that is a second 10, I decide to stab at the pot. I’m not sure if this was the right play, but I was flustered from the disconnections, I had almost no time to analyze what had happened in the hand, I processed the info as quickly as I could and with top pair I took a shot. I get insta-called by the next player to act. Not what I was hoping for. Everyone else folds. The river is an 8, which pairs my kicker but does not matter since the two 10s on the board counterfeits my 8s. I have three pairs, but only two of them count. I check. Villain checks. He has K-Q and has me outkicked.

That was one stressful hand. I was discombobulated the whole time because of the multiple disconnections. I still have 2,091 chips. The blinds are 100/200. I still have time to get something going.

I get moved to a new table. I have notes on one player who is to my immediate right and plays an aggressive style.

I quickly get dealt As-Qs. There is one limper ahead of me. I open 1,000 which is chunky, but I am giving someone a chance to 3-bet for the rest of my chips, which I will gladly push into the middle. Everyone folds. I have 2,691 chips.

I get disconnected again, but fortunately I only have Qh-4s. But the disconnections are getting ridiculous.

The next time I am in the big blind I have 9-9. I immediately get disconnected AGAIN!!!! I frantically get back into the tournament and see that three players have limped and the action is on me with the time clock ticking down on me. I am moving way too fast and I misclick. I mean to go all-in, but instead I just min raise. Everyone calls. Well, I’ve certainly inflated the pot.

The flop is K-4-K. I am first to act. I figure my min raise could have been done with a monster trying to induce action. I figure I can sell the notion that I have hit the motherlode. I go all-in, which is kind of dumb since there are three other players in the hand, and one of them could have a King. I get insta-called by one player (I’m doomed!), and the other players fold.

I wait for the bad news, which never arrives because villain called with 6-4. Seriously? I’m not going to complain. All of a sudden, I have a bunch of chips. To be exact, I have 6,372 chips, which is good for 12th place with 27 players remaining.

At this point, I consider everything that has happened so far in the tournament (folding A-J suited incorrectly, all of the disconnections), and I write in my notes, “This tournament has been a train wreck.”

Right away, poker carnage takes place at my table, but I am just a spectator. A player with 9-9 flops a set and turns quads, busting two players one of whom had A-A.

The blinds go up to 200/400. I have 6,172 chips, and I’m 14th out of 24. I fold two hands and I am 13th out of 21. Despite all that has gone wrong so far, I am still in the hunt (12 get paid).

The blinds come my way. It sure would be nice to get a premium in the blinds I implore the virtual dealer. In the big blind I get dealt 9-2o. In the small blind I get dealt 6-3o. Bye-bye blinds.

We go on break. I have 5,222 chips, 14th of 18 remaining. I get moved to a new table. Darn! I was going to be the button on my old table. I am in middle position at my new table. Breaks of the game.

The blinds are now 400/800. I get dealt bottom feeder cards the first few hands. I am 14/17. I am 14/16. I am 14/14. By folding three hands in a row, I get three players closer to the money.

I get dealt A-9o. It’s not a premium, but it will have to be good enough. Ride or die time. One player limps. I go all-in. It folds to the limper, and he folds. I have 7,402 chips, which is 13th of 14 players. Two off the money.

A little time passes, and I am down to 6,842 chips, which is 14th of 14. Overcaller from the much earlier A-J suited fiasco joins my table

I am dealt As-Ks. There is one limper. I go all-in. Overplayer calls. The original limper also calls. Overplayer has 8-8. Limper has Ah-Jh. I have Limper dominated, although it is unfortunate that he has one of my outs. I don’t improve, and Overplayer’s 8-8 knocks me out and gives him the tournament chip lead. Had any Ace or a King appeared at any point, I would have been in third place in tournament chips.

It turns out I probably could have folded to a min cash since two players bust out at the other table very soon after I busted. I am fine with how it played out. Given the choice between (maybe) folding to a min cash or getting it in with A-K suited with a solid chance to have the chips necessary to have a shot at winning it all, I am good trying to play for the win.

While this tournament has been an exercise in frustration, I decide to stick around and see how the remainder of the tournament plays out. If I am being honest, I am hoping to see Overplayer donk off all of his chips by badly overplaying a good but not great hand.

Right away, Overplayer has A-8o, faces a chunky bet and makes a very large raise to put the other player all-in. It’s seems thin to play A-8o so large, but the other player calls with K-Qo. Overplayer is ahead and his hand holds. Overplayer now has a massive chip stack. He is the chip leader with almost double the chips of the player in second place. There are 11 players left.

When they are eight-handed, a player who is average in chips goes all-in with A-10 UTG. I’m a little surprised at how big he bets (17,523 chips) when a 3x opening bet would have been fine. From UTG+1, Overplayer instantly goes all-in (42,741 chips) with 7-7. Everyone else folds. UTG calls. Of course, Overplayer’s 7-7 holds, and he now has 61,914 chips. Second place has 29,874 chips. Overplayer has the same amount of bounties as the other seven players have cumulatively.

It’s not looking like I am going to see Overplayer get his comeuppance where I am anticipating he overplays a good but not premium hand into a superior holding.

Despite having so many more chips than everyone else, every time Overplay puts chips into the pot, he does so by going all-in. He is only using one tool from the toolbox.

When they are six-handed with the blinds at 1,000/2,000, a player goes all-in for 14,000 chips with A-6o. Overplayer calls with K-Jo. Overplayer loses when the run out of cards is A-8-J-6-A. He is down to 38,000 chips.

The next big confrontation occurs when another player goes all-in pre flop for 14,000 chips with Ad-9h. Overplayer is only too happy to get it in with K-K. For once Overplayer has a huge hand. And he loses when the other player makes an unlikely straight on a board that reads 3d-4d-2d-5s-Qs. For once Overplayer got it in great, and he suffered a bad beat. Overplayer is last in chips.

While I admittedly was uncharitably hoping Overplayer would get it in too light and get punished, the way he just got his stack decimated makes me feel bad for him. How did I go from being annoyed by his play to feeling sorry for him?

Overplayer then goes on an all-in binge, and no one ever calls. Overplayer has worked his way back up to second in chips.

They are five-handed. Overplayer has 46,228 chips. The other four players have 52,264, 48,288, 36,334 and 14,966 chips. With the blinds at 2,500/5,000 we have reached the point where the winner will either need to get a run of good cards or dole out bad beats. I suspect that now everyone will start (properly) overplaying hands.

Right away, two other players engage in A-K versus A-Q carnage. A-Q improbably wins and is now the huge chip leader.

Overplayer has A-K and knocks out a short stack who has A-7. Eventually Overplayer and AQLucky are heads up. AQLucky has 150,000 chips. Overplayer has 47,000 chips.

Overplayer doubles up on a seemingly harmless starting hand when there is a limp and a check. Overplayer has K-6, while AQLucky has 9-6. When the flop is K-9-2, all the chips go in the middle, and now they are even in chips.

Overplayer takes the chip lead. Then Overplayer is decimated when he has A-3o. He loses to 7-6 suited when all the chips go in the middle with Overplayer ahead with Ace high, only to see a 7 hit on the river. Overplayer is facing a 4-to-1 deficit in chips.

Next hand Overplayer goes all-in with Qc-9s. His opponents calls with 6s-5h. The run out of cards is 6d-3c-Ks-2d-Jh. Overplayer loses and finishes as the runner-up.

It’s kind of weird. For much of the tournament I thought Overplayer kept overestimating medium holdings and getting away with it. It thoroughly annoyed me. Then toward the end of the tournament he kept getting it in great/good and getting punished, making him a sympathetic figure.

Having read the thread, it's unclear what non-freeroll stakes you have been playing, but I absolutely think you should move up and mix in a few 3 and 5 SC tournaments if you aren't already. The quality of play does not meaningfully increase much even up through 11s and 22s. More and more states (most notably California) are passing legislation to plug the SC loophole and I have concerns as to whether the site will survive next year. In the meantime, I think it's best to get as much practice on the site as you can and take a few occasional risks where you otherwise wouldn't! Your game will improve faster than it otherwise would through freerolls and tiny buyins.

Maris was Mr. 61* for a long time, but in the bracelet case, there's no one-time 154->162 shift, so an asterisk wouldn't make any sense.

But I keep my own WSOP record books, and at some point I'll get motivated to add an Era-Adjusted section ;-).

Introducing AggressionOnSteroids ... I take a stand against RelentlessAggression ... Card dead and unable to win a coin flip is not a winning recipe in my last tourney of the night.

In the course of my poker scouting of players I am likely to face at higher stakes when I decide to take the leap, I came across a level of insanity today that I don’t think I possess the words to accurately describe.

I went to the table of the chip leader in a tournament that had barely even begun. Keep in mind, starting stacks were 3,000. When the blinds were 20/40 this player already had 18,000 chips. How is that even possible?

I watched and this player was involved in every hand. EVERY hand. What’s more, he wasn’t just limping and then bluffing post flop. He was raising or re-raising almost every hand pre flop (once in a while he’d just call an opening bet, but that was very rare). Most of the time, he got people to fold at some point in the hand.

But when he’d get to showdown, it then became obvious he had another skill. He got “there” every time. K-5o, no problem, he’d flop a set of fives. A-5o against A-J, no problem, he’d river a straight. Repeatedly. He was busting two and three players a hand at times. He is aggression on steroids.

By the time the blinds were 50/100, AggressionOnSteroids had 37,000 chips. Later, while still at 50/100 he had 45,520 chips. Second place had 14,514 chips. Third place had 8,686 chips.

At 75/150, AggressionOnSteroids had 48,558 chips.

At 100/200 I actually saw him fold to a turn bet. I almost fell out of my seat I was so shocked. Then he got moved to a new table. Those poor people had no idea what kind of hell had just come their way.

Still at 100/200, AggressionOnSteroids surpassed 50,000 chips. Finally, I had to be elsewhere, so I left. It killed me to have to leave. This was must watch poker. I’ve never seen this level of aggression and run good before. And for some perspevctive, on a recent night, I watched a player turn in a tour de force performance of aggression of almost similar insanity en route to winning a tournament, but even that was restrained compared to this player. AggressionOnSteroids took it to an entirely different level and kept getting smashed by the deck. It was as though Worm from Rounders was dealing from the bottom of the deck in cahoots with him.

As I said, I had to be somewhere, so I closed my laptop. AggressionOnSteroids had almost 59,000 chips with the blinds still only at 100/200. Second place had 16,475.

I finished up what I needed to do, and I checked back in to the tournament. Final table. AggressionOnSteroids has four times the chips of second place. AggressionOnSteroids runs in to an opponent’s set of fives. No problem, it barely makes a dent in his ridiculous chip stack, as he still has triple the chips of second place. Then the player to his left plays back at him hard two hands in a row and AggressionOnSteroids eventually has to fold after the turn both times. Now he is even in chips with second place. AggressionOnSteroids loses the next hand when his A-2 runs into A-10. The table has finally started playing back at him. AggressionOnSteroids wins one hand, then loses the next.

It folds to him on the button, and he actually folds. Folds to him in cutoff and he folds. Folds to him the next hand, and he folds. Has AggressionOnSteroids been kidnapped? Has someone else taken control of his laptop? He is still selectively aggressive, but he is playing way less hands. He starts limping and then betting postflop. He is much more willing to fold now when his opponents show post flop aggression.

AggressionOnSteroids wins a big pot actually getting it in good with A-J versus A-7 all-in pre. It was going to be a chop on an 8-8-2-2 board until the river Jack. It’s tough to beat a guy this aggressive when the deck is on his side. He now has triple the chips of second place again.

AggressionOnSteroids bets enough to put the table short stack all-in from the big blind. Short stack calls with A-4, and it turns out AggressionOnSteroids has ... wait for it ... 9-5 off suit. It’s a miracle but A-4 actually holds against AggressionOnSteroids meager cards.

My dog Astro wants to play. I try to explain to Astro that I really want to keep watching AggressionOnSteroids. Astro will have none of it. We head for the basement to play.

When I return to my laptop, they are four-handed. AggressionOnSteroids is still chip leader but barely. He’s not slowing down.

They go on break. AggressionOnSteroids has 70,748 chips. The other players have 60,595, 21,064 and 18,593 chips respectively.

The smallest stack never returns from break. Apparently having AggressionOnSteroids to his immediate left crushed his spirit and claimed his soul. Couldn’t take it anymore, so he just quit. Amazingly, when SmallestStack is down to his final crumbs in which his cards talk, he wins the hand in this situation four times in a row. He actually earns a pay jump as a result to the other short stack’s horror.

AggressionOnSteroids is now head’s up with the remaining player.

AggressionOnSteroids loses the chip lead. In fact, he loses several hands in a row and is down to half as many chips as OtherGuy.

AggressionOnSteroids draws even. Then he takes a couple of hits when OtherGuy makes a full house on the river and a set of eights the next hand.

Then the poker Gods decide AggressionOnSteroids should be the winner of the tournament. It’s either that, or it’s explainable by my theory about Worm dealing from the bottom of the deck in cahoots with AggressionOnSteroids.

A huge hand unfolds. AggressionOnSteroids has Ad-Kh. OtherGuy has Qs-9d. The flop is Qd-7s-8d, and OtherGuy has seized control of the hand. The betting is big. AggressionOnSteroids is in a world of hurt. Then runner-runner diamonds get turned over, giving AggressionOnSteroids the nut flush thanks to four diamonds on the board, and OtherGuy is decimated.

On the very next hand, OtherGuy moves all-in with Ks-6d. AggressionOnSteroids has A-A. Seriously?

The Aces hold, and AggressionOnSteroids has won the tournament.

OtherGuy may have a valid complaint. You know, the only-one-person-in-a-hand rule. AggressionOnSteroids clearly had the poker Gods assisting him. It hardly seems fair.

.............

Enough watching. Time to play. The question on my mind is do I play my regular stakes, or do I move up to higher stakes? I’m tired. Not the way to jump into higher stakes. I sign up for my usual, smaller-stakes tourney.

There are 83 entrants, 15 will get paid.

In the second hand of the tournament, I have A-Jo. I open 3x, a player goes all-in. All-in? On the second hand of the tournament? I’ve never played against this person before. I fold. Next hand the same player goes all-in pre flop first to act with A-A and gets called by J-J.

People keep blasting off all-in. I’m decide I’m going to ease off and wait for a hand. This amount of all-in pre-flop betting in Level 1 is what you see in freerolls. I haven’t seen this kind of lunacy in pay tournaments before. It adds fuel to the fire that maybe it’s time to step up in stakes.

I have a lunatic two to my left who has no idea what he is doing, but he keeps luckboxing his way to victory. I just need a hand, and he’ll do all the betting for me. Instead, I quickly get table changed. Damn.

The blinds are 75/150. I’m at a new table with one of the most aggressive players at these stakes. My notes on her read, “Steals a lot, but will also pay off light ... Have to play back at her ... Upon further review she has a big stack all the time because of relentless aggression.”

In my second hand at this table, I am UTG with Ah-Jh. I open 450, and RelentlessAggression raises to 1,650. I’ve played against her a lot. She is very capable of making this play very light. It is way more likely than not that I have her beat based upon past performance. Whereas I folded A-Jo during the second hand of the tournament against an unknown opponent, I’m not folding here against RelentlessAggression (who may or may not be related to AggressionOnSteroids). Given my chip stack, there’s no point just calling. I go all-in for my remaining 1,900 chips. If she has it, she has it. But past performance says she most likely doesn’t have it. She has it. She calls with A-Qo. Damn. The deck does not bail me out, and I’m out of the tournament. That was quick. Sometimes even a relentlessly aggressive opponent has a big hand.

But as I saw when observing AggressionOnSteroids earlier, if you don’t play back against these massively aggressive players they will run you over. Pick your poison. Keep folding and you will eventually be left with crumbs. Or play back at them and hope this isn’t the rare time when they have a big hand.

.......

Let’s try this one more time.

New tournament. 78 players, 12 get paid.

I’m card dead, so I don’t play a single hand the first level and a half. The first hand I play is against a LAGGY player to my left playing way too many hands (almost every hand in first two levels). It’s a small blind (me) versus big blind confrontation when everyone else folds. I have 5-2. I check. He checks. A-Q-3 flop. The flop doesn’t hit either of our ranges, so I decide to get creative and lead out and get called. The turn is a 5 which gives me a pair, so I bet. He calls. The river is a 9. I bet pot, and he folds.

What I didn’t know at the time was that while I knew LAGGY was extremely loose with his pre flop range, I was unaware that he does not like to fold. In hindsight, I’m surprised he folded on the river, although I was showing tremendous betting firepower.

Very quickly, LAGGY goes on to build a huge chip stack playing unorthodox cards that keep getting there. He donks it all off almost as fast as he built it and is out of the tournament by the 50/100 blinds level.

I continue to get no playable cards. I am in 36th out of 49th place.

Still no playable cards. The blinds go to 100/200 and I have 2,659 chips (32nd out of 38 remaining. I have yet to be dealt a single playable hand (unless you want to count the 5-2 hand I three-barrel bluffed with).

Finally, I get a hand when the blinds are 150/300. I have A-J. A short stack to my immediate right with 900 chips limps (which is strange). I raise enough to put her all-in. She calls with 9-9. Strange that she limped with that hand. It’s a coin flip for all her chips. And her bounty. I lose the coin flip. I’m down to 1,683 chips. This was the third time tonight I was dealt A-J. I didn’t win a single chip any of the three times.

With only 5+ big blinds I am UTG with 3-3. Hardly a monster, but it’s a pair. The blinds are about to hit me, so it’s time to get my meager chips moving. I go all-in. Obviously, I will either be flipping or be dominated by virtually any hand that calls me. But in my favor is the fact that the three players to my immediate left are in sleep mode. It folds to the small blind who calls with A-8o. The big blind folds. Well, a coin flip is all I could have hoped for. If I win, I will have a playable chip stack. The flop contains an Ace, I don’t improve, and I’m out.

There’s really nothing noteworthy to take away from this last tournament. I was card dead throughout, and when I finally got something playable, I lost two coin flips.

Can’t win ‘em all.

Here's something I've never seen before. On an Ace high, rainbow flop tonight, three players of almost identical chip stacks all went all-in. Here's what each player had ...

Player 1: Ah-Qs

Player 2: Ac-Qh

Player 3: As-Qd

Go big or go home!!! ... I’m a 10-10 magnet

Let’s try something completely new. Well, not completely new for some. But completely new for me.

Lately, I’ve been following hyper aggressive players in online tourneys I’m not playing. I keep seeing these players displaying relentless aggression and winning tournaments. I keep seeing these fearless players controlling their tables and getting everyone else to fold entirely too much.

What the heck, I’m going to give it a try. What could possibly go wrong?

True, I have done practically no studying to prepare to play this style. True, I’ve never tried this style. But you’ve got to start somewhere. Plus, we’re only talking about one buy-in.

I sign up for my usual tournament, which has 116 players, 18 get paid, starting stacks are 3,000.

I let the first orbit of hands play out without getting involved. I want to make sure my table does not have someone insane going all-in first to act with anything from A-A to 6-6 to J-10o from UTG. I figure an orbit will allow me to identify them (plus, more often than not they don’t have A-A and they go bust when they run into a real hand).

The orbit passes, and my cards are unplayable. Then I get dealt 10-10, my least favorite hand in poker. The blinds are still 10/20. There are two limpers, someone raises to 100, another player calls, and I raise it to 400 from the big blind. Four players call. I don’t understand. When I see other aggressive players raise it up like I just did, everyone folds.

The flop is 4-J-5 rainbow. I don’t love the fact that there is an over card to my 10-10, but still this is not a horrible flop for me. I figure I was the most aggressive player pre flop, so I can continue to tell the story that I have a monster. I bet 1,019 chips. One player goes all-in. Another player calls. Apparently, my aggression is not believable. There is no way my 10-10 is good. Now, the relentlessly aggressive players I have been observing lately would go all-in bad, get called and then get there. As an extremely aggressive player at my table at a recent MSPT event recently liked to mutter to himself when he got lucky, “Play bad, get there.” That doesn’t strike me as a plan. I fold. Maybe relentless aggression against four other players is too ambitious. Had I called, I would have busted to a player who had K-J.

I am down to 1,555 chips, which is still very playable.

Next hand, I am dealt 10-10. Again. A very short stacked player with 378 chips goes all-in. Another player who has been spewy but still the same has me easily covered goes all-in. The fact that he has me covered is concerning, but his style is to go for the bounty light. I call. ShortStack has K-Q. Spewy has A-J. That’s an awful lot of over cards that I need to fade.

The runout of cards is 7-8-7-K-K. The bad news is I lose to ShortStack’s King. The good news is I held against Spewy. So, while I lose the small main pot, I win the larger side pot. I have 2,338 chips.

Three hands later the blinds have gone up to 20/40, and I am dealt 10-10. Again!!!!! That’s three times in five hands that I have been dealt 10-10, my least favorite hand. I am a 10-10 magnet.

If I have to get dealt the same pair three times in rapid succession, why can’t it be A-A?

UTG opens the betting at 80. I decide to play 10-10 differently this time. I just call. One other player calls. You ask, why didn’t I stick with relentless aggression rather than just call? One of the tools in the toolbox of hyper aggressive players I have recently been observing is to just call pre flop and then ramp up the aggression post flop when they act as if whatever flop comes has hit them hard. The flop is 5-J-Q rainbow. The other two players just check. I bet 75% pot. Both of my opponents fold. OK, relentless aggression works. I have 2,566 chips. I’m rebuilding.

I notice that the player to my immediate right is the KingOfAll-in. He has already gone all-in five different times.

The next hand I play, the UTG player limps. It folds to me. I have Ks-6s. I just call with the intent of aggressively attacking the flop. The flop is 7-10-J no spades. I have not hit any of this flop. UTG checks. I bet 75% pot. UTG calls. The turn is a 6. I now have a pair. It’s fourth pair, but it’s a pair. UTG checks again. I decide to slow down and I check. My plan is the stop and go. Stop on the turn, and if he plays the river passively, I’ll bet again. The river is a 7. A lot just got there. This card puts two 7s on the board, and it also brought a third diamond. So many scary scenarios. If he checks again, I will bet the scare card. To my surprise, he bets. It’s a small bet. If I am going to be true to my relentless aggression approach this tournament, I should raise. But here’s the thing. I think it is very likely that he has nothing and is using the scary river card to try to beat me at my own game. So, if I think I may be good, and he is only going to call a raise with better, I think it’s time to slow down and just call. Which I do. Villain has 5-5. My pair of 6s is good. I have 2,904 chips, almost entirely back to starting stack.

Shortly thereafter I am in late position. There are several limpers. I have Jd-Qd. A case can certainly be made for a healthy raise. But I get the sense that the players at this table do not like to face tough decisions after the flop. I call with the intention of getting aggressive after the flop. The flop is actually decentfor me ...

Jc-3h-5h.

It’s far from the nuts, but I have top pair. UTG checks. The KingOfAll-in bets 324. This is curious. He usually goes all-in if he leads out. I raise to 948. UTG calls. TheKingOfAll-in goes all-in. I call. UTG calls.

The turn is a 6d. UTG checks. I go all-in. UTG calls.

TheKingOfAll-in has J-5o and flopped a highly unlikely two pairs.

I flopped a pair of Jacks, and I’m in trouble. Although if I just lose to the KingOfAll-In, who is currently way out in the lead of this hand, I’ll still have some chips.

UTG has a pairs of 3s, and he’s in trouble.

If UTG gets “there,” I’ll be out of the tournament.

I need a miracle Queen. UTG needs a miracle 3. A miracle shows up on the river.

It’s not my miracle. It’s a 3, giving UTG a set of 3s.

It’s a bit mystifying. I have no idea why the KingOfAll-in limped pre flop with J-5o. I am surprised that UTG limped with 3-4 suited pre flop given his position. Regardless, I’m out of the tournament.

Relentless aggression didn’t exactly work out for me. I go out in a pathetic 91st place (out of 116). I almost never go out that early. But I guess that’s the price of playing hyper aggressive. You either build a large, dangerous stack quickly and then use it to terrorize the table, or you get bounced out quickly. I notice that the player that I dubbed RelentlessAggression in yesterday’s post was eliminated in 97th place in this tournament today. Upon even further review, I see that two other players who have a tendency to build huge stacks early and then run deep have just been eliminated in 112th and 113th place respectively (out of 116). It’s an interesting approach. Build a big stack early and use it to run deep, or get eliminated almost immediately and look like a donkey. The thing is, given that only the top half-dozen finishers make good money, maybe this approach can be profitable. It’s not a style I’m comfortable playing, but I suspect it might work out for some people.

The thing is, when I play in live tournaments, I see these unorthodox, hyper aggressive players build huge stacks. But I also see them go bust most of the time well short of the money and usually well before I get knocked out. What they do works ... until it doesn’t. What I am probably unaware of is that when they build these huge stacks and then run good, they very well could be going far deeper than the min cashes I have experienced at the WSOP.

I don’t think the hyper aggressive approach is for me. I certainly don’t think I can try to master it and my usual style as I practice ahead of WSOP 2026. I think I may try to employ it from time to time if I sense that my table is too passive, but I feel confident in saying it is not an approach I will try to make my go to strategy. I’m all for bluffing liberally at times, but nowhere near the all gas, no breaks strategy these Devil Dogs of Aggression employ.

Lastly, I’m getting extremely tired of getting dealt 10-10 over and over and over again. It feels like I get dealt 10-10 more than all the A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J hands combined that I receive. Also, lately I’m getting A-J a bunch but hardly any A-K. Trying to navigate tournaments with premiums maxing out at 10-10 and A-J is very difficult, as those hands can get you in quite a bit of trouble. I think that the ongoing avalanche of 10-10 hands in particular (have I mentioned it’s my least favorite hand?) is proof that poker Gods not only exist, but that they like messing with me.

................

Decisions, decisions. Some are more difficult than others

Another online tournament tonight.

Early on, I try to set mine with 3-3 and 8-8, miss the flop and there are big over cards. Easy decision to fold.

I limp with Jd-10d and completely whiff the flop. Easy decision to fold.

Then comes a strange hand that eventually leads to a difficult decision to make and not enough time to make it. UTG opens. I am UTG+1, I have K-Qo and call. I know I have to tread carefully since A-K or better is a possible open from UTG, which shouldn’t be employing a wide-open approach to hand selection.

The flop is K-7-2. UTG bets, I raise, he just calls. The fact that he did not re-raise makes me think he probably does not have A-K.

The turn is an 8. No flushes possible. Villain bets really small. I just call feeling that pot control is a good idea given I have top pair, non-nut kicker.

The turn is a 7. Villain goes all-in massive. Really? The bet makes no sense. As played, I don’t think he has A-K. He would have played it way more aggressively earlier in the hand. A-7 suited? I suppose it is a long shot possibility, but on the flop he opened, I raised and he called. I don’t think A-7 suited on a rainbow board with middle pair makes that call. For him to bet all-in massive he must either have a monster or complete air. Truthfully, neither makes sense. If he has a monster, why bet so huge in an attempt to blow me off my hand? If he has air, he could bluff a much smaller but still chunky amount and still scare off most hands. Why bet it ALL off if you don’t have the goods?

So, let’s consider monsters he could have, which are K-7, 8-7, 7-2. K-7 and 7-2 seem like unlikely UTG opens. I suppose 8-7 suited is possible, but that seems like an overly optimistic UTG open, and it is definitely overly optimistic after the flop given it was rainbow. K-2 would be a big hand, but again unlikely to open UTG. K-K, 7-7 and 2-2 would be big hands on the flop, but I’d think he’d want to re-raise my raise after the flop, and I think he’d want to bet for value after the river as opposed to the insanely large all-in.

Let’s consider what air he could have. Flush draws did not exist, so that is a non-factor. Busted straight draws seem like the best candidates for the massive all-in after the river. Given the board reads K-7-2-8-7, the most obvious candidates are 9-10 or 5-6. I think 9-10 suited could make sense as an UTG pre flop open. I suppose 5-6 suited is possible, but it’s awfully ambitious for an UTG open pre flop. I conclude that 9-10 suited is the best bet.

The other thing to consider is the massive, massive, massive all-in final bet. Whenever I see these enormous all-in bets get called in the early levels, it almost always turns out that the all-in was a bluff in an attempt to buy the pot.

You don’t get a ton of time to make a decision online, time is running out. I think a stone cold bluff is much more likely than a monster. My money is on 10-9 suited. No more time left to ponder.

At the much deeper structured WSOP ... I’m folding to a massive all-in bet here.

But this is a turbo bounty online tourney ... Plus, I know I probably fold too much in situations like this ... And most importantly, I don’t believe the story villain is telling ... I call.

Villain turns over 8-7 off suit. He has a full house.

8-7 off suit?

In the understatement of the year, I sure was wrong in the decision I just made to call his enormous all-in bet.

I chose ... poorly.

In my next post, there will be an appearance by AzOther1. That was the name used by a player in the online tournament I was playing in, and I assume it is the same person who posts on 2+2 using the same name. And during the short time we were at the same table, AzOther1 was on absolute fire.

I have two tournaments that I am writing up from today. Each was very interesting in its own unique way, so there is a lot to write about. The writing is taking a lot longer than usual as a result. I only just got through writing the rough draft of the first tournament, and its late.

As you know if you've been following along, tomorrow (or later today at this point) is college football Saturday which is sacred ground to me. Go Michigan, beat Maryland!

So the poker writing will be a little delayed. Maybe a day or two.

But I will leave you with the following teaser:

One tourney included an in-the-money run amidst button clicking snafus and a hand when the time needed to make a crucial decision comes down to a millisecond, while the other tournament included a major Casino Royale type four-way hand in which three of us had absolute monsters pre flop, and two of us had even bigger monsters post flop. Epic hand.

Beat Ohio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michigan 45, Maryland 20. No need to say anything about this just completed game because ...

We are now on to Michigan-OSU week.

Nothing ... else ... matters!!!!!!!

The eye test says Michigan has no shot, but winning last year was a much, much, much bigger impossibility when the game was in Columbus, the Buckeyes seemed unbeatable/invincible and Michigan had a quarterback who really wasn't capable of running a passing attack and in most years would have been the 4th string QB. There was absolutely no way Michigan could have won last year, but it did. So, you just never know in a rivalry game.

And make no mistake, M-OSU is the best, most intense, most hate-filled rivalry in all of sports.

I'll be at the game in Ann Arbor with one of my daughters as well as NextDoorLou.

Beat Ohio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Photo credit: https://howmanydayssinceosuhasbeatenmich...

The outrage

The glory

I give the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix a watch on TV

Late into the night, once the college football games that mattered were over and we were down to a pittance of games I didn’t care about, I decided to turn on the Las Vegas Grand Prix. I’m not a race car guy, but since it was F1 cars racing through the streets of Las Vegas I figured I’d give it a watch.

I started watching halfway into the race. As best I can tell, I missed the one really, really interesting event in the race, which was the very start when the pole position driver got waaaaaay too aggressive and lost the lead when, as the announcers said, “he overcooked” whatever aggressive action he tried and failed to accomplish (he still finished in second place).

Once I turned the race on at the halfway mark, the race cars were pretty spread out throughout the course. As best I could tell I think I saw one pass of significance. Otherwise, it was just a bunch of cars going round and round in circles without much drama. For the most part the announcers seemed like they couldn’t talk enough about the tires the drivers were using, how they were taking different approaches/frequencies to taking pit stops in order to change out tires (or in one case there was a driver who used a certain type of tire and didn’t need to change his tires, which I gather is usually an unsuccessful strategy, but somehow he finished in fifth place).

As a sporting event, I don’t get the excitement to the race.

That doesn’t mean I failed to find certain aspects to be cool/impressive.

For starters, the drivers must have balls of steel to drive that insanely fast while taking a variety of different types of turns at warp speeds mere mortals should not attempt. Next, the fact that the race took place at night gave it an eerie, fascinating, dramatic, larger-than-life look. As a WSOP player, I enjoyed the fact that the iconic Las Vegas hotels/casinos/landmarks were the backdrop to the race. The Sphere was the star of the show in terms of iconic landmarks that the drivers repeatedly passed by. The pit stops were amazing to watch. It is inconceivable to me that the pit crews can replace all four tires and get the car back in the game as fast as they do (like, you blink, and they’re done).

So yes, there was a cool factor at work. But as a sporting event, it just didn’t move the needle for me. Not enough action. Not enough passing. Not enough battling back and forth. Not enough drama. There was a foregone conclusion for quite some time as to who would win. I also had some difficulty identifying which drivers were in which cars at times.

The fact that Las Vegas was the backdrop made it worth watching for me. But it’s not a sport I can see myself ever watching throughout the racing calendar. There is only so much analysis of tires that I can listen to. I’m sure there is nuance to the race that I am not sophisticated enough to comprehend, but if in fact such nuance exists it went completely over my head.

I respect the hell out of the drivers and what they do, but it’s just not must-see TV for me moving forward.

Highlights of the face can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQc-pW3Q...

I tried to post the actual video, but whoever has rights to Formula 1 blocks me doing so.

Misclicks and timing issues ... Trying to get comfortable at becoming more aggressive ... A rush of great cards ... A difficult money bubble decision

Online turbo bounty tournament: 93 players, 15 get paid, 3,000 starting chips.

I start the tournament in the big blind. There are a bunch of limpers. I only have J-4o, so I just check. The flop is J-8-3. I have top pair, terrible kicker. Given the passive pre-flop action, it’s entirely possible I now have the best hand. I think my hand is worthy of a single bet. Given the number of players who limped pre flop, I size up a bit and bet three-quarters pot. I get two calls. Not what I was hoping for. The turn is a Q, and it goes check-check-check. OK, no one loves their hand. I consider the possibility of a bet if the river card is a blank. The river is an A, and my enthusiasm for my third pair, bad kicker just ran out the back door. One of the other players bets. I’m done with the hand, and I fold. I have 2,870 chips. Not the start you want, but it is hardly a catastrophe.

With the blinds at 20/40, I am UTG+2 and have A-8o. It folds to me and I open for 120. This is ambitious, but I am trying to widen my range so as to better balance my past tendency to only open with premiums. Only the big blind calls. This is ideal. If there are big cards on the flop, I can pretty much tell the story that I have it, whereas a big blind call at 20/40 is not likely to be happy about big cards. The flop cooperates with K-Q-2, which misses me but, shhhhhh, don’t tell the big blind. The big blind checks, I bet 50% flop, and the big blind calls. I’m surprised by the call, but good for him being sticky. The turn is a 4. I still only have Ace high, but I continue to tell the story that I am strong. I bet 75% pot. Villain folds. I am rpStoryTeller, and the story I have just weaved is a whopper of a lie. I have 3,182 chips.

The blinds are still 20/40, and I’m in the small blind holding 8-8. The cutoff bets 200, which is awfully chunky. I decide 200 is nothing to be scared of, and I call. As I see it, if I miss the flop, I can just fold to the almost certain aggression to come. But if I flop a set, there is a good chance I can take villain’s entire stack. It’s a lot easier to set mine early in a tourney when the blinds are insignificant, as opposed to late in a tournament when the blinds are much, much bigger and punish attempts at set mining. I could have raised but that means I’m playing 8-8 for a big pot if I’m faced with further aggression. I’d rather just splash around when the blinds are low and keep the pot small for the moment. The flop does not cooperate when 7-7-J is turned over. I’m not really worried about villain having a 7. The 7 is more a part of my calling range. I could bet and try to sell the story that I have a 7. But if I had a 7, I’d be more likely to check and try to induce villain to blast off. I just check. Villain bets. Do I now announce my presence with authority and check raise? I really don’t want to run this big of a bluff this early in the tournament. I fold. Maybe I should have check-raised. It just seemed the wrong time to do so. If nothing else, I should have check-raised as part of my desire to work on being more aggressive. It would have been a part of my ongoing poker education.

I find another spot where maybe I should have raised light. I am the button and have Qs-10s. A few people limp. Do I raise? I could, but I also think this is a hand that could flop big and people won’t see it coming. I just call. I think I should have raised. It’s an internal battle for me to open up my pre-flop ranges. The flop is A-9-5 with no spades. I have none of this flop. There is a bet and a call. I get out of the way. I have 2,876 chips (46th out of 79 remaining).

The next hand I play I have A-J in middle position. The blinds are 30/60. UTG+2 opens 180. A-J shrivels a tiny bit when there is an early open, but not that much. I like raising more than calling. I raise to 540. Villain calls. The flop is K-Q-6. Villain checks. So, he just called my three-bet pre and now he is checking post. I read this as weakness and even though I whiffed the flop I intend to bet. Somehow, I misclick and just call. The turn is a blank. Villain checks. I think I put in a bet, but somehow it shows that I just checked. WTF. I’d swear I hit bet both times. I have misclicked twice in a row. A misclick happens to the best of them, but who misclicks two times in a row? I am flustered and annoyed with myself. The river is a blank. Villain checks yet again. I could bet, but at this point my line as taken (but not intended) would make no sense if I raise now. Also, given how passive villain has played the hand, I think it is entirely possible my Ace high is good. I’m too angry with myself over the double misclick to think it through enough, and I just check. Villain shows a meager 2-2, which is good. I should have bet the river. A bet at any stage of the hand would have gotten villain to fold. All I had to do was breathe on the pot and villain would have folded 2-2. I am not happy with myself. I am bad at poker. No, I take that back. I am bad at clicking buttons.

The next hand I play I have Ks-10d in one of the blinds. Five players limp. I could raise, but no way I get five players to fold. My hand is not big enough to try to play a big pot. I just call. The flop is 2s-4s-5s. I haven’t made the flush yet, but I have the second nut spade if another spade comes on the turn or river. I am first to act. I bet pot which will accomplish one of two things. It will either scare everyone off, which would be just fine since I have not made a hand yet. Or it will build the pot in the event I get called and then hit my flush on the turn. Everyone folds, which works for me. I have 2,570 chips.

With the blinds at 40/80, I have K-9o on the button. One player limps, and it folds to me. I see this as an opportunity to widen my raising range with something less than a premium. I am trying to make a concerted effort to be less tight. I raise to 240. Limper calls. The flop is K-10-7. I have top pair, suspect kicker. Still, I was the more aggressive player pre flop, so I would be very surprised if my opponent has a King with a better kicker. More likely, he probably whiffed the flop. He checks, I bet 50% pot, and he folds. I have 2,840 chips (44th out of 71 remaining).

I am UTG with Kc-Qc when the blinds are 50/100. I open 300. I get one customer. The flop is A-K-8 rainbow. I don’t let the Ace that is showing intimidate me. I bet 50% pot. My customer calls, which surprises me. The turn is a 10. Unless villain flopped a monster and is letting me do the betting for him, I think it is more likely he had just enough on the flop to call and not raise. I decide I’m not slowing down. I bet 75% pot, and I get the fold. I have 3,594 chips.

When I am in the small blind with K-7, it folds to me. The blinds are still 50/100. I open the betting for 300. My K-7 is far from a premium, but it should be well ahead of any two random cards the big blind has. The big blind calls. The flop is A-J-3. I continue to try to sell my false story of strength, and I bet 50% pot. The big blind raises 6x. Massive. Yikes. He may be telling a tall tale, but at this point his tale is more compelling than my bogus story. I fold. I have 3,069 chips. All this work, and I’m back to starting stack (36th out of 68 remaining).

The next hand I play, the blinds are 75/150, and I am again in the small blind. There is one limper. I have A-Q, and I pop it to 750. The big blind, who has been very aggressive, goes all in. The limper folds. I’m not buying big blind’s story. He is one of those nonstop aggression players. I call. Yes, I know that A-Q is called The Parking Lot (because that’s where you end up when you play it big), but I think he has made this move light. I call. He has 4-4. I whiff the flop. I whiff the turn. But the river is a beautiful Queen. Now I have a stack that other players must take seriously. I have 5,893 chips (17th out of 62 remaining).

The blinds are now 100/200, and I am the button with the same 4-4 that I went up against in the above hand. It folds to me. I open the betting for 600. The blinds both fold. I have 5,743 chips (20th out of 46 remaining).

The blinds go up to 150/300. UTG limps (with only 1,765 behind). It folds to me in the big blind. I have A-8o. I am thinking I should go all-in and go for the bounty. I take some notes about how the hand has played out. I take too long and realize I am about to time out. In a panic I hit the wrong button and just check. Another misclick. Three misclicks in one tournament. This is just awful. The flop is K-Q-J. A really scary board. Now I am thinking less about villain’s bounty and more about trying to push him off the pot. I decide to bluff (and it is entirely possible I am bluffing with the best hand) and go all-in. Given villain does not have a ton of chips, even if I lose the hand, I will have a fairly playable chip stack. He folds. I have 6,153 chips (21st out of 44 remaining).

With the blinds at 200/400, it folds to me in the small blind. I have A-3o. I bet 1,200. Big blind folds. I have 6,253 chips (19th out of 41 remaining).

When I am in the cutoff it folds to me and I have A-8o. I bet 3x for 1,200 chips. Everyone folds. I have 7,139 chips (17th out of 39 remaining).

My next decision comes when an active player opens 4x from UTG (there is a bounty to be chased because the small blind is all-in with just enough for the ante). I have 8-8 in middle position. This is tough. It’s an UTG bet I’m facing, which based upon position could well be a much stronger hand than 8-8. On the other hand, UTG could be going after the bounty, but I just can’t picture him doing so from UTG. If I call, I am pretty sure UTG is aggressive enough to put me to a very difficult decision after a flop that will almost surely have over cards. I decide 8-8 is just not strong enough. I fold. It turns out that UTG has Q-Q, so I made the right decision to fold. It also turns out that, being results oriented, I should have called because the flop that followed was A-A-8. I would have flopped a full house. That said, I am content with the fact that I read the situation right and made the correct decision to fold to a superior pair pre flop. I was right in this one particular hand, but I’m not sure if this is the way to go long term.

I am moved to a new table, and I immediately go on a rush of cards during a very, very short stretch of time (maybe a single orbit) the likes of which I have never experienced. I’ve seen this happen over and over to other players. I don’t think it has ever happened to me.

In my first hand at the new table, UTG+1 has only 772 chips and goes all-in. I have K-K and raise to 2,772 in pursuit of the bounty. Everyone else folds. UTG+1 has Q-Q. Nice. A cooler at someone else’s expense. I just have to avoid a set. There is a set on the flop. The good news is that I am the one who flopped the set. I win the bounty. I have 8,665 chips (15th out of 34 remaining).

The very next hand, there is one limper, and I look down at Q-Q. The blinds are 250/500. I raise to 2,500. One player calls. The player who calls was at my previous table and has moved to my new table same time as I was moved. I know from playing against him that he loves seeing flops. I don’t consider his hand to be scary. The flop is 8-8-4. I bet 50% pot. FlopLover folds. I have 12,215 chips (9th out of 30 remaining).

In fairly short order, I am UTG and I have J-J. I open for 2,000. Everyone folds. I have 13,265 chips (9th out of 28 remaining).

Next hand I am in the big blind, and I have 9-8. There are multiple limpers (my notes don’t say how many). I just check. The flop is 10-8-5 rainbow. Everyone checks. The turn is a K. The only hand I showed down at this table I had K-K. On the other hand, I have won the next two hands I played without having to show my cards. Does the table think I have had a rush of cards, or do they think I am being hyper aggressive? Hard to say. I decide to stab at the pot given the passive approach my opponents have displayed this hand. I get one caller who is UTG. I’m probably not good with third pair mediocre kicker. I’m thinking I will need to slow down after the river. Probably a prudent approach, but then I see that the river is a 9. I just made two pairs. I hear angels singing. UTG only has 2,650 chips remaining, so I bet enough to put her all-in. I’m going after her bounty. She folds. I thought for sure she’d call. I have 15,815 chips (8th out of 25 remaining).

The blinds are 300/600 and I now proceed to go card dead. I can’t complain given the rush of cards I just experienced. Some new players are now at my table and their placement is challenging. The new player to my immediate left and the two players to my immediate right have very similar chip stacks as me. The players at the other end of the table are relatively short. The chip stacks surrounding me make for treacherous waters. The new player to my immediate left is instantly active. Not crazy but active.

I’m 8th out of 22 remaining.

I’m 10th out of 20 remaining. Fifteen get paid.

I’m in the small blind. I have 9c-10c. I could raise, but this is not the time in the tournament to get aggressive versus an active, unlikely-to-fold player with a solid but far from premium hand. I just call. The big blind raises big. I fold. I got what I wanted here, which was information. Now I know that if I limp my small blind in the future, it’s likely that this opponent will raise big. I just need a quality hand in that scenario. One blind is a small price to pay for this information. And if he had simply checked back, I had a hand that could have flopped very well on the cheap. On the other hand, an argument that I should have bet more aggressively has merit. Right or wrong, my passive approach was player dependent. Against most opponents I would have taken a more aggressive line.

The very next hand I am the button. It folds to me. I have J-9 suited. The big blind is short stacked. I figure if I bet 3x it will put him all-in, and he may fold, which would be fine. J-9 suited is probably ahead of two random cards. Plus, this player has not played a single hand since he joined the table. Now, there is some risk that the active small blind could raise me. He is an active player. But he has not been crazy active. He bets into perceived weakness, not perceived strength. And given that I just limp-folded against him the previous hand, I figure he is going to give me credit for having a real hand when I open with a 3x bet the very next hand. Sure enough, he folds. The short stack on the other hand insta-calls for all of his chips. He has A-Q. I think this was simply bad timing for me. This player had been non-stop folding, and now he gets a hand. Neither of us improves, and I lose the hand. I’ll still more than OK. I have 10,979 chips (13th out of 18 remaining).

We reach the stone bubble. Fifteen get paid. I am 11th in chips out of the 16 players remaining. It folds to me in middle position, and I have 7-7. Groan. On the absolute money bubble, I get dealt a hand that is unbelievably tricky to play. Folding does not seem like an option. My hand is too strong to be that gutless. But if I bet and someone puts me all-in then what do I do? There are hands still to act that have me covered. With a little over 10,000 chips, I decide I will 3x bet for 3,000 chips (blinds are 500/1,000). The 3x sizing is such that I think people will not call light on the bubble. Clearly, I am not doing this with rags. I also think this sizing is such that if someone puts me all-in I can probably fold and still have enough chips to get into the money. I decide that bet-fold is the way to go if someone jams. It folds to the big blind who has just joined our table and is the overwhelming table chip leader. Sure enough, she bets enough to put me all-in if I call.

I don’t have any history with this opponent, so I don’t have a read on her playing style. On the one hand, she has more than enough chips to make this play light. She also is aware that I am most certainly aware that we are on the money bubble. But even if she is doing this light, there is a good chance we could be flipping, which is hardly desirable for me on the money bubble. I am about to fold, but then I have a thought. Maybe the bubble has burst, and I just don’t know it. The information that shows on the table only indicates how many players remained when the hand started. If someone at the other table has busted, then my 7-7 is a call. After all 10th to 15th place all earn the same money. At that point I would be willing to flip for a chance to have enough chips to make The Final Table and then some. Sure enough, two players have busted at the other table. I get back to my table on my laptop screen with the intent to call, but just as I get back to my table I am timed out, and my hand is folded. Villain shows that she had Q-9. We would have been flipping.

I don’t know why people are so quick to show their winning cards like she just did. That just gives away information. But that is not what I am thinking in the moment. What I am thinking in the moment is, this is what is unfortunate about playing online. I always play at the proper speed. I do not tank senselessly. I do not take five seconds to fold 2-7o. I do not stall using every second of my allowable time when I am short-stacked close to the money. I keep the game moving with my play. But here is the one time I need just a smidge more time, and I have no way to get it. I get why there is only so much time for every player action. Without it, the online games would become intolerable. But I think a player should get one time bank per tournament. Or one time bank per week. Something that would allow for the very occasional extra allotment of time for a crucial decision. This was my crucial decision for the tournament or week or whatever timing is deemed best. I desperately needed five more seconds.

OK, rant over.

Back to the tournament. I am now 12th out of 13 remaining. We’re in the money. The next pay bump is for 9th place.

I am 11th out of 11 remaining. There are two tables. My table has five players. The blinds are a problem until we get down to nine players at which time the game slows down to a more normal pace in terms of hand ranges you should play. It folds to me in the small blind. I have 9-7. It’s not a great hand. On the other hand, the player in the big blind is a short stack just like me. He is not going to want to call light. I decide the goal is not to make the nominal pay jump. The goal is to play to run as deep as possible. I need to accumulate chips. I go all-in very light. The big blind folds. Nice! I have 7,839 chips (10th out of 11 remaining).

A player at the other table busts. We are down to 10 players and are on The Final Table bubble. At my five-handed table I am UTG and I look down at 3-3. I suppose I could fold this and hope to limp to The Final Table. But that’s no way to play poker. I go all-in. Doing so from UTG should look stronger than I actually am, so maybe everyone folds. Otherwise, the hope is I get called by A-K and we’re flipping, which is fine since I need more chips to make any kind of run. I get called. Twice. It’s one thing to win a flip against A-K. But with two people calling my all-in it is highly unlikely I fade all of the cards necessary to survive. One of the callers has Kh-9h. I forget what the other player had, but they are no longer relevant to this recap because they do not improve. There is a King on the flop, which hits Kh-9h. I’m in big trouble. I need a two outer. I need another 3. I don’t get there, and villain sees runner-runner hearts on the turn and river to give him a flush as he piles on to my sad pair of threes. Overkill.

I miss the pay bump, but at least I made the money, which is nice as it ends my tiny, tiny streak of recent non-cashes.

One last interesting tidbit. The other short stack at my table had comparable chips to my chips when I busted. Once I was out, I stuck around to observe The Final Table, and this other chip stack proceeds to not play a single hand for quite some time. And in so doing he folded his way to 5th place money. Finally, he was down to crumbs (still hadn’t played a hand) and had to get it in with Q-10, whereupon he got eliminated. He didn’t win a single bounty in the tournament either. It’s surprising that he could get all the way to 5th place playing that passively.

........

A big hand versus a kamikaze player ... Casino Royale ... Memories of a past cooler ... The issue of whether monsters under the bed are real or imagined

I quickly sign up for another online tournament.

93 players, 15 get paid, 3,000 starting stack.

I immediately notice that one of the players at my table is AzOther1 who I assume is the same person as the 2+2 poster who goes by the same name.

On the first hand of the tournament, I have 6h-6s. There is one limper ahead of me. I limp as well. The button calls, and the big blind checks.

The flop is 3c-Kc-8d. I don’t have any of it. It goes check-check-check. OK, I get a free shot at making a set on the turn.

I make a set on the turn, which is the 6d. I bet 40 chips and only the button calls.

The turn is Qc.

I obviously want this to be a big hand in terms of chips. The question is, how do I get villain to put a lot of chips in the middle? I decide that betting big won’t get it done. He’ll just fold. I think the best route is to give him rope to hang himself. I just check. What I need is for villain to have some of the board. I also need for him to be one of the blasters you sometimes see play for stacks at the start of the tournament with hands that don’t warrant that line. I don’t recognize this player, so I have no notes on him.

Villain does not do what I want, and he just checks back.

The river is a 4. There are no possible flushes, and no possible straights. I don’t think checking is going to get me the action I want. I decide to be pot to make it look like I am trying to buy the chips already in the middle.

He folds. It’s a shame to have a hand like this on the first hand of the tournament when the blinds are a paltry 10/20.

At 20/40 I take notice that AzOther1 is off to a nice start with 3,842 chips, and he then goes on a major rush the next two hands. In the first hand he has the nut flush, which catapults him to 7,148 chips. The very next hand he again makes a flush, and his chip stack rises to 8,272. He’s on fire, and he is 4th in chips out of 77 remaining. Way to represent 2+2. I have 2,992 chips, which is 36th. Is it wrong/weird to be rooting for AzOther1 while at the same time wanting to take all of his chips, much the same as I want to do against everyone else at the table?

With the blinds 50/100 I am in the big blind with 6-6, which went swimmingly for me earlier when I turned a set, maybe this is meant to be my hand of the tournament. I don’t get to find out because a new player to the table with the word “kamikaze” in his poker moniker goes all-in huge. I fold. I’m not looking to ride-or-die with 6-6 when I have 30 big blinds against a player I’ve never played against.

Not much later Kamikaze goes all-in huge pre flop as the first player in the pot. I have A-Q, which I’m not folding against a player who I suspect is blasting off somewhat light given how often he has gone all-in huge already. He can’t have it every time. I call, and Kamikaze has Q-10. Just as I suspected. My hand holds, and I have 5,924 chips. This puts me in 10th place with 75 players remaining.

Now it is Casino Royale time. Well, sort of a Casino Royale poker hand. It was ridiculous, but not as absurdly ridiculous as the Casino Royale poker scene (flush versus full house versus better full house versus straight flush). But ridiculous still the same.

Kamikaze goes all-in, which means little more than he has two cards. Another player goes all-in. I have both of them covered. I look at my cards, and I have Q-Q. Two all-ins should mean at least one of them is extremely strong. And maybe both. Even so, I have Q-Q and in a turbo bounty tournament I just don’t see how I can fold. If I win, I’ll have a huge stack. If I lose, I’ll still have chips. I can’t always be afraid of monsters under the bed. I go all-in. Surprisingly, a player still to act also puts all of his chips in the middle. Four of us will do battle for heaps. The cards get turned over. Sometimes there are monsters under the bed. One player has A-A. Another player has K-K. I don’t notice what the other player has, but he was running a distant fourth and I didn’t have time to write down his hand because the flop got shown.

I immediately saw a Queen, which gave me a set. My joy lasted a millisecond until I also saw a King, giving one of the other players a better set. Nothing changed on the turn or river. A-A came in third and was eliminated as was the player whose cards I did not write down. K-K now has a mountain of chips. Since I covered the player with the winning set of Kings, I still have 3,956 chips as a result of winning the side pot.

The hand brings back a bad memory that I have recounted in this thread. It was the 2019 WSOP’s Big 50 event. It was day 2 and the money bubble was getting somewhat close. I was dealt Q-Q, which ran into A-A. But the pain did not stop there. On the flop there was a Queen in the window (a millisecond of ecstasy) followed by an Ace out the door (happiness quickly gone). So long, rppoker. Busted.

Oh, well ... poker.

The difference between the Big 50 back in 2019 and the online tourney today is that present day I still have chips.

When the hand ends, I immediately get moved to a new table. I am only too happy to leave the crime scene in which yellow police tape should be placed around the table, and white tape in the outline of bodies should be on the ground. At the new table, the player to my immediate left is the massive table chip leader (14,210 chips). I have past player notes on him which say, “Patient player who picks his spots well.”

In my first hand at this table, I fold 7-2o. Three other players are far more interested in the hand. This trio of players each goes all-in. Their cards are A-2o, 8s-6s and J-J. Why couldn’t the players in my just completed massive shove fest have turned over cards like this, which would have all been behind my Q-Q? Timing.

I get involved in a hand with the blinds at 75/150. One player limps (he is second in chips at the table). It folds to me in the big blind. I have A-6o. I raise it to 450. Limper calls. The flop is 2-2-K. As the pre flop aggressor I shouldn’t have man (any?) twos, but I can make a compelling argument that I have a strong King. I bet 50% pot. Limper raises. I tried. With nothing more than ambition and Ace high, I fold. I have 2,891 chips (36th with 65 remaining).

A player with Tennessee in his poker moniker becomes noticeable at the table. He is betting/raising light on all three streets. He builds a significant chip stack. I would like to get a real hand and go head-to-head with him. I mark down in my notes that he is going to eventually get himself in trouble. Sure enough, he gets himself in a bind by overplaying rags pre flop and post flop. It gets worse for him when he rivers an unlikely two pairs, but loses to a player who flopped a set. With one card he went from blasting off chips to suffering a cooler. He was going to lose the hand either way. Still, Tennessee has a playable chip stack. The dream is to have a premium hand and get involved in a hand against him.

With the blinds at 100/200, I have Qs-Js in middle position. It folds to me, and I make it 500. I know this is the right play, but it’s not a play that is easy for me to make. I am working on widening the range of cards I play. I know for all of you reading this, my hand is an obvious open. For me it is uncomfortable, but I do it because it is right to do it. Everyone folds. Progress. I have 3,181 chips (31st with 54 remaining).

The blinds increase to 150/300. Tennessee bets after the river card and gets two opponents to fold on a board that has four diamonds. It’s not enough for Tennessee to win the hand. Noooooo, he needs to show the bluff. Not only did he not have a diamond, he didn’t even have a pair. All he has is Queen high, like a boss. He is immediately moved to another table. I wonder if the reason for him getting table changed is a) random timing, b) punishment for rubbing salt in the wound, or c) the rest of the table just voted him off the island Survivor style.

I notice that my table has a ton of chips. I check and learn that with 49 players remaining, three of the top five chip stacks are at my table.

It folds to me on the button. I have 2,700 chips. I have K-10o. It’s not a premium, but it should be ahead of the two random hands that the blinds will possibly have. Plus, there are 660 chips in the middle from the blinds and antes. I could definitely use those chips. I go all-in. The small blind folds. Good start. The big blind calls with Q-Q. I don’t improve, and I’m out.

So, what’s the take away from this tournament? While I shouldn’t always assume that there are monsters under the bed, the fact remains that sometimes there are in fact monsters under the bed. Sometimes repeatedly.

After I finish typing up this post, I start working on accompanying A.I. artwork. A.I., trying to be helpful, misunderstands my request and offers ways to combat monsters under the bed:

1) Use a flashlight as a monster-zapping ray that will make the monsters disappear.

2) Play a brave song, because monsters hate good music.

3) Ask the monster’s name because sometimes just having a friendly chat makes them less scary.

4) The Blanket Force Field. Pull the covers up and create an impenetrable, certified, 100% monster-proof force field. No monster can get through that.

OK, I’m all-in on The Blanket Force Field. I go on Amazon.com to look for one to buy for use when I am playing online or live. How come no one ever told me about this? I scour Amazon. I find nothing. WTF. Disappointed!!!!!!!

The unfortunate Art of Running Into Bigger Hands

Online turbo bounty tournament
103 players, 15 will get paid, 3,000 starting stack

The blinds are 10/20, and I am dealt Q-Q in late position. Four players limp for 20. I pop it to 140. Several people call. The flop is 8-9-J rainbow. It checks to me, and I raise chunky for 75% pot. Two players call. The flop is a 7. I feel confident one of the players has a straight and maybe they both do. Both players go all-in. My Q-Q is nothing more than a bluff catcher, and I don’t think they are bluffing. I fold as fast as is humanly possible. A-10o makes the straight and wins the pot. My fold was correct, which is small solace. I am quickly down to 2,282 chips (72nd of 92 remaining). This was a terrible run out of cards for me.

When the blinds are 20/40, I have A-Jo. One player limps 40. I raise 160. Another player 4-bets 640 (with Q-Q). Yet another player goes all-in (with A-J) for more chips than I have. I would have called the 3-bet for 640, but a 4-bet makes me think I am most likely not in good shape. I fold. Q-Q holds. So far, I keep running in to “it.”

With the blinds at 30/60, I am in the big blind with Ks-8s. It folds to the small blind who is on life support with a mere 400 chips and just calls for 60. I think there is a bounty to be won here, since I don’t think the small blind will limp-fold with so few chips in his stack. Unless he is slow playing a monster, my suited K-8 should be ahead of his limping range. I put him all-in, and he calls with 7-6o. My hand holds, and I win a bounty. I may not have many chips, but I do have a bounty. My improved chip stack is a still unintimidating 2,616 (62nd of 84 remaining).

The next hand I play, I have Ad-Jd. Two players limp for 60 each. I make it 360. Three players call. The flop is Jc-10c-5s, no diamonds. The player first to act makes an aggressive bet of 1,165. I’ve played against this player before. I don’t think she has A-A, K-K or Q-Q since her playing style would have been to re-raise me pre flop. It’s possible, but I don’t think so. There are straight and flush draws that have not gotten there yet, but I think she is more likely to try to see a cheap turn card with these hands as opposed to leading out so aggressively. Could she have flopped a set? I rule out 5-5 since I bet large pre flop due to so many limpers, and I don’t think she would have hung around. I suppose 10-10 could make sense, but then why not let the other players in the hand do the betting for her. By raising so aggressively, she runs the risk of scaring everyone away. I can’t conceive that she has J-J for the flopped nuts. I block J-J since I have a Jack and there is a Jack on the flop.

In the end, I run out of time to think this through enough. I have top pair, top kicker. I don’t have a huge chip stack in a turbo tournament. I need chips to stay relevant. I go all-in. She can’t have J-J. I have a Jack blocker.

She has J-J, which I still find hard to believe. I should block her having one Jack much less J-J. But she has J-J, which pulverizes my Jack blocker.

But wait. The hand is not over. I still have almost 2% equity. It’s not much, but it’s more than zero. The turn is the Ah. I now have two pair. I now have 4.55% equity. I need one of the two remaining Aces. C’mon Ace.

There is no two-outer miracle as the river is the 6c, which does not help. No one is ever going to write a book titled “Six on the River.”

I’m out of the tournament. The take away from this tournament is that I just kept running in to “it.”

My past notes on the player who knocked me out were that she always seems to get “there” and always seems to have just a little more than her opponents on coolers. Well, that’s what she did against me, and it’s what she proceeds to do against the rest of the table (I stuck around to watch for a while).

Over and over, she keeps having “it.” Even better, her opponents keep having strong second-best hands. For example, she has Q-Q versus J-J and rivers a set for good measure. Whatever her opponents have, she has just a little bit better. Repeatedly. She has 27,000 chips and the blinds are only 150/300.

In one hand, she has A-6. On a flop of A-5-5, she bets and gets called. The turn is another Ace, giving her a full house, and she bets and gets called. The river is yet another Ace, giving her quads. She bets all-in and gets called. From a starting hand of A-6, she ends up with quad Aces. It’s an amazing sun run. What is remarkable is every time I am at her table in a tournament she runs hotter than the sun. She has 37,500 chips blinds 250/500 (2/28)

With 18 players left and the money bubble nearing I leave to play in another tourney. I later on check back and see she went out in 7th place.

............

No premium hands, and I keep running in to “it”

New turbo bounty tourney. Only 63 players, 12 will get paid, starting stacks 3,000

In the very first hand of the tournament, a trio of players at my table go absolutely crazy. There are some, but not a ton, of chips that go into the middle pre flop. The flop is 10d-6d-3c, and that’s when the betting lunacy takes place. When the dust settles from the flurry of betting, all three players are all-in. Their hands are 10c-6c (flopped the world), A-A (got very unlucky) and 10s-9s (what were they thinking playing this hand for stacks with top pair, poor kicker?). The turn and river change nothing, and 10-6 just tripled up.

The very next hand I am UTG, and I have Ad-6d. I fold because of my position. In later position if people have just limped, I’d take a flyer with this hand. But UTG I am first to act and I see no point in limping when I am almost certain to get raised. In a turbo I don’t like to throw away chips. There is something to be said for splashing around with a hand like this when the blinds are so tiny because of the implied odds if I flop the world. And in a live, deep structured tournament I can see the point. But in a turbo I am a cheapskate with my chips when I have cards like this that almost certainly will flop poorly.

In any event, I fold and five players limp. I would have flopped the nut flush. Sigh.

Every pot at this table, in the very early stages, there is mass limping. I decide I will wait for a hand I can raise with, and will do so fairly large to 1) thin the herd, and 2) charge a premium to those who call light.

I have 9-9 in the big blind. Time to put my strategy into play. Two players limp. Then another player raises. Hmmmm, my strategy was for when everyone limped. In this case, however, someone has raised. I don’t want to blast off my chips with just 9-9, so I just call. Maybe I should have raised, although that seems dicey. I’ll see the flop and evaluate. The flop is 10-10-7. The original pre-flop raiser bets 240. I fold. If this were a deeper structured live tournament, I can see calling this bet to see if he slows down on the turn and river. If villain has A-K, I can see him continuation betting here and then slowing down on the turn if he does not improve. But in a turbo, while I don’t think villain has a 10, I have to consider the possibility that he has an over pair to the board (and it’s not impossible for him to have a 10). I think it’s tougher to call a post flop bet and then have to fold to further turn aggression in a turbo where chips are so precious than in a deep structured live tournament. Maybe I should have re-raised.

When the blinds are 50/100, I have K-Qo on the button. Two players limp. I raise it to 600. The small blind calls. The big blind goes all-in for 2,370. WTF, do people have monsters against me every hand I try to play? I ask myself if I should play K-Qo for stacks. Before I can make up my mind, one of the original limpers goes all-in even bigger than the first all-in. At this point I think it is highly likely I am dominated. I fold. The first all-in player (big blind) has 8-8. The second all-in re-raiser (one of the original limpers) has A-K. I was right to fold as I would be flipping against 8-8, and I would be dominated by A-K. Unfortunately, it turns out I would have won as the board run out was Queen high with no additional 8. But that is being results oriented. Had I called I would have been in bad shape before the flop. I am down to 2,076 chips (39th of 44 remaining).

I don’t get anything playable for a bit.

With the blinds at 100/200 I have 1,856 chips (34th of 37 remaining), and I get dealt 8-8 in the small blind. What’s with the medium strength hands. Would it kill the algorithm to give me a premium hand? Well, 8-8 is what I have to work with, and I only have nine big blinds. Two players limp. Given the blinds, if I’m going to raise I should do so for 1,000 chips. But given the fact that I only have 1,856 chips, if I bet 1,000 and someone puts me all-in I’m going to have to call since I might well be flipping. Thus, I might as well go all-in and hopefully get everyone to fold. I can certainly use the dead money in the pot. I go all-in. The big blind raises all-in huge, obviously trying to isolate with designs on my bounty. The limpers fold. The player who went all-in has J-J. I keep running into bigger hands. But apparently, it’s not enough that villain has me dominated. The flop is J-5-2 and gives him a set for good measure. It wasn’t enough to just hold?

I keep running into bigger hands tonight. I mean, c’mon, everyone folds and it is my SB (8-8) versus the BB (J-J)?!!!

Not my night.

The WSOP drops the full schedule in February, but they usually release the dates of the Main Event, and a few of the weekend, flagship tournaments just before the new year.

Avoiding poker burn out

As I have written somewhat recently, I have decided that the best way to avoid poker burn out is to try to balance the amount of time I spend playing online and studying with other interests.

Obviously, my love of watching sports on TV or in person is a great counterbalance. But I need something else. I said I was going to incorporate my love of reading.

Recently, I read the latest Dan Brown book about his Robert Langdon character.

Now I am going to read a book by my favorite author David Baldacci. He is a New York Times Bestselling Author. The things I love about his books are the fact that his main characters never get stale. The reason for this is because he'll write a series of books using a main character for only two to seven novels and then he'll stop. I think it takes real confidence and talent to be willing to stop writing about a character that has been the centerpiece of Bestselling books, and instead introduce a new main character for a new series of books.

Most authors, once they have a best selling character, stick to the same sure fire character for as long as they write. It's a safe formula. It gives their fans what they want, but eventually it becomes difficult for the character to remain fresh. I have a number of authors whose books I would read regularly that I eventually stopped reading because every novel felt too much like all of the past books. It would get routine and predictable, and at some point I'd have enough.

That does not happen with Baldacci. He is constantly retiring old main characters and introducing new lead characters for a new series of books.

If any of you are looking for an author with a large inventory of great books, I highly recommend Baldacci. My highest recommendation possible.

The various series he has done are as follows (alphabetical order):

6:20 Man Series (3 books)

Aloysius Archer Series (3 books)

Atlee Pine Series (4 books)

Camel Club Series (5 books)

John Puller Series (4 books)

King & Maxwell Series (6 books)

Memory Man Series (7 books)

Shaw Series (2 books)

Will Robie Series (5 books)

My favorite series are, in order, Memory Man, Camel Club, John Puller and Will Robie. But everything he writes is entertaining.

Baldacci also does a lot of standalone books, including the book I am about to start reading, which is Nash Falls.

The other impressive thing about Baldacci is how prolific he is. He churns out a ton of books, and his work does not suffer. My guess is he comes out with at least two to four novels a year. His output is massive, and the quality never suffers.

So this thread may go somewhat quiet for the next week or so as I read my book and then spend the weekend in Ann Arbor for the big rivalry football game between Michigan and OSU.

Beat Ohio!!!!!