Casino Regina Nov 12 FULL REPORT part I
Casino Regina Harvest Poker Classic Nov 12
Limit hold’em. $200 buy-in, $100 unlimited conditional re-buys, $100 add-on.
Heading into today’s tournament, I am on a twenty game losing streak. I have not made the money in the last 20 starts.
The day starts with the pokerforum.ca breakfast at The Last Spike in Casino Regina. The casino has graciously set aside the rail car for us so we have a private room. I meet Margo, Danny, and Jason (the CBC Venture crew) at the Delta and we walk over together to the breakfast. Very nice people. Glad that they are since we will be spending A LOT of time together over the next three days.
I make a $20 prop bet with Adam. I say it ends in level 23. He takes under.
There are 315 starters.
At my first table there is *again* somebody with really bad body odor. Man, you just can’t escape it in a poker room I guess.
I don’t take many notes in the re-buy period. But, there is a funny hand. In level two I am out taking photos. So, I am being blinded off (not worried because of the re-buys). I get back just in time to find that it is my big blind. There has been a raise, but the action is not yet too me so I am allowed to play. I find A-K. Figuring that someone was simply looking to steal the missing big blind a betting frenzy breaks out. I muck on the turn. The original raiser has K-K.
I note that I am not feeling well. I have had too much caffeine and too little sleep. I am unsettled. I make a note to myself to get to the supper break and take that hour to settle.
There is a player at the table who carries on a constant monologue about the hand. How he played, how you played, what the other guys should have done etc etc etc. He is, as far as I can figure, completely wrong. Every hand he calls – wrong. Every piece of advice he dishes – wrong. But, it is constant and he has no idea how wrong he is. It appears to me that he is someone who wants to appear to be a great player. Image is everything. But, well, the great player part is missing.
Level 5 Betting 150-300
There are 308 players remaining.
Hand #1: The VERY first hand. I am in the big blind. There is a raise from a very difficult player (DP) in middle position. DP is tough because he is very aggressive, but could have anything. He will press draws all the way or even press naked bluffs all the way. I saw him play some odd hands. There is a flat caller. I discover A-A. I three-bet and DP caps. Limper calls. The flop is 6-6-4 with two clubs. It is capped three way. The turn is an 8. I check raise DP and he three-bets. OK… maybe he does have a 6. I call and call the river. Nope. He doesn’t have a six, he has two sixes! Quadzilla. I capped it when I was a 989-1 dog and then I check raised drawing dead. Very clever start. I lose 2400 chips in the first hand. Ugh.
I make some back with a K-Ts that makes a flush (busting aces I might add). And, I make a little more back with A-K that I limped with UTG.
I saw a hand with DP that really fired the alarms bells. On a board of A-9-6-7-4 on the river 4 the big blind bets out, the DP raises, the big blind three-bets, and then the DP calls. Big-blind rolls over J-4. He has made it to the river with nothing and then hit a 4 which he has three-bet? What does DP call with on the river? Q-T. A naked queen??? Wow. Note to self, put away the “bluffing toolbox.â€
Brian Jonah’s tournament description: “It sucks and then you die.â€
Level 7 Betting 300-600
(don’t know what happened to six?)
Same two guys DP and big blind go crazy on a hand. DP calls all the way to the river with a naked king. Nobody gets any respect.
I also note that it is a pretty neat feeling to see a guy walking around wearing a Canadian Poker Tour hat. I have no idea how he got it but there he is proudly wearing our logo. Generally, the players seem pretty excited about the CPT. Hats and pins are sought after items.
Level 8 Betting 400-800
Hand #2: in the cutoff seat I raise with K-5s knowing that the big blind will call because he is too short stack. I win unimproved over his Q-3s.
Hand #3: In the very next hand I raise with K-9s in the cutoff + 1. I am three-bet by a solid player on my left. I call. Flop is 9-8-2 and I check-raise. He three bets. OK. I am beat. But no, I pay off the turn and then he checks the river. Bad play. I should fold the turn here.
all_aces and I agree to change our side bet to $200 for “most points.†Realizing that the field is so big it may be difficult to sort out who goes out in what spot.
Hand #4: My first really good read of the day. Folded to the SB who limps in. I check my 8-5o. Flop is A-T-8. He checks, I bet, and he c/r me. I three bet him. I was confident that my hand was best. The betting patterns of this player added to the “think about it tell†that I was getting made be feel pretty sure that I was the best. On the turn I spike another 8. Woohoo. I bet he calls. On the river there is a Q. It is possible that he has made a straight (I have got him on a straight draw). He checks. I bet. He calls all-in an is busted. I again decided that he did not have a straight.
Hand #5: The last hand of level 8 is a killer. I raise with A-A. I am three bet on my left by a solid player. The big blind who I regard as very tight calls. I decide to flat call. Flop is K-x-x with two clubs. I c/r player on my left they both call. I check the turn. Why? The big blind is very tight. He either has a flush draw or a set. I will not move him off the hand and it could be bad so I decide to mitigate my loss. River is another club. Big blind bets. I should, probably, have folded. But, I thought there was a small chance my turn check could have elicited a bet from A-K. I call. Big blind has Q high flush, three-bettor has A-K. Dang. This one hurt.
Level 9 Betting 600-1200
At one point here I was on life support. I was down to 3500 chips. The CBC Venture crew who decided to follow me through this tournament were getting ready for a glass of beer and early to bed.
Lose my blinds. Reduced to 2600.
Hand #6: There is a late position raise. I call in the big blind with J-J. Flop is T-9-2. Check, check. Turn is 5. I bet, he raises me all-in, but I win with my jacks. Whew. Back above water.
Hand #7: I am much too short to get out of line with my steals, but I am watching the super short stacked big blind and she has cocked her hand to fold! How can I resist. I raise in the cutoff with 6-2o and pick up the blinds. Whew.
Hand #8: I limp in the very next hand with A-5s. I am intending a limp steal from the start and it works. Whew.
Hand #9: Big hand. Re-raise to me. I have A-A and cap it. I flop a set of aces and get right back into the race. The story of this tournament was “getting aces more than my share.â€
Limit hold’em. $200 buy-in, $100 unlimited conditional re-buys, $100 add-on.
Heading into today’s tournament, I am on a twenty game losing streak. I have not made the money in the last 20 starts.
The day starts with the pokerforum.ca breakfast at The Last Spike in Casino Regina. The casino has graciously set aside the rail car for us so we have a private room. I meet Margo, Danny, and Jason (the CBC Venture crew) at the Delta and we walk over together to the breakfast. Very nice people. Glad that they are since we will be spending A LOT of time together over the next three days.
I make a $20 prop bet with Adam. I say it ends in level 23. He takes under.
There are 315 starters.
At my first table there is *again* somebody with really bad body odor. Man, you just can’t escape it in a poker room I guess.
I don’t take many notes in the re-buy period. But, there is a funny hand. In level two I am out taking photos. So, I am being blinded off (not worried because of the re-buys). I get back just in time to find that it is my big blind. There has been a raise, but the action is not yet too me so I am allowed to play. I find A-K. Figuring that someone was simply looking to steal the missing big blind a betting frenzy breaks out. I muck on the turn. The original raiser has K-K.
I note that I am not feeling well. I have had too much caffeine and too little sleep. I am unsettled. I make a note to myself to get to the supper break and take that hour to settle.
There is a player at the table who carries on a constant monologue about the hand. How he played, how you played, what the other guys should have done etc etc etc. He is, as far as I can figure, completely wrong. Every hand he calls – wrong. Every piece of advice he dishes – wrong. But, it is constant and he has no idea how wrong he is. It appears to me that he is someone who wants to appear to be a great player. Image is everything. But, well, the great player part is missing.
Level 5 Betting 150-300
There are 308 players remaining.
Hand #1: The VERY first hand. I am in the big blind. There is a raise from a very difficult player (DP) in middle position. DP is tough because he is very aggressive, but could have anything. He will press draws all the way or even press naked bluffs all the way. I saw him play some odd hands. There is a flat caller. I discover A-A. I three-bet and DP caps. Limper calls. The flop is 6-6-4 with two clubs. It is capped three way. The turn is an 8. I check raise DP and he three-bets. OK… maybe he does have a 6. I call and call the river. Nope. He doesn’t have a six, he has two sixes! Quadzilla. I capped it when I was a 989-1 dog and then I check raised drawing dead. Very clever start. I lose 2400 chips in the first hand. Ugh.
I make some back with a K-Ts that makes a flush (busting aces I might add). And, I make a little more back with A-K that I limped with UTG.
I saw a hand with DP that really fired the alarms bells. On a board of A-9-6-7-4 on the river 4 the big blind bets out, the DP raises, the big blind three-bets, and then the DP calls. Big-blind rolls over J-4. He has made it to the river with nothing and then hit a 4 which he has three-bet? What does DP call with on the river? Q-T. A naked queen??? Wow. Note to self, put away the “bluffing toolbox.â€
Brian Jonah’s tournament description: “It sucks and then you die.â€
Level 7 Betting 300-600
(don’t know what happened to six?)
Same two guys DP and big blind go crazy on a hand. DP calls all the way to the river with a naked king. Nobody gets any respect.
I also note that it is a pretty neat feeling to see a guy walking around wearing a Canadian Poker Tour hat. I have no idea how he got it but there he is proudly wearing our logo. Generally, the players seem pretty excited about the CPT. Hats and pins are sought after items.
Level 8 Betting 400-800
Hand #2: in the cutoff seat I raise with K-5s knowing that the big blind will call because he is too short stack. I win unimproved over his Q-3s.
Hand #3: In the very next hand I raise with K-9s in the cutoff + 1. I am three-bet by a solid player on my left. I call. Flop is 9-8-2 and I check-raise. He three bets. OK. I am beat. But no, I pay off the turn and then he checks the river. Bad play. I should fold the turn here.
all_aces and I agree to change our side bet to $200 for “most points.†Realizing that the field is so big it may be difficult to sort out who goes out in what spot.
Hand #4: My first really good read of the day. Folded to the SB who limps in. I check my 8-5o. Flop is A-T-8. He checks, I bet, and he c/r me. I three bet him. I was confident that my hand was best. The betting patterns of this player added to the “think about it tell†that I was getting made be feel pretty sure that I was the best. On the turn I spike another 8. Woohoo. I bet he calls. On the river there is a Q. It is possible that he has made a straight (I have got him on a straight draw). He checks. I bet. He calls all-in an is busted. I again decided that he did not have a straight.
Hand #5: The last hand of level 8 is a killer. I raise with A-A. I am three bet on my left by a solid player. The big blind who I regard as very tight calls. I decide to flat call. Flop is K-x-x with two clubs. I c/r player on my left they both call. I check the turn. Why? The big blind is very tight. He either has a flush draw or a set. I will not move him off the hand and it could be bad so I decide to mitigate my loss. River is another club. Big blind bets. I should, probably, have folded. But, I thought there was a small chance my turn check could have elicited a bet from A-K. I call. Big blind has Q high flush, three-bettor has A-K. Dang. This one hurt.
Level 9 Betting 600-1200
At one point here I was on life support. I was down to 3500 chips. The CBC Venture crew who decided to follow me through this tournament were getting ready for a glass of beer and early to bed.
Lose my blinds. Reduced to 2600.
Hand #6: There is a late position raise. I call in the big blind with J-J. Flop is T-9-2. Check, check. Turn is 5. I bet, he raises me all-in, but I win with my jacks. Whew. Back above water.
Hand #7: I am much too short to get out of line with my steals, but I am watching the super short stacked big blind and she has cocked her hand to fold! How can I resist. I raise in the cutoff with 6-2o and pick up the blinds. Whew.
Hand #8: I limp in the very next hand with A-5s. I am intending a limp steal from the start and it works. Whew.
Hand #9: Big hand. Re-raise to me. I have A-A and cap it. I flop a set of aces and get right back into the race. The story of this tournament was “getting aces more than my share.â€
Comments
I love the fact that you even know you're a 989-1 dog
This is the difference between you and the rest of us ... well at least me
As for watching things like the big blind cocking her wrist ... this is my personal measure of how focussed I am. If I am sucking up a lot of information at the table then I am playing well. If I am missing these tidbits then I know I am not in the game.