ScottyZ's big tournament win!
So, I was watching ScottyZ play in the $10 rebuy tournament at Stars last night, and I eventually had to go to sleep because he was lasting too long. I asked him to PM me his result, and he got 3rd place, for $2800!!! Not a bad return on $30. Well done, ScottyZ! Post some hands?
Regards,
all_aces
Regards,
all_aces
Comments
Holy shit!!
Awesome, way to go!
Yeah I was playing in that tourney and after I got busted out I decided to look at some of the players when I saw you at table 110!
Good for you man....
I guess it's a good sign if I last long enough to send my fans (erm... fan) to bed.
I downloaded the hand history, so I'll try to find a few interesting ones. To be honest, I didn't make all that many individual tricky plays. (Okay, I did try the Dave Scharf Brand Limp-Steal^TM once, and it worked.) :cool: The most interesting thing which I think I did well was the meta-game of changing gears. I was uncharacteristcally aggressive just after the rebuy period, and pushing my large stack around nicely I think. In stark contrast, I was an Uber-rock during the final table and managed to sneak up the money from 8th of 9 players to finish in 3rd. (Also, at one point I was 15th of 15. Never give up.) I came into the final table (blinds $20K-$40K, $2K ante) with around $200K in chips and outlasted the initial chip leader who started with over $2 million.
I've really liked the PokerStars $10+$1 re-buy tourneys ever since they were offered, and I think I posted something to that effect here on the forum quite a while ago. The major cool things about the rebuy tourneys are:
1. No house drop taken from the rebuys or add-on. Yesterday I essentially played in a $30 + $1 tournament. That's an extremely cheap house drop.
2. Same blind structure as their non-rebuy tourneys. Since there are many more total chips in a rebuy tourney, you get much more play than usual.
3. People playing like crazy (or the freedom to play like crazy yourself) during the rebuy period. No "I'm broke, I'm done" for the first hour.
In all modesty, I did get solidly punched in the face by the deck. There's no question that you need a lot of luck to do well in an individual tournament. To paraphrase what Dave Scharf has often said in his WSOP reports, good players give themselves a *chance* to win. I was not only catching good cards, but catching many lucky calls from my opponents with weaker (though not always bad, e.g. AA vs AKs) hands. I think I was lucky enough to have only one significant hand where I got all my chips in and was behind. (Lost a lot of chips that hand, but had the opponent outstacked.)
Anyway, thanks again to all_aces for the encouragement during the game, and for keeping me distracted by bouncing around between 30-60 tables.
ScottyZ
Anyway, Good game Scottyz! Congrats. Don't spend it all in one place! (unless of course, you want to buy dinner for Zithal's Celebrity Tourney.)
hork.
The other side of fate is that it's really been f***ing me lately. Cash games are going well, but I can't make the money in a tournament to save my life. I was in that $10+1 last night too, and lost when I managed to get all of my money in preflop with KK vs AQ. That is the most routine loss I've taken lately... I usually lose hands when I have a MUCH bigger edge, and I forget what it's like to win a coin flip.
Blah blah blah cry cry cry more about ScottyZ.
He may have been getting hit in the face with the deck, but he certainly knows what to do with good cards when he gets them. And he's smart enough to avoid close edges unless he needs them. I watched him until he was in the money, and he played a *very* solid tournament.
In the pre-add-on period, and in the first little while afterwards, he was playing against people who would move in with JKo... yes JKo... against his AK. I believe the hand went like this: moron with JKo raises pretty big preflop, Scotty re-raises real big, and moron pushes. ROFLMAO. There are a lot of dead money players in the early stages of these tournaments. However, Scotty's competition got tougher as the tournament went on, and he was able to adjust.
Well done.
Regards,
all_aces
One thing I noticed is that I find myself vocally cheering and groaning at your hands, but never my own. I think it's sort of due to my poker face training. I've always liked to keep a calm demeanor when hitting good or bad hands online myself, even though there's not really a need to do so. I think this is *excellent* practice for B&M. However, if I'm watching all_aces (or anyone else) playing, I somehow feel like I can let loose and cheer, yell, pull my hair out, etc, as the case may be.
Very tough beat.
These kind of Bizzare-O World streaks happen. To some degree I've gotten "used to" getting my AA cracked in low-limit, but in reality this has openned my eyes to the warning signs that my AA might be no good. Unfortunately, I probably still call it down too more often than I should despite the warning signs. I think there may be such a thing as bad beat addiction.
You've got to stick behind the good decisions you make, whatever the results. You *can* play your best, lose, and say that you did well. It's not easy to do, especially in the short run. But it's good poker. At the highest level of thinking, you've got to turn every "my opponent played that so badly" into "I played that so well".
You must admit it to yourself when you a play a hand poorly. This is simply learning. But it's just as important (and also some form of learning IMO) to admit it to yourself when you play a hand well.
Why not stick with the cash games for a while and take a bit of a break from tournaments?
ScottyZ
Regards,
all_aces
ScottyZ
I've always wanted to write a trip report for an online tournament. It could start like this: "I walked over to my computer and turned it on."
Regards,
all_aces
I've got to wipe the cobwebs off my 7CSFAP I guess. :cool:
And yes, I'll definitely post a few hands, probably tonight. Particularly a few hands from the *out of control* final table, where I was able to basically fold my way from 8th of 9 all the way to 3rd place.
ScottyZ
I love the Stars tourneys myself.
I have placed between 3rd and 9th about 5 times on their $3 no-limit tourneys, and have cracked the money numerous (about 50/50) times on the $10 re-buy ones.
I would love to have a finish like yours however. I just cannot seem to make that final step at the end. I usually end up short stacked going into the top 30 or so and have to push all in on coin flip cards.
I just started reading TJ's book on No-Limit/Pot-Limit hold'em in hopes of figuring out where my hole(s) is(are).
Still this post is not about me its about you. Congrats man, Congrats.
I play the lower limit Omaha 8 tables .10/.25 PL, .25/.50 PL mostly. Sometime bigger stakes but not very often.
I discovered a while ago that I am a much better Omaha ring table player than Hold'em. Mostly because of how the math works in Omaha. I am a little to reliant on math in my play (my weakness and strength is I have a good head for outs and pot odds). And omaha favours that more than hold'em.
Other than that I play $5/$10 sit and go's/tournaments. Also every time I double my stake, I cash it out right away. So I never really have built a big enough stake to play the higher limits, comfortably.
But hey I really do not want to lose $200 on one hand. I have a wife who is an actor and a new condo to pay for so I play at my comfort level for acceptable loss.
I myself play almost exclusively $2-$4 limit HE, or $5 SNG's. The $11 rebuy tournament is actually on the larger side of what I'd play online. :cool:
ScottyZ
That's about it. We all risk what we can honestly, comfortably, afford to risk, and because of those crazy three months, I've been able to risk a lot more, both in tournaments and in ring games. If not for the "shorthanded adventure", I'd still be playing $1/$2 and $2/$4, and I'd be enjoying myself just as much as I do now.
As for losing $200 on one hand, man, I don't blame you for not wanting to know the feeling. It's not good. But like life, poker has its ups and downs, and it'll all work out in the end. Hopefully it'll work out for the better though....
Congrats on your success in the Stars tournaments; it sounds like you're doing very well indeed.
Regards,
all_aces
Why did you decide to focus on shorthanded games? What strategies did you employ? At $25/$50 did you also only seek out shorthanded games?
How many hours/week were you playing as you went from $40 bankroll at $1-$2 up the ranks?
And this is probably a different question for a different thread, but how did you deal with the huge cashout? i.e. is this considered income...do you have to claim it (I totally understand that you may not wish to answer this question).
Thanks,
Nurse
As you suggested, I think I'll start another thread in this section called 'Shorthanded Poker and Cashouts' to answer your questions. This thread is moving into some serious OT conversation, and it's my fault lol. Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to get even with those who took CanadaKev's 'Congrats to All Aces' post away from congratulating me. Lol j/k
Back to the matter at hand here.... WTG ScottyZ, and you can cough up a few hand histories any time now....
Regards,
all_aces
ScottyZ
Cheers,
all_aces
btw, thanks for posting some hands ScottyZ... very interesting stuff.
Just looiking through old threads, and stumbled upon this!!? Unreal.
Geez, talk about a heater!!
Anyways, love your posts, and hope to sweat out a final table, watching you. (Ehm, might be a while before I'm playing with ya!!)
That was a quote from aces a year and a half ago...
bhahaha..