Gonna go through both threads and respond. I'll post the exact same post in both threads, but if you wish to carry on the conversations, you'll be more likely to get more responses from me by posting in the Assani's Poker Thread......
He got it all an against a semi shortie with 78 spades. Board was 278 2 diamonds. The shortie had 78o with 1 diamond, runner runner diamonds on the turn and river. He's down to 8k of his 20k starting stack.
Blinds 50/100 no ante, I have about 19K(started with 20K)Two limpers in front of me, I limp with 78 of spades, LP limps, blinds checkFlop comes 78 with 2 diamonds, checked to me, I bet 400LP raises to 1400Folded to me, LP only has about 7500 leftI push, he calls, he has 78os with one diamond....T of diamonds on the turn, A of diamonds on the riverEli Elezra shows up late to my table and is the only notable player there
2nd break now. He has been pretty much card dead, has only had a couple noteworthy hands the entire time. He has won a little, then lost to a higher flush. Down to 6k now.
100/200 blinds with no ante this level88 in MP, I have maybe 8000-9000, I raise to 600, folded to Eli Elezra in the BB, he calls.Eli had been pretty loose, obviously competant postflop though, but too loose preflop to be profitable in the long run imo.Flop comes JQ4 rainbow, he checks, I c bet 800, he calls.At this point, I'm probably done with the hand, but the turn is an ace and he checks....good bluff card, so I fire 1600 and he foldsHad 26 of diamonds in BB, limped preflop and checked around until the river postflop. River brought 3 diamonds...unfortunately SB had T5 of diamonds
The loss was kept small as there was a possible full house out there, but this kinda summed up my day.Two interesting hands here, both of which I think I could've played differently, but I don't want to be results oriented either.....QTos in SB. Read on BB: Definitely not a great player. I've seem him limp AJ and QK in EP and then call a preflop raise and then call the flop when he hits top pair....thats just too loose imo, as your reverse implied odds are bad, you're heads up OOP, your hand is not strong enough, and so on. I've also seen him call preflop raises from the blinds and then bet into them on the flop and then fold when they raise. I get the feeling that hes doing this with average hands. For example he called a raise from LP, the flop comes A77, he bets out, PF raiser raises him, he folds, PF raiser shows AT, he says "NH, you were good."Eli is last to act on this hand: Eli is loose PF, will bet to steal a lot if checked to him(but then shut down when called), competant for sureEP limps, Eli limps in LP, I complete with QTos, BB checks.Flop comes QJ4 rainbow. Betting out is definitely an option, but it eliminates most all value I get. I decide to check, fold if EP bets, call if Eli bets with the intention of leading the turn small(because he'd usually shut down then, but maybe he'd put me on a draw and call my small bets down with a hand like AJ or even 99), re-evaluate if BB bets out.I check, BB checks, EP checks, Eli bets 600. I call, BB calls, EP folds....man BB's call was very unexpected. Not sure what to make of it.Turn is an offsuit 2(no possible flushes now).Maybe I should bet here, I dunno....but BB's call really threw me for a loop. I check, BB bets 2000, Eli quickly folds.What on earth is he not check raising the flop with but now betting the turn? Q2? If he made that play with 9T or KT, then my hat is off to him as thats a pretty damn good play imo.However, if he had a big hand on the flop then thats a perfect check raise spot, no? Especially considering that him and Eli were both deep and he needs to build the pot to win a big pot here.Eddie immediately said 44 when I told him the hand. I dunno though.Anyway, I folded.TJ of hearts in the BB, I'm down to around 6000 now.4 limpers including BB from last hand who is UTG now and Eli who is last to act(effectively the button for the hand).SB completes, I check, 6 to the flop.....Flop comes JT3 all diamonds. SB checks....I check with the intention of check/raising pushing all in , and I think its a very standard play for me(Eddie argued this point a bit, but I'm fairly confident that its solid). With only 6000 chips, I NEED to chip up somewhere here. And this is a great spot for it. Yes it sucks if it checks through and a diamond comes, but so be it.....the ace of diamonds would've called my bet anyway on the flop and then I'd have lost even more. Its only a 300(my BB) loss if it checks through and then I check/fold the turn. I need to get some value here. And by check/raising all in: 1. My hand looks like a draw and could definitely get called by AJ and 2. Since I'm the shortstack, if a draw bets out he may have to call me now(and even if he folds, then I'm not hating that either since hes already added some more money to the pot).Bad news: It gets checked through.Turn is a 3(obviously non diamond). SB checks. Whats your move?I think this is a very interesting spot. Keep in mind the pot is 1800 and I only have 6000 left. Any thoughts here?What ended up happening is I checked, UTG(BB from last hand) bet 2000, overbetting the pot, folded to me, I folded. I never think hes checking with a jack on the flop there unless he maybe has AJ with the A of diamonds, so I'm pretty confident that I was beat there. I think my check on the turn was debateable(obviously being results oriented, if we later came to think that UTG had us beat then it was the right play, but lets not be results oriented)Button raises to 600, I push for 5K with JKos, BB folds, button shows QK and folds...whew.6K at 2nd break.
He just can't really get anything going. Flopped top set, got no action. Has pushed a couple times with 99, etc but got no callers. Is in push or fold mode now. Has 4500 left.
blinds are 150/300 with no ante this levelThis level absolutely sucked. Was just extremely frustrating.Twice there were raises and I came over the top all in. Once I had 99 and once I had ATos. Both times they folded. This kept me somewhat afloat.All day, I had not once seen it open folded around to me when I was in either blind. Yet when I finally picked up KK in SB thats exactly what happened. I tried to make something happen by just completing, but BB just checked.Flopped a set of kings. I check.....he checks.I bet turn small, he folds.......felt like killing someone at this point.Got QQ in LP a few hands later and raise to 900. BB guy who is also way shortstacked calls(strange play imo...not sure what hands could possibly flat call here considering we both had about 5000 to start the hand).Flop comes A92, he checks. I think about c betting here, but villian hadn't been overaggressive, so I think that maybe I can get it to showdown if he doesn't have an ace. Moreover, I really can't afford to lose more chips. I check.Turn is a 5. He bets out 1600, I fold.I push 22 from cutoff, they all fold.4500 at dinner break.
And he's out.
He's on his way home now, but I don't know if he'll be posting tonight.You fought the good fight, My Good Friend Assani.Amanda
150/300 blinds with 25 ante this levelWas whittling down in chips, got TT in LP and pushed, button reraised. Button had AK.Interestingly enough I went out on AK vs TT(I had the AK though) in the 2006 Main Event, which I thought was a horrible omen. Luckily my TT held. I was now up to maybe 8000 or so....gave me some wiggle room.Read on villian in next hand: Probably the table captain. Aggressive, particularly in cutoff/button preflop. Will take small shots at pots postflop. Has played with me at the Wynn before(he actually works there) and respects me....realizes I'm playing very tight, as he has commented on it and the one hand where I shoved with ATos: There was a MP raiser, he called in LP, and I shoved from the SB. Initial raiser folded and he folded and showed 88. I actually think it was a pretty bad fold on his part considering the pot odds and my pushing ranges there, but I note this to show how he viewed my pushing ranges there and how he thought I was being extremely tight. Definitely competant though.I have A5 of clubs on button, 2 limpers including villian, I call, blinds complete/check.Flop comes AK7 with 2 clubs.SB, BB, and MP limper check. Villian bets 975. I definitely don't think he ever makes this move with complete air. He'd do it with any ace though, maybe a good king, definitely with any two pair or better hand, probably with a worse club draw.Considering my read and the strength of my hand, I raise. Not all in, but pretty much enough to where its obvious he has no fold equity. Folded to him and he pushes. He has AJ and it holds up.
are there any sites out there that actually have EVERY player in ME listed and how they are doing? or is it all just big names (i ask because my nephew is playing).
nah, just too difficult to track every player
Dentist said:
when did they increase the starting stacks from 10K to 20K?
Started this last year. They also increased the first blind level from 25/50 to 50/100, which pretty much means they think we're idiots and won't notice that the change didn't really change anything at all.
Master of Past and Present said:
He pumped himself as a +EV which is a bold statement to make. I would disagree that it was a solid investment, more like foolish. Basically people paid X dollars for a scratch off lottery ticket. Pros like Hellmuth, Ivey, etc are way better investments and I wouldn't call them solid in a field like this.
Pumping myself as +EV was not bold whatsoever. You do realize that discounting rake, exactly 1/2 of the any field is +EV, right? Counting rake, its probably about 45% of the field? Then considering that my stakers were only getting 75% of the action, it probably drops to around 25-30% or so(maybe one of the math guys figure out the exact numbers).If you really don't feel as if I'm in the top 25-30% of the softest $10K tourney in the world, then I don't even know what to say.The $109+rebuys, $1050 Tuesdays, and $320 Wednesdays on Stars are ten times as tough as this and OPR has me currently as the #33(out of 506,818) player on Stars.Yes Ivey and Hellmuth are probably better investments than me. You're foolish if you don't think they're solid investments though. You seem to be mistaking not being >50% to win with not being a solid investment considering the odds you're getting. Please do explain to me how you don't think Ivey and Hellmuth(or any of the others who are arguably the best in the world) are solid investments? Again, just because you're less than 50% to win money doesn't mean its not a good investment if you're getting good odds.A lottery ticket is an example of a -EV investment(unless the jackpot reaches a certain point). You still havn't explained why you feel as if I was -EV. And considering you also don't think Hellmuth/Ivey are solid investments, then I doubt you'll be able to.