The Poker Journal on MattMatros.com

Matt Blogs the WSOP: A Big Thank You

2008-07-03T03:38:00.001-04:00

Thanks to everyone who rooted me on and sweated me at my final table. I'll write more later, but I'm extremely pleased with the way I focused throughout this tournament, with the way I went through each decision carefully, and with how I wasn't bothered by any of the final table microphone and camera nonsense. Obviously I was hoping for a better result, but I really think I did my job as best I could.

Let's hope I've got one more deep run left in me, and let's hope it starts this weekend (Saturday, to be precise).

Matt Blogs the WSOP: $1500 NLHE Updated Update

2008-07-02T08:13:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I made the final table. You might be able to watch on ESPN360 tomorrow. I'm going to sleep now for a bit.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Didn't We Just Do This?

2008-07-01T06:01:00.001-04:00

I thought I was playing a Limit Hold 'Em shootout today. Turned out I had my dates mixed up and I was registered for yet another $1500 No Limit Hold 'Em event with 2,700 people. Well, I'm in the money again, and again I have above average chips going into Day Two (41.8K). I'm not in nearly as good a position as I was last time, when I had 113.6K at the end of day one, but you can't ask for much more than to have above-average chips going into the second day of a tournament. I'm going to try to run up my stack tomorrow and give myself a chance at the final table. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Out of $1500 NL

2008-06-30T04:28:00.001-04:00

I got it to 160k after only a few hands today, but unfortunately that was the highest my stack ever got.

With five or six tables left I doubled through Men Nguyen by running JT through his AK, but he eventually got more than even for that suckout. With four tables left, Men moved in for three blinds and got called. I isolated with AQs and the caller folded. Men had A9o and won. A few hands later, Men moved in on my big blind for 104k (ten blinds) and I called with 55. Men had T4s and won. Down to less than two blinds, I got it all-in blind-on-blind on the next hand with 75o vs. 74o. I lost.

Though the end was pretty disappointing, I'm glad I made another run and gave myself another chance. Also, I almost got even for WSOP events with this mini-score. Almost. Also, I'm almost talking myself into playing more of the tournament circuit again after this month out here. Almost.

Tomorrow: Limit Hold 'Em Shootout

Matt Blogs the WSOP: $2000 and $1500 NLHE Update

2008-06-29T05:49:00.000-04:00

I played the $2,000 No Limit event on Friday and didn't last very long. I played a bunch of hands in the first hour, didn't win any of them, and lost half my stack. Then I got the rest in with AA vs. QJ on a board of QT8 and lost.

After busting, I went over to the Bellagio to play their $2,000 No Limit event. That didn't go any better. I won a coin flip to almost double my starting chips, but then later on I tried a resteal with T9o, ran into AK, and lost the showdown.

The good news is that I accumulated a bunch of chips in Saturday's WSOP event--the $1,500 No Limit. I have about three times average (113,600) heading into Day Two. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Two More Events

2008-06-24T16:19:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend I played two more short-stack events here at World Series of Poker 2008. The first was Saturday's $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event, featuring 2,700 of the finest (and not-so-finest) tournament players this side of the Mississippi. Early in the tournament I raised preflop with AA in the hijack and got two callers. The flop came QT2. I bet, and only the big blind called. The turn brought a jack and the big blind checked. I bet 825 and the big blind moved in for 750 more. I grudgingly called. He showed AQ. The river came king and we chopped.

I chipped up with a couple resteals, but then lost a showdown with A3s to 67s. By some miracle, I then ran T9o through AA to double up. I soon found myself in the final quarter of the field with a real shot to push further. Unfortunately, I reraised all-in with AQs, got called by 88, lost the race, and that was that.

On Sunday I played the $1,500 mixed Hold 'Em event. The first thirty minutes, all Limit Hold 'Em, went fine and I slightly increased my starting stack. Then we switched games. I opened for 75 in the cutoff (25-25) blinds with KQo, and the aggressive small blind (I say aggressive because he had raised the most during the limit round, and he had three-bet me once on the flop, only to end up folding on the river) made it 325 to go. I called. The flop came Q44. He bet 750, I thought about it and called. The turn brought a 7. He almost immediately moved in for 1525. I thought for a while and eventually called. He had AA. I thought after he moved in on the turn that there was probably about a 40-45 percent chance I had the best hand--far too much to fold getting 2.4-1 on my money. Down to 19 blinds, I got the rest of my chips in with the nut straight against a flush draw. I lost and that was that.

Some Best and Worst Plays...

Best Play From Me: In the $2k Pot Limit event, the button raised, and I defended my blind with J6s. The flop came Q74 and it went check-check. The turn brought a 5 and I led out for about 60 percent of the pot. The button called quickly. The river brought a nine and I fired 60 percent of the pot again. My opponent thought for a while, then showed 65o saying "I should've raised the turn" before mucking. I don't always fire the second bullet when I should, and I did here because my opponent's call on the turn really looked like a draw. So I was pleased with that.

Best Play From Others: Same event, getting near the money. The hijack raises, I call on the button with low suited gappers (I had my reasons), the small blind calls, and then the big blind raises the pot with QJo. This was a perfect spot for a squeeze, and the big blind recognized it, had a hand for it, and acted on it. As it turned out, he got called by the small blind's TT and spiked a jack on the river.

Worst Play From Me: The KQ hand from above. Yes, all my decisions were reasonable, but I really didn't have to call the reraise at all preflop. Sure my opponent had been aggressive in the limit round, but I should've read him for strength when he stuck in a big reraise in no limit.

Worse Play From Others: This isn't the "worst" play necessarily, but the guy who made it should really know better, so I'll call it the worst play. In the Pot Limit event, UTG opened for 900. A woman, playing tight, reraised to 3150 two seats from UTG+2, leaving herself 600 behind. David Singer then cold-called 3150 in the next seat. It folded around to the small blind, who decided to shove all his chips in with QQ. Now, I know queens are a big hand. But David Singer will literally never show you two jacks or ace-king in that spot, in my opinion. Even if he could have those hands (which I don't think he can), you're a dog to his range. Sitting at the table, queens seemed like an easy fold to me. The woman had kings, David had aces, and the queens spiked on the turn and won a monster pot.

I'm taking some time off now, and my next event will be the $2,000 No Limit on Friday. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: $2,000 Pot Limit Hold 'Em, Close But No Cigar

2008-06-21T05:08:00.001-04:00

I finished 71st out of 605 starters in the $2k Pot Limit today. 63 were paid. Overall I was pretty pleased with my play, minus a few very subtle spots where I could've taken a slightly more aggressive line. I lost two big coin flips when we got close to the money and they pretty much did me in. It's frustrating to play for 12 hours, make no money, and then have to go right back to it with a measly starting stack in the next tournament 12 hours later. But that's the nature of the beast, and if you play to win, you're going to have a lot of bubble-ish finishes.

Next: $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em (yes, there's another one of these already)

Matt Blogs the WSOP: I Missed the Soccer for This?

2008-06-20T06:13:00.001-04:00

I had a very strange and short tournament today in the $1500 No Limit Hold 'Em event.

As I got to the table, the player to my right quickly introduced himself as Carl from Denver. He was one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet at a poker table, he was playing his first-ever WSOP event, he was super excited and nervous, and he clearly didn't know much about hand values. He limped UTG with A4o, put in 700 on an ace-high flop, and didn't blink when calling 1500 on the river on the A226Q board (he chopped with AJ). So when I raised AJo UTG and Carl called in the big blind, I liked the spot. I liked it fine when Carl led out for 200 on the A92 flop. I really liked it when a deuce hit the turn and he check-called my 500 bet. And I loved it when a 3 hit the river and he check-called my 1350 all-in. I loved it right up until Carl rolled over AQ to knock me out. He seemed almost sad to have done it.

So for the first time this Series, I failed to double my starting stack and made an early exit. Oh well, had to happen sometime.

Tomorrow I play the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold 'Em event.

Back At It

2008-06-18T03:35:00.001-04:00

Tonight I head back to Vegas to continue my slew of events at the 2008 World Series of Poker. For this second leg, there's a cool new way to get updates on my status for those who are interested. Go here and create an account. Then after you've done that, sign up for the Stoxpoker channel here. I'll be sending text message updates during every break and you can get them on your phone, in your email, or you can just read them on the web site. Basically, you can get as many or as few updates as you want. And of course, if once-per-tournament updates are enough for you, I'll still be doing my usual WSOP blogging in this space.

Here's a quick note from WSOP Leg One. During the $2k Limit Hold 'Em event, I logged quite a few hands with eventual champion Daniel Negreanu. (I also logged quite a few hands with David Singer in the Pot Limit event he won, so it feels as though I'm getting closer and closer! Heh.) Daniel was on my left most of the time (lovely, I know), and when I raised his big blind from the small blind he commented in all seriousness that he didn't like that play very much, preferring instead to open-limp from the small blind with most hands in Limit Hold 'Em, assuming a good player in the big blind. Discuss.

And wish me luck in Leg Two.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Taking a Breath

2008-06-13T16:36:00.001-04:00

I'm home in New York for a few days to clear my head and see my family (and make a few Stoxpoker videos). Looking back, it was an interesting first leg of the World Series of Poker for me. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect this year. The games online have gotten much tougher over the last six months--and not only have I noticed this trend myself, but it's evident from reading the blogs of many strong players. What then would the fields look like in the lower buy-in WSOP events?

The answer turned out to be: not as soft as in previous years, but still soft enough. And although I'm down about $4k after playing seven events, I'm really pleased with my peripheral stats (if you will). I doubled my starting stack in all seven tournaments, quadrupled my starting stack four out of seven times, and got to ten times my starting stack or more twice (the two tournaments I cashed in, of course). If just one more showdown could've gone my way (let's say the straight flush draw against Avery's kings in the shorthanded event), I love my chances to make a real score.

But oh well, I have to settle for a small loss in leg one. As promised, here are some Best and Worst Plays.

Some Best Plays from Me:

1) In the rebuy event, during level 3 (post-rebuy period), with blinds of 100-200, the hijack opened for 550. Both blinds were dead (much of the rebuy tournament played shorthanded for me, because so many people weren't at their seats for whatever reason). I made it 1,700 on the button with ATo. My opponent called. The flop came 972 with two to a flush. We both checked. The turn brought a six and my opponent bet 2200. I called. The river brought a 3. My opponent thought for a while and checked. I bet 4500 and he folded instantly. Although this wasn't a crazy impressive float by me or anything, I liked that I took my time on the turn, thought that there was a decent chance my hand was good, and thought through the best way to play the rest of the streets given that I had outs if I happened to be behind.

2) In the 2k limit event, we were about three places from the money and I was one of the shorter stacks. Folded to the small blind who raised. I called with K6o. The flop came 223. He bet, I called. The turn came 4. He bet, I called. The river came ten. He bet, I called. He tabled 87o and my hand was good. This was a fairly standard limit play in ordinary circumstances, but near the bubble you really don't want to go broke as a short stack. It took a bit of a read to call down here, and I had a bit of a read (and it turned out to be right).

3) The quads hand (see my earlier post from day one of the shorthanded). Yes, I was lucky to flop quads, but then I got the guy with jack-high to put 70 blinds in the pot.

Worst Plays from Me:

1) Late in the rebuy event, with about 20 blinds in my stack I folded 77 UTG. As those who watch my videos know, I like to play tighter than usual for the first raise with 20-30 blinds in my stack. With antes in the pot, though, I don't think it's ever correct to fold 77 UTG.

2) In the limit event, the cutoff opened and the hijack three-bet and I folded 99 in the small blind. Again, this was a close decision, but I think it's definitely correct to four-bet against good players here. Note that I would've lost more money in both of the above hands if I hadn't made these mistakes. This is not the point.

3) My bustout hand in the shorthanded event (see my earlier post). I think this was a really tough hand, and I've talked to seven good players about it. Four would've played it the same way I did, three would've played it differently. So it's not that I think I made some horrible decision. I'm bothered by this hand because I had a chance to really make a good read and save some chips, and I didn't get it done. In close spots you're supposed to trust your reads, and I had the 13k chips in my hand ready to just call Avery's river bet before I overruled myself and decided to go with the more aggressive (and standard) play of check-raising for value. I wish I'd gone with my first instinct.

Best Play from Others:

The player to my immediate left for most of the rebuy event was a fantastic player. He came over the top of my raises several times, and opened for small raises often himself. But he wasn't a maniac either, he was just loose enough and good enough to be a major problem for everyone at the table. I think the hand that best exemplifies this came when he raised on the button and the big blind called. The flop brought two aces and a low card. The big blind led out, and the button called. The turn was a blank, and the big blind bet again. The button called. The river was another blank, and the big blind fired a third bullet. The button tanked for a long time, and finally called with A5. He flopped trip aces and never raised once, instead maximizing the value of his hand by inducing three bets from the player in the blind (who had ended up flopping the lower pair and overplaying it). It was his ability to shift gears that made me realize this button player was so strong. I wish I'd got his name (he's probably a well-known tournament pro that I happened not to recognize).

Worst Play from Others:

In the limit event, a short stack got moved into the big blind after we'd hit the money. The cutoff raised, the button three-bet, and the big blind called everything cold. The big blind then led out the ace-high flop, and led again on the turn, before betting a short all-in on the river. The button reluctantly called with two kings, and the big blind showed J8o for jack-high. There is bad play, and then there is just giving away your tournament. This guy just gave away his tournament.

My next event is the $2k No Limit Hold 'Em on Thursday. I will try to post another WSOP story before then.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Out of Limit Hold 'Em

2008-06-12T04:37:00.002-04:00

I finished in 27th, for my second mediocre cash of the Series. I'll write a detailed post in the next day or two. For now I'll just say that I had very few hands work out for me over the two days of this tournament, and am actually not too disappointed to finish 27th.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Quick Update

2008-06-11T17:34:00.000-04:00

Today I'm playing day two of the $2k Limit Hold 'Em event. I'm 54th out of 125 remaining, despite a slightly below-average stack of 14.3k. I'll write more at the end of the day.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Week One Report

2008-06-09T03:24:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the stats from the events I didn't write up in detail.

Event 5, $1,000 NL Hold 'Em with Rebuys

Starting stack (after rebuy): 4,000
Stack after rebuy period (with add-on): 18,050
High water mark: 23,275 (Level 7)
Low point before busting: 3,400 (Level 1)
Busto: Level 9

Event 7, $2,000 NL Hold 'Em

Starting stack: 4,000
High water mark: 25,300 (Level 6)
Low point before busting: 3,925 (I missed the first two hands and they were both my blinds, heh)
Busto: Level 9

Event 9, $1,500 NL Hold 'Em Six-handed

Starting stack: 3,000
High water mark: 156,700 (Level 10)
Low point before busting: 3,000 (as far as my notes remember)
Busto: Level 12

Event 13, $2,500 NL Hold 'Em

Starting stack: 5,000
High water mark: 13,600 (Level 3)
Low point before busting: 1,400 (Level 1)
Busto: Level 5

I'm really pleased that I've doubled my starting chips in all five events that I've played, but of course disappointed that I didn't make a nice score any of the times I went deep. I'm not feeling so great right now (I seem to get sick every time I come out here), so the best and worst plays feature will have to wait until next time while I get some rest.

Tomorrow I play Event 17, $1,500 NL Hold 'Em Shootout. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Event 9, $1,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold 'Em

2008-06-06T23:04:00.001-04:00

Well, unfortunately it didn't happen for me today. Here's a rundown of the hands.

Peter Marr (good internet player) is on my left. Avery Cardoza (who I just met the day before, but who certainly plays well enough) is two to my right. Both have chips, and both are clearly playing to win. In fact, our table probably has more chips than any other table today.

800-1600 blinds, 200 antes.

Hand 1: Avery opens for 4k in the cutoff. I make it 13k in the small blind with AcJh. Peter calls 13k cold. Avery folds. Flop comes J93 with two spades. Check, check. Turn comes 2s. I bet 18k. Peter calls. River comes Qs. I check. Peter moves all-in. I fold. Peter shows AsJc.

Hand 2: The button limps. I limp in the SB with 66. Peter makes it 8,900 in the big blind. Button folds, I call. Flop comes 422. Check, check. Turn is the 9s, bringing a two-flush. I bet 13k, Peter calls. River is the Qs. I bet 16k. Peter calls. My hand is good (he claims to have had AK, and I believe him).

Hand 3: Avery opens on the button for 4500. (Avery has opened the button literally every time it has folded to him.) Small blind folds, I call with 4d3d. The flop comes 952 with two diamonds. I check. Avery bets 8k. I make it 25k. Avery moves in for 40k more. I call. He has KK. Despite hitting a 3 on the turn, I do not win.

Hand 4: Very next hand. Avery opens in the cutoff for 4k. I call in the small blind with 77. Peter calls in the big blind. Flop comes J82. Checked around. Turn is a king. Checked around. River is a seven. I bet 8k. Peter makes it 20k. Avery folds. I move in for 50k more. Peter calls and I win. (Peter shows KJ.)

Hand 5: Very next hand. Folds to me on the button, I make it 5k with KhQh. Peter makes it 16.5k. Big blind folds, I move him in for 58k more. Peter calls with AJo. Flop comes AKK. Turn A. River Q.

1000-2000, 300 ante.

Hand 6: Folds to me in the small blind and I make it 6k with Jc4c. Peter calls. Flop comes 972 with two clubs. I check, Peter bets 11.5k. I move in for 68k. Peter folds.

Hand 7: Avery opens on the button for 5500. I call in the big blind with T9o. Flop comes A94. Check-check. Turn comes 2. I check, Avery bets 8k, I call. River comes 9. I check, Avery bets 13k. I make it 35k. Avery moves me in for 45k more. I call, he shows me AA and I'm done.

I'll post a few thoughts on these hands, as well as an overall report on the other events, later. For now I'll just say that I probably could've played the last hand a little better, but I was destined to lose a ton of chips on it (if not necessarily all of them). The rest of the hands I think I did fine. Oh well. I'm going to play the $2,500 NL tomorrow. Another day, another tournament.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: (Sort of)

2008-06-06T06:09:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't been posting more, but I played 12-hour days on Tuesday and Wednesday without cashing, and was exhausted at the end of each. I played 12 hours+ again today, but luckily this time I ran like God and I now have three times the average chip stack going into day two of the $1,500 shorthanded NL Hold 'Em event.

I promise I'll do a better write-up of everything later, but for now I need to get some sleep.

OK, one hand.

Blinds 100-200, the cutoff opens for 550. I call in the small blind with 55, the big blind calls. The flop comes 655. Check, check, the raiser bets 1,000. I make it 2,700. Big blind folds, raiser makes it 6,500. I think for a while and then call. Turn is a 7. I check. Raiser moves me in for 7,500. I call (of course), and he has J9. I think maybe he picked up a flush draw on the turn or something.

Long long way to go, of course. I'm gonna give it my best shot.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Event 3, $1,500 Pot Limit

2008-06-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

I've made it to Vegas and I just played my first event in the 2008 World Series of Poker--the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold 'Em tournament.

I picked this event partially because I thought most of the top pros would skip it in favor of the $5,000 mixed Hold 'Em tournament later in the day. This theory backfired when I sat down only to see Erik Seidel sitting to my immediate left. Oh well.

On my third hand of this WSOP I got dealt pocket aces under the gun. I min-raised and everyone folded. I didn't see aces again today, but with some luck I'll see them again this month.

A few key hands.

At the 100-200 level, UTG limped. UTG had been limping a ton and playing passively in general. He accused me of making a squeeze play once (and he was sort of right--I had KQ that hand), so I had a feeling he was itching to play back at me. I made it 800 in the next seat with two jacks. It folded back to UTG and he raised the pot, to 2700 total. I had 5250 in my stack, and thought for a while. I decided to call, leaving myself with 3350, knowing I would be committed on almost every flop. (I figured I might still get away on some ace-high flops. Maybe I would've been better off just moving in preflop.) I really thought there was a decent chance UTG had AK or a smaller pair than mine. The flop came 764, UTG moved me in and I called instantly. He did indeed have AK and I doubled up.

At the 150-300 level, a loose player opened in early position for 1,050. I made it 3k a few seats later with AK. EP called, leaving himself 1,600. The flop came king-high and he went all-in. I called instantly (of course) and he had KQ. River queen.

Same level, UTG opens for 900. I make it 2,500 on the button with AK. Folds to UTG, who moves in for 4,150 more. I call (of course), and he has two tens. I lose the race.

I ended up busting in level six. Here are the relevant stats.

Starting stack: 3,000
End level one: 2,750
End L2: 3,075
End L3: 6,050
End L4: 8,675
End L5: 3,600
Level 6: Busto
High water mark: 13,500 (level 4)
Low point before busting: 1,950 (level 5)

My best play: I didn't really have any superstar plays today, but I reraised a late raiser with 64s when I was almost sure he was weak and he folded instantly, so I'll go with that one.

My worst play: I also don't think I did anything colossally bad, but I think I got a little over-aggressive on one hand against David Singer. At the 100-200 level, David opened in the cutoff for 600. Some pertinent info: David was playing two tournaments at once, he had just won a huge pot the previous hand, and he probably was not over-anxious to get involved with me since we had a relatively soft table. I made it 1,800 in the big blind with A5o. So far I think this was fine, as I think David gives up often enough preflop to justify my reraise. David called. The flop came 883 with two diamonds and I led out for 2,200. I often check in this situation, and I think I should've checked here. Once David chooses to see the flop, it's pretty likely he has a good enough hand to play on that very un-scary board. I decided to bet to protect the times I wanted to bet for value, but I don't think this was the time or place for it. David raised the pot and I had to fold.

Best play from others: David's play in the above hand. I don't know what he had, but if he had a big hand he got the maximum value for it, and if he had a bluff, he got me to put in 4k and then fold. Seems like he played it superbly no matter what he had.

My next event: Event 5, $1,000 NL Hold 'Em with Rebuys.

Lame

2008-05-05T01:25:00.003-04:00

I got in to Atlantic City at about 12:30 a.m. late Saturday night (technically Sunday morning). I tried to register for the next day's tournament (the Deep Stack--the one I came to town for), but naturally Borgata closes its tournament registration at midnight. It reopened at eight the next morning.

At about 8:15 a.m. I rolled over in bed and thought about running downstairs in my pajamas, registering, and then going back to sleep. Instead I just went back to sleep.

At 10 a.m. I got a call from my friend Ed. The registration line was ten-fifteen minutes long, and did I want him to wait in line for me while I made my way downstairs to register? "I haven't showered or anything, so I'll be more than ten minutes." I said. "It's not gonna sell out, right?"
"No," he said. "You just might miss some of the first level waiting on line."
"That's fine, I don't care about that."

At 10:25 a.m., showered and ready, I went downstairs and got on the registration line. To reiterate, I was there a solid 35 minutes before the scheduled start time of 11 a.m. The line went out of the poker room, all the way to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant down the hall. The following pieces of information soon became apparent. 1) About 700 seats had already been sold. 2) They only had tables to accommodate about 700 people (they had been expecting 400-500--how they came up with that expectation I don't know). 3) I was about 90th in line. 4) There were at least another 100 people lined up behind me (and that's being conservative).

A little after 11, the tournament director started handing out alternate tickets to those of us in line who hadn't yet paid for seats. I got alternate #70. The tournament started, and a funny thing happened--a bidding war broke out for the alternate tickets. Alternates 1-11 were seated immediately because the director made one new table. We'd been told they were going to try to open a few more tables once the tournament got going (at least ten tables were being used for cash games), so it looked like my #70 had a real shot of getting in. Ticket #13 was immediately sold for $850. (The buy-in for this event was $2,150.) #31 went for $400. I was offered $200 for my #70, but declined. #78 went for $150. The buyers reeked of gambling addicts desperate to be playing poker for the next three days. I get pretty sick just thinking about paying juice. These guys were willing to pay almost half the buy-in on top of the juice, just to have the right to buy in to the tournament.

After two hours of this, I asked around to see if they were going to break any of the cash tables, as we'd been led to believe they would. They didn't. And we were only on alternate #17 (meaning only six people had busted--not too surprising given the 600-big blind starting stacks). At that point I knew I had no shot and kicked myself for not taking the $200 when I had a chance. Of course, everyone who's heard this story says I would've been crazy to take that $200 at that point, and I agree. So even though it was a bad result, I think it was a good decision at the time to pass on the money.

When all was said and done, I think #43 was the magic alternate. The guy immediately ahead of me in line (#69) bought #25 for $800 and got in. On the one hand, I'm glad I wasn't one of the throngs of gamblers so desperate to play this tournament that they were willing to pay $800+ just for the privilege of buying in two hours after the event started. On the other hand, it was pretty damn annoying to travel all the way to AC and not play a hand of poker. I was actually looking forward to playing this thing!

In Borgata's defense, they did a lot to help the players. They went 11-handed, and they allowed alternates for three levels instead of two. I think their failing was in their severely restricted registration process. If they'd had registrations open at more hours for more days leading up to the event, they would've had a suspicion they were getting closer to 1,000 players than 400, and they would've had more time to figure out how to deal with that. On the day of, they couldn't secure more room, or fight to get more cash games broken. Pretty unfortunate. I'm officially alienated, and I wonder if I'll play there again. I mean, don't advertise a Deep Stack tournament, and then turn away 20 percent of the people who show up to play it. I'll probably end up playing there at some point in the future, but right now I'm annoyed.

Oh well, good thing another FTOPS starts up this week! I know I won't get shut out of those!

Almost

2008-04-22T17:41:00.002-04:00

I came damn close to winning Bodog on Sunday for $25k (die-hards will remember that I won this tournament about a year ago). Instead I had to settle for 7th place and $3500. I ran pretty damn good all the way to the final table, at which point I decided to reraise the very active chip leader with KTo. He flat-called, and I happily moved all-in on the KJT flop. Unfortunately he showed me AQ and that was that.

I'll be playing the Borgata deep stack event the weekend after this one, so if any readers are going to be in AC at that time, please shoot me a message.

Brief Foxwoods Report

2008-04-08T18:52:00.001-04:00

I recently went to the Foxwoods Poker Classic for a few days. I played the $2,000 event and got knocked out earlyish when my 88 couldn't beat 33 for a 7k pot (we started with 8k in chips), and my AK couldn't win a flip for the rest.

I got pretty deep in the $3,000 event. The highlight hand came at the 100-200/25 level. A weak loose-passive player limped in the cutoff, and I made it 800 from the button with KQo. A tight/straightforward older player (a polite gentleman type) called in the big blind and the cutoff of course called as well. The flop came K62 rainbow. It checked to me and I bet 1600 into the 2700 pot. The big blind minimum raised to 3200. The cutoff folded and I called. The turn paired the king, also bringing a backdoor diamond draw. The big blind checked, and I bet 5,500. He started shaking his head and muttering, and then thought for a long time. If he was acting, it was an Oscar-worthy performance. He then called. The river brought the backdoor flush, and the big blind checked again. I really didn't think he called the turn with a flush draw, and I really thought I had the best hand as this player was very straightforward and it seemed clear he didn't like the king on the turn. So I moved all-in for 12,575. (This was at a point in the tournament when the average stack was probably 15k.) He practically jumped out of his seat as he shook his head in disbelief. He had me covered by only a few hundred. After several minutes, he counted out the chips to call and then continued to ponder. I finally called the clock, and once I did he called me after only a few more seconds' thought. I tabled my hand and it was good. What do people think he had? (I've only come up with one reasonable guess.)

Unfortunately I lost a few showdowns later on and finished 22nd when 18 were getting paid. Oh well, that's tournament poker.

I decided not to play the main event for a number of reasons (mostly I didn't get much rest the previous two nights and I didn't feel I was in the right frame of mind to start a six-day event and risk $10,000 doing it). But I feel that I've been playing well over the last six months (I think doing these stoxpoker videos has actually helped me in my own game), and I want to take another crack at a big tournament soon. I think maybe I'll do the big stack tournament at Borgata the first weekend in May, and then of course the good old World Series of Poker. Anybody else have suggestions?

Good luck to all in your next tournament.

A good Sunday

2008-03-10T14:12:00.003-04:00

I entered four tournaments yesterday. First was the $500 buy-in main event of the Bodog Poker Open. I was stunned at how good the structure was for this thing. They started us with 500 blinds and the levels were 20 minutes long. I check-raised the flop and then bluffed the turn early (and lost), and ran top two into bottom set (and lost), and still had sixty percent of my starting stack two hours in. Eventually I ran KQs into AK blind-on-blind and busted. I actually could've thought about folding. I opened for 3 and the big blind moved in for about 28 if I recall correctly. Nah, who am I kidding--I'm never folding KQs blind-on-blind for those stack sizes.

I "played" the $535 WSOP super satellite on FTP next. I say "played" because I was the first out. On hand number one, I thought AK might be a pretty good hand on the J86AA board. But my opponent liked his sixes full better. With starting stacks of 150 blinds, I didn't have any way to avoid going broke (in my opinion), and busted.

Stars started at 5:30 p.m. eastern because apparently they can't figure out daylight savings time. I got ahold of a few chips, and then I got in position to make a serious run when a guy just handed me 147,000 more. With blinds of 1500-3000 and some tiny ante, UTG min-raised. I called in the small blind with 44. By the way, we were literally on the bubble, and playing hand-for-hand. The big blind made it 12k more. UTG folded. I had 159k left and my opponent had me covered. I believe we were the two biggest stacks at the table. I called. The flop came ace-high. Check-check. The turn was (obviously, since I'm writing about it) a four. I led out for 29k. My opponent min-raised to 58k. I was suspicious of three aces, but not nearly suspicious enough to slow down, and I moved in for 89k more. My opponent called like a shot and I actually thought I was toast. But no, he turned over...two kings????!!!!! The poor guy clearly didn't know much about poker to lose so many chips in that fashion, but I'll never turn down a gift. As we entered the money, I was the tournament's chip leader.

While this was going on, I was also making a run in the FTP tournament. In fact, I was in second place in chips with 190 players left. But then I lost with two tens to two fours (all-in preflop) and that dropped me back to merely a very good stack. A few orbits later I lost with QQ to AK and was left with less than one blind and busted on the next hand. If I'd won that flip I would've been top five in chips again, but oh well. It was on to Stars.

I stayed right around 340k for a long while after the big hand on Stars, not finding any good spots to put my chips in play. Eventually the blinds got big and I was able to chip up quite nicely to about 1 mil. I did that partially by winning a showdown with A6 against A2s. It was especially lucky, since my opponent flopped a flush draw! I then got it to 2 mil when I beat two sevens with my two kings. But I lost three medium pots against short stacks. I had the worst hand every time, but not usually by much. And I stole enough that I still had 1.6 mil when I ran QQ into KK and lost. Left with .27 blinds, I busted on the next hand. I finished 35th out of 7,349, which isn't too shabby, but in my opinion should be worth more than 17 buy-ins. The guy who beat my QQ with his KK ended up winning the tournament.

It's actually kind of sick. I had clearly a good Sunday of tournaments, but I made a profit of only $2,538. Given that the buy-ins totaled $1,466, I didn't really exceed expectation by that much. I'm sure I'm spitting into the wind here, but I'd love it if online sites only paid ten percent of the field, and took the money they're currently paying out to the bottom places and save it for the people who finish in the top 0.5% or so. This pay structure would better suit the styles of anyone playing good tournament strategy.

My final table video from the FTOPS event will be released on stoxpoker.com this week. At that point, I'll share some of the hands from that tournament in this space.

Best of luck if you're playing cards this week.

Results from Sunday

2008-02-26T13:06:00.001-05:00

Result: I had 5h4h, my opponent had a set of sevens.

Those of you who put me on 98s or a set, those hands are also in my range, as are (probably) AhKh and AhQh. AA and KK are not in my range.

Those of you who had my opponent on AA or KK, it would be a big mistake for my opponent to call me with those hands (although that doesn't necessarily mean you've made a bad read). He should, of course, call with middle set or better. Bottom set actually puts him in a tough spot as he is often drawing to one out. I wouldn't fault a call or a fold with bottom set there.

It's funny, people who know me from this journal seemed to put me on a semibluff, and people who know me from stoxpoker seemed to put me on a set/straight. I guess images are created even away from the table!

Matt

A New Sunday

2008-02-24T19:10:00.003-05:00

OK, I promised a more-detailed post about my second-place finish in the FTOPs event. Unfortunately, I don't remember a lot of hands to regale you with, but I'll give some general impressions. I was very happy with the way I played. I felt I really thought through all my options well in each spot--sometimes continuation betting, other times trying a check-raise instead, sometimes restealing all-in, sometimes NOT restealing all-in (that one is very hard for me). Tell you what, I'll give you a bunch of hands from the final table after the video of my final table play is posted to stoxpoker.com. Incidentally, you can already see an hour's worth of my play from the event at stox now, for those of you who might be interested in becoming members.

As for today, let's see wha happen?

I got through two hours of the Bodog event, but lost a chunk of chips with KK to KQs (all-in preflop). Can I remember how I finally went broke...ah yes, I got involved against a short stack's JJ with my 66 and lost. And then I stuck in my remaining 6 blinds with QJ, only to run into AQ and lose again. That one wasn't so fun.

Stars kicked off at 4:30 eastern. I had about 9200 at the 50-100 level when the following hand went down. I raised to 200 from UTG+1. The player to my right called, as did the button and the big blind. The flop came T76 with two hearts. I bet 600. The next seat made it 1,450. The others folded, and I moved in for 7,550 more. My opponent called. What are the two hands? Feel free to email me your guesses. I'll post the result tomorrow. I busted in this hand, but I won't taint your thinking by telling you whether it was a bad beat.

On FTP, I bravely made it to the 25-50 level. At that point, a player opened for 225 with 5 players behind him. I had a total of 3,110 to start the hand, he had me slightly covered, and I had an awkward decision in the big blind with AQo after everyone folded to me. I didn't want to reraise to 750 and then fold getting a good price, but I didn't want to just shove all-in for 3,110 to win 300 either. I decided to call. The flop came J54 with two diamonds. I checked and my opponent bet 225. I decided he was weak and raised to 825. He called. The turn came an offsuit 9, and at that point I was ready to check and fold. My opponent, surprisingly, checked behind me. The river came an offsuit king. I thought this was a great card, as I had my opponent on a middle pair or possibly a jack or flush draw (that was less likely, because I had the Ad in my hand), and I didn't think he'd call with any of those hands. I moved in for 2,060 into the 2,125 pot. The dude had the old Kd7d and called after a few seconds, ending my tournament in a hurry.

We'll have to get 'em next time!

When you play for first...

2008-02-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

...sometimes you finish second.

Longer post to follow, eventually.

Australia: Out in 67th Place

2008-01-18T00:46:00.000-05:00

I reraised all-in on the second hand today with 75s, got called by AQ, and flopped the nuts. That got me started, and I had it all the way up to 260k at one point. Alas, once we hit the money I went 0-for-3 in showdowns. Granted, I had the worst hand every time, but I was about a 3-2 favorite to win at least one of them. Had I won any of the three, I would've been in pretty good shape once again. Oh well, that's how it goes. I was pretty lucky to cash at all given where I started the day.

Overall, this was a pretty fun trip for me, and the poker even was somewhat exciting. That said, I probably won't play any other main events until Foxwoods, unless I try to win some other seat somewhere.

Good luck to my friends Peter Feldman and Kenny Shei, both still in the tournament at the time of my bustout.

Australia Day Two

2008-01-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

The chip count today went something like this: 53k, 80k, 112k, 90k, 179k, 154k, 124k, 157k, 70k, 59k. And I'm at 59k now. The big dropoff was when I took a set against a flush draw and lost a 166k pot. If I win that one I have 230-240k and I'm in great shape. Instead I've got 20 blinds and have to hope a few things break my way. Frustrating for sure, but I'm going to give it my best shot. There are 97 players left and 80 get paid. If I'm still short when it gets down to 84 or 85, surviving to the money will become a legitimate consideration. But for now, I'm going to play my usual 20-blind game.

I'm too tired for hands tonight, but here are the results from yesterday.

1) Me: AA, Opp: Ac6c (flush)
2) Me: 4d3d, Opp: AcQc (flush draw, he didn't get there)
3) Me: QQ, Opp: bluff (he didn't show)