I have my best ever result in a big free roll tournament online.
The first two hours of the free roll I have playing a cautious game just like normal. At one point I have only about 9 big blinds left. I have to move all in with my two hearts versus my rival’s small pair; a fifth heart on the river saves me.
The my luck starts to change at the two hour mark. Among the 7283 entries, only about 600 left.
I have a few opportunities to all in against my rivals and fortunately my biggest hands have held up. I climb to about 150,000 chips in total, and when I win a crucial encounter with another player with 170,000 chips, I have double up and suddenly I find that I am in the lead of the tournament with only 200 players left.
For about 30 minutes, the situation remains the same. I am quite surprised that there is no dominant player in the tournament and my stack ranks among the top few for the large part of the tournament. It is the first time ever I make the break at the three hour mark; I am lying in 7th among 70 players.
I have no good cards after the break and I slip to about 12th position with about 30 players left. I have very excited about the possibility of playing in the final table.
I have 7-9 with big blind when there is only one caller which allows me to see the flop. The flop is Q-9-7, an almost perfect flop for me. My rival reraises me and I move all in. He calls and shows Q-9; top pair and a good kicker, I do not blame him for calling me.
If I double up, I will have almost one million in chips and grab the lead once again.
The most unfortunate thing happens. A queen on the turn. I am crippled. My dream is over.
About one round later, I am forced to move all in with my pair of sevens; luck is not with me again when my rival shows a pair of kings. A very nice looking flop of 8-6-5 gives me some hope, but no help from the turn and river. I finished 19th out of more than 7000 players.
One day, I will win one of these tournaments, I promise.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I start playing online poker tonight with the idea of playing aggressively and see the result.
I play for about 30 minutes and I am down a bit; I am playing aggressively and betting out, and the other players are noticing this and many of them are playing more passively allowing me to bet out. I am waiting for the chance to take advantage of this.
Then in one hand, I have a pair of deuces. I bet out and two players called. The flop is a harmless looking 2-4-7; perfect flop for me. I bet out, one player folds and the other player reraise me. I move all and he calls quickly. He has a pair of queens. I think I am the best poker player in the world.
Until the queen comes at the turn.
You cannot win all the time. I get some more chips and I continue play. I now I will get my chips back.
I maintain my aggressive style and play a little longer. I am gradually losing some chips but I know I am setting my rivals up for the perfect play. And the play comes no too long down the road.
A player reraises my pair of aces preflop. I think he either has a pair of kings or queens or maybe ace-king. I reraise him but by just a little bit, pretending I am showing some weakness there. He thinks for a very long while and he goes all in. Of course I call instantly. He shows a pair of kings, exactly what I think he has. I am an over 80% favourite in this showdown.
A king on the flop, no ace at all. Incredible.
Poker is gambling after all, besides poker skills it helps if you have lots of luck.
I play for about 30 minutes and I am down a bit; I am playing aggressively and betting out, and the other players are noticing this and many of them are playing more passively allowing me to bet out. I am waiting for the chance to take advantage of this.
Then in one hand, I have a pair of deuces. I bet out and two players called. The flop is a harmless looking 2-4-7; perfect flop for me. I bet out, one player folds and the other player reraise me. I move all and he calls quickly. He has a pair of queens. I think I am the best poker player in the world.
Until the queen comes at the turn.
You cannot win all the time. I get some more chips and I continue play. I now I will get my chips back.
I maintain my aggressive style and play a little longer. I am gradually losing some chips but I know I am setting my rivals up for the perfect play. And the play comes no too long down the road.
A player reraises my pair of aces preflop. I think he either has a pair of kings or queens or maybe ace-king. I reraise him but by just a little bit, pretending I am showing some weakness there. He thinks for a very long while and he goes all in. Of course I call instantly. He shows a pair of kings, exactly what I think he has. I am an over 80% favourite in this showdown.
A king on the flop, no ace at all. Incredible.
Poker is gambling after all, besides poker skills it helps if you have lots of luck.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I and my friend are discussing the differences between cash game and tournament playing. It is obvious that strategies for the two types of games are totally different. I am doing much better in cash game while Eric is doing better in tournament playing, and we are wondering why.
Eric spend a lot of time considering what is the optimum playing strategy in poker; he is a good player, he spends a lot of effects into ideas like pot odds and expectations on different poker plays. He has a set of rules and ideas on how to play each hand, what cards to play and what cards not to play. We think that this attributes to why he has more success in tournament play. In tournament playing, because of the huge number of entry and ever rising blinds, players are eventually forced to play a hand. Very often the decision is all in or nothing. Therefore the choice of hand to play is critical in successful tournament playing.
I spend a lot of time on the human side of poker; my poker theory is based on game theory. Humans react differently according to different situations, some players like to raise and bluff a lot, others play a very tight game and almost never bluff. They will react differently on poker tables, and I try to identify and play according to their different behavior. Sometimes it takes a long time to establish this reading, especially in tournament play when players enter and exit tables very frequently, which is making my job difficult.
We think this is like a science subject pit against a humanity subject; there is no who has a better strategy. Probably the best poker players need to be master of both subjects, but it is important for any poker player to identify and understand where in this spectrum one is.
Eric spend a lot of time considering what is the optimum playing strategy in poker; he is a good player, he spends a lot of effects into ideas like pot odds and expectations on different poker plays. He has a set of rules and ideas on how to play each hand, what cards to play and what cards not to play. We think that this attributes to why he has more success in tournament play. In tournament playing, because of the huge number of entry and ever rising blinds, players are eventually forced to play a hand. Very often the decision is all in or nothing. Therefore the choice of hand to play is critical in successful tournament playing.
I spend a lot of time on the human side of poker; my poker theory is based on game theory. Humans react differently according to different situations, some players like to raise and bluff a lot, others play a very tight game and almost never bluff. They will react differently on poker tables, and I try to identify and play according to their different behavior. Sometimes it takes a long time to establish this reading, especially in tournament play when players enter and exit tables very frequently, which is making my job difficult.
We think this is like a science subject pit against a humanity subject; there is no who has a better strategy. Probably the best poker players need to be master of both subjects, but it is important for any poker player to identify and understand where in this spectrum one is.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
I have the biggest success in my online tournament playing on canbet tonight; 151st among 6528 players.
Every night the website has one free roll tournament which is open to everyone that has an account; the other free roll tournaments are for players who have played on the website in the past 24 hours. Because it is free for everyone, every night about 7000 players will play in this free roll tournament, making it a very difficult game.
I know that I am better in cash games rather than tournament playing. The best poker players in the world all play in the big tournaments all over the world nowadays, and I think I need to sharpen up my tournament playing skills. So novice players like tournament playing than cash games; you cannot win consistently in high stakes cash games if you do not have the skills, but if you have a lot of luck sometimes you can go very far in a tournament. All experts say the main event at the World Series of Poker today is a lottery.
I am not sure if I will play in Las Vegas one day, but I want to do better in tournaments. The average player in general plays very poorly in tournaments, they rely very heavily on their luck to do well. Expert player plays tournaments very carefully and in a calculated manner, and I know I need to do well in this area.
Of course, the immediate reason for practicing tournament playing is the Asian Poker Tour and the APPT Macau in late August and September. I need to be there and I cannot wait to play in what is probably the biggest tournament event in Asia so far.
Every night the website has one free roll tournament which is open to everyone that has an account; the other free roll tournaments are for players who have played on the website in the past 24 hours. Because it is free for everyone, every night about 7000 players will play in this free roll tournament, making it a very difficult game.
I know that I am better in cash games rather than tournament playing. The best poker players in the world all play in the big tournaments all over the world nowadays, and I think I need to sharpen up my tournament playing skills. So novice players like tournament playing than cash games; you cannot win consistently in high stakes cash games if you do not have the skills, but if you have a lot of luck sometimes you can go very far in a tournament. All experts say the main event at the World Series of Poker today is a lottery.
I am not sure if I will play in Las Vegas one day, but I want to do better in tournaments. The average player in general plays very poorly in tournaments, they rely very heavily on their luck to do well. Expert player plays tournaments very carefully and in a calculated manner, and I know I need to do well in this area.
Of course, the immediate reason for practicing tournament playing is the Asian Poker Tour and the APPT Macau in late August and September. I need to be there and I cannot wait to play in what is probably the biggest tournament event in Asia so far.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
This hand happens at my table while I am playing at Macau. Imagine you are C, how would you feel? Would you have done something differently?
At the $10/20 table, two people calls the big blind including A. B then raises to $150, he has over $2000 in front of him. Two other players call the $150 before C. C holds a pair of fives, and he calls too. C has about $1200 in front of him.
Two players after C calls the $150 bet which makes the pot one of the biggest in the whole night already. A then does something no one expects: he raises to $300. A has about $500 in front of him.
B thinks for a long while then he pushes all in. The other players all fold to C; C folds his cards very reluctantly. The action folds to A who as expected calls the all in.
They open cards: A has a pair of aces, B has ace-jack of hearts.
The flop is K-Q-5; turn is a ten and the river is another ten. B has made his straight and A leaves the table without saying a thing. B wins a lot of money in one hand.
If C has called the all in bet, he would have won the hand with a full house. For the rest of the evening, the whole table has to listen to C complaining about how the hand is played out. C feels that A does not know how to play poker; if A has raised to $150 with his first bet instead of just calling $20 with his pair of aces, B would have just called his $150 just like everyone else, and of course C would be able to get into the hand with $150 and get his full house. Therefore, theoretically C would be the winner if A has not played his hand poorly.
Do you agree with C?
At the $10/20 table, two people calls the big blind including A. B then raises to $150, he has over $2000 in front of him. Two other players call the $150 before C. C holds a pair of fives, and he calls too. C has about $1200 in front of him.
Two players after C calls the $150 bet which makes the pot one of the biggest in the whole night already. A then does something no one expects: he raises to $300. A has about $500 in front of him.
B thinks for a long while then he pushes all in. The other players all fold to C; C folds his cards very reluctantly. The action folds to A who as expected calls the all in.
They open cards: A has a pair of aces, B has ace-jack of hearts.
The flop is K-Q-5; turn is a ten and the river is another ten. B has made his straight and A leaves the table without saying a thing. B wins a lot of money in one hand.
If C has called the all in bet, he would have won the hand with a full house. For the rest of the evening, the whole table has to listen to C complaining about how the hand is played out. C feels that A does not know how to play poker; if A has raised to $150 with his first bet instead of just calling $20 with his pair of aces, B would have just called his $150 just like everyone else, and of course C would be able to get into the hand with $150 and get his full house. Therefore, theoretically C would be the winner if A has not played his hand poorly.
Do you agree with C?
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
My friend Andy is in Macau today playing poker; using business as an excuse, I go to Macau to see him play there.
When I see Andy at Starworld, he has already visit the Grand Waldo poker room; he said there is no players there at all. The Starworld poker room’s business is better than I thought. Apparently there are two factors that I have missed previously: Starworld poker room has unlimited free drink including red wine and whiskey, and they use some pretty girls as service attendants to help the players to change chips.
I still do not like the Starworld poker room, it is too small and crowded. The tables are smaller than the usual size and there is not enough room for the players. After playing a while, I and Andy go to Grand Lisboa.
The Grand Lisboa poker room has made some changes too. They have moved all the tables from a part of the casino floor to a separate corner all by itself. I think it is a very good move, now the players do not have the other casino games playing besides them. They now have 11 tables in total, and they have changed all the tables to new ones with automatic card shuffling machines, speeding up the games tremendously. Now the players will not change their chips at the poker table; they will do all the money changing at the cashier window at the side. I think all the changes are good move.
I think there are less players at Grand Lisboa than before, probably some of them are now playing in the other poker rooms. It seems the battle between the three Macau poker rooms is heating up; all this could only be good news for poker player here.
When I see Andy at Starworld, he has already visit the Grand Waldo poker room; he said there is no players there at all. The Starworld poker room’s business is better than I thought. Apparently there are two factors that I have missed previously: Starworld poker room has unlimited free drink including red wine and whiskey, and they use some pretty girls as service attendants to help the players to change chips.
I still do not like the Starworld poker room, it is too small and crowded. The tables are smaller than the usual size and there is not enough room for the players. After playing a while, I and Andy go to Grand Lisboa.
The Grand Lisboa poker room has made some changes too. They have moved all the tables from a part of the casino floor to a separate corner all by itself. I think it is a very good move, now the players do not have the other casino games playing besides them. They now have 11 tables in total, and they have changed all the tables to new ones with automatic card shuffling machines, speeding up the games tremendously. Now the players will not change their chips at the poker table; they will do all the money changing at the cashier window at the side. I think all the changes are good move.
I think there are less players at Grand Lisboa than before, probably some of them are now playing in the other poker rooms. It seems the battle between the three Macau poker rooms is heating up; all this could only be good news for poker player here.
Monday, August 18, 2008
I decide to stay in Macau to play at Grand Waldo one more day before returning home. I lose to the same guy at the same table.
The local boy is actually quite a nice guy, he greet each other when I sit down again at the same table. It seems he is playing here every weekend, and he is a winning player. It has been quite a good day for me at the table actually, I win two big hands against other players, knocking one of them out. Everything is well until the dreadful against the local boy.
My cards are A-J of hearts. I raise to $100 and two players call including the local boy. I and the local boy are the high stacks at the table, I have about $3700 in front of me and the local boy probably has slightly more than me.
The flop has two hearts and a diamond, ten high.
The lady goes all in with her $340, I call her quickly. The local boy then bets $1000. He is putting pressure on me once again, reminds me on my hand yesterday.
I know he probably has something, maybe a pair. There is no straight draw, I put him on two pairs the best. Even if he has a set, if I make my flush draw he will be pretty much dead. Of course, I will still worry about him getting a full house.
I have make my decision, I want to win this hand, at least to force him to gamble with me. I move all in with my $3700. He takes a very long time to make his decision, and he moves all in too. Luck is still with him. There is no hearts on the turn and river, and he has make his full house.
I do not regret making my move. I have the nut flush draw, I know I only have about 30-40% chance to win, but I have done what I need to do at the poker table, and that is to gamble. If I have make a mistake, it is that I choose to play against the wrong player. Maybe I should have play against a weaker player.
It is time for me to go home, but I will return.
The local boy is actually quite a nice guy, he greet each other when I sit down again at the same table. It seems he is playing here every weekend, and he is a winning player. It has been quite a good day for me at the table actually, I win two big hands against other players, knocking one of them out. Everything is well until the dreadful against the local boy.
My cards are A-J of hearts. I raise to $100 and two players call including the local boy. I and the local boy are the high stacks at the table, I have about $3700 in front of me and the local boy probably has slightly more than me.
The flop has two hearts and a diamond, ten high.
The lady goes all in with her $340, I call her quickly. The local boy then bets $1000. He is putting pressure on me once again, reminds me on my hand yesterday.
I know he probably has something, maybe a pair. There is no straight draw, I put him on two pairs the best. Even if he has a set, if I make my flush draw he will be pretty much dead. Of course, I will still worry about him getting a full house.
I have make my decision, I want to win this hand, at least to force him to gamble with me. I move all in with my $3700. He takes a very long time to make his decision, and he moves all in too. Luck is still with him. There is no hearts on the turn and river, and he has make his full house.
I do not regret making my move. I have the nut flush draw, I know I only have about 30-40% chance to win, but I have done what I need to do at the poker table, and that is to gamble. If I have make a mistake, it is that I choose to play against the wrong player. Maybe I should have play against a weaker player.
It is time for me to go home, but I will return.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A losing day at Grand Waldo poker room, no luck at all.
I hold K-3 of clubs. There is a strong local player at the table which is killing everyone, two players have busted out because of him already. He is playing aggressively and he is getting good cards. He raises to $50, the player in front of me checks, and I check to it too.
The flop is all clubs, Jack high. I have make the flush draw I need.
The local guy checks, the player in front of me bets $100. I think for a while, and I bet $200, I think if one of them has the Ace of clubs, I will be reraised.
The local boy reraises to $500, and the player in front of me moves all in very quickly. Now there is a big problem for me.
I think one of them has the Ace of clubs, very big possibility but I am not sure who. I think it is highly unlikely all three of us have two clubs in our hand. It is possible but the chance is just too remote. I don’t think the player in front of me has two clubs, he has been playing wildly and he could have anything. Maybe he has two pairs or a set.
I think the local boy probably has the Ace of clubs, I need to decide whether his other card is also a club. Maybe he is reraise to force me to gamble. I think for a very long while, and I move all in, knowing that the local boy will call me because I only have $500 left in front of me. I am praying that there will be no clubs on the turn and the river.
The turn is the nine of clubs. I know I am dead.
The local boy asked me, ‘You have two clubs?’ He turns over his clubs of Ace and ten. I am behind him all the way.
I do not think I have made the wrong move. I could only lose to one card, and this is my chance to knock the best player out. I have very good cards but his cards are even nicer. Sometimes there are situations in poker that you just have to go bust. The odds and chance is that I will be better off if I go all in here, I would have win most of the hands.
Today is just not my day.
I hold K-3 of clubs. There is a strong local player at the table which is killing everyone, two players have busted out because of him already. He is playing aggressively and he is getting good cards. He raises to $50, the player in front of me checks, and I check to it too.
The flop is all clubs, Jack high. I have make the flush draw I need.
The local guy checks, the player in front of me bets $100. I think for a while, and I bet $200, I think if one of them has the Ace of clubs, I will be reraised.
The local boy reraises to $500, and the player in front of me moves all in very quickly. Now there is a big problem for me.
I think one of them has the Ace of clubs, very big possibility but I am not sure who. I think it is highly unlikely all three of us have two clubs in our hand. It is possible but the chance is just too remote. I don’t think the player in front of me has two clubs, he has been playing wildly and he could have anything. Maybe he has two pairs or a set.
I think the local boy probably has the Ace of clubs, I need to decide whether his other card is also a club. Maybe he is reraise to force me to gamble. I think for a very long while, and I move all in, knowing that the local boy will call me because I only have $500 left in front of me. I am praying that there will be no clubs on the turn and the river.
The turn is the nine of clubs. I know I am dead.
The local boy asked me, ‘You have two clubs?’ He turns over his clubs of Ace and ten. I am behind him all the way.
I do not think I have made the wrong move. I could only lose to one card, and this is my chance to knock the best player out. I have very good cards but his cards are even nicer. Sometimes there are situations in poker that you just have to go bust. The odds and chance is that I will be better off if I go all in here, I would have win most of the hands.
Today is just not my day.
Macau has opened a third poker room at Starworld casino. This is good news for poker players here.
I find a chance to check it out today after my business trip. It took me a while to find it; there is not too much signage in the casino that shows the way to the room. It is separated from the main casino floor, situated by itself in a corner on the second floor. One will have to go through the casino floor to get to it.
There are about 7 or 8 tables. When I and my friends arrive, there is only one table playing 10/20 dollars. I find its positioning somewhere between the Grand Lisboa room and the Grand Waldo room. I do not like the Grand Lisboa room; the tables are among the casino games, and the staff is not professional enough. However, Grand Lisboa has the benefit of being the first in the market. On weekends, their tables are always full because most of the poker players in Macau started playing there.
Grand Waldo room, being organized and managed by Pokerstars, is the best I think. Very professional and well managed, it suffers from a poor location in Cotai. Starworld probably is better than Grand Waldo in this aspect. I do not find the starworld room professional enough. They use casino chips to play poker, which I found strange. When I arrive at the Grand Waldo room, there is always staff who will approach me who will proactively offer to help me to play the game I want. I and my friends stand at the Starworld room for 15 minutes watching the single table game there, and no staff ever approach us at all.
I think most of the poker players who do not want to travel to Cotai will continue to play at Grand Lisboa, while the high stakes player will play at Grand Waldo. The Starworld poker room will need to work harder to get better business. They are hosting the Asian Poker Tour event in late August which will probably help to get more new players.
I find a chance to check it out today after my business trip. It took me a while to find it; there is not too much signage in the casino that shows the way to the room. It is separated from the main casino floor, situated by itself in a corner on the second floor. One will have to go through the casino floor to get to it.
There are about 7 or 8 tables. When I and my friends arrive, there is only one table playing 10/20 dollars. I find its positioning somewhere between the Grand Lisboa room and the Grand Waldo room. I do not like the Grand Lisboa room; the tables are among the casino games, and the staff is not professional enough. However, Grand Lisboa has the benefit of being the first in the market. On weekends, their tables are always full because most of the poker players in Macau started playing there.
Grand Waldo room, being organized and managed by Pokerstars, is the best I think. Very professional and well managed, it suffers from a poor location in Cotai. Starworld probably is better than Grand Waldo in this aspect. I do not find the starworld room professional enough. They use casino chips to play poker, which I found strange. When I arrive at the Grand Waldo room, there is always staff who will approach me who will proactively offer to help me to play the game I want. I and my friends stand at the Starworld room for 15 minutes watching the single table game there, and no staff ever approach us at all.
I think most of the poker players who do not want to travel to Cotai will continue to play at Grand Lisboa, while the high stakes player will play at Grand Waldo. The Starworld poker room will need to work harder to get better business. They are hosting the Asian Poker Tour event in late August which will probably help to get more new players.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
My friends are starting to switch to canbet poker, the online poker site I have been using in the past month.
Eric has been playing for pokerstars for a while, and now he is changing to canbet. Sometimes poker can be quite boring if the players and the game is dragging on slowly. Eric feels that the canbet poker software is very quick and fast, and it seems that players on canbet is more beatable than some of the ultra tight players he finds on pokerstars. This is very consistent with my philosophy in poker: you do not need to be the best poker player on earth to win in poker, you just need to be better than the players on your table.
Andy has open an account with canbet also and tonight is the first time he plays on canbet. He likes the different colours on canbet: red for all in, orange for raising, yellow for folding, etc. It is very easy to recognize what each player is doing. Overall he feels the software on canbet is very good, much better than pokerstars. He thinks the two poker softwares are like two generations of poker, one is from the olden times and one is the modern one.
I think the two of them will continue to play on canbet. And of course I have a vested interest in doing so also. If we all play together on the same table, we know each other style and way to play the game, I think it will give us a slight advantage when we are playing against the other players on our table. Seems this will be fun.
Eric has been playing for pokerstars for a while, and now he is changing to canbet. Sometimes poker can be quite boring if the players and the game is dragging on slowly. Eric feels that the canbet poker software is very quick and fast, and it seems that players on canbet is more beatable than some of the ultra tight players he finds on pokerstars. This is very consistent with my philosophy in poker: you do not need to be the best poker player on earth to win in poker, you just need to be better than the players on your table.
Andy has open an account with canbet also and tonight is the first time he plays on canbet. He likes the different colours on canbet: red for all in, orange for raising, yellow for folding, etc. It is very easy to recognize what each player is doing. Overall he feels the software on canbet is very good, much better than pokerstars. He thinks the two poker softwares are like two generations of poker, one is from the olden times and one is the modern one.
I think the two of them will continue to play on canbet. And of course I have a vested interest in doing so also. If we all play together on the same table, we know each other style and way to play the game, I think it will give us a slight advantage when we are playing against the other players on our table. Seems this will be fun.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sometimes, the key to winning in poker has to do with the players at your table only, not the cards. You can win in poker without having good card.
On my first table tonight, the players are playing very tight. You can hardly see any players re-raising each other, and most of the pots are won without seeing the river card. I bet out very aggressively and managed to take many pots without having to showdown with any opponents. My result is good, I play to a point where I feel my opponents are a bit scared of playing against me. I feel good.
There are less players at my table so after playing for about an hour, I change to another table with eight players. Same game, same limits, but a big difference.
I try to play the same game as an hour ago, and I am crushed. These players never worry about your betting and raising, they are fearless. They can go all in their $1000 when there is only $40 in the pot. Sometimes, three or four players can go all in at the same time (and one of them will hold something like 7-10 offsuit or even worse). I cannot understand, but I lost my first $1000 very quickly.
I lost two buy ins and I need to change my game immediately. I play the patience game, going back to the basics, playing only hands that are potentially winning hands. And slowly but surely, I start to get my chips back. The reckless players will hand their chips over to me without me having to do too much. I almost get back everything I lost at this table; overall, it is still a winning day for me.
There is no one winning way to play poker; there are many. The winner can use the appropriate way to win the game at the appropriate time.
On my first table tonight, the players are playing very tight. You can hardly see any players re-raising each other, and most of the pots are won without seeing the river card. I bet out very aggressively and managed to take many pots without having to showdown with any opponents. My result is good, I play to a point where I feel my opponents are a bit scared of playing against me. I feel good.
There are less players at my table so after playing for about an hour, I change to another table with eight players. Same game, same limits, but a big difference.
I try to play the same game as an hour ago, and I am crushed. These players never worry about your betting and raising, they are fearless. They can go all in their $1000 when there is only $40 in the pot. Sometimes, three or four players can go all in at the same time (and one of them will hold something like 7-10 offsuit or even worse). I cannot understand, but I lost my first $1000 very quickly.
I lost two buy ins and I need to change my game immediately. I play the patience game, going back to the basics, playing only hands that are potentially winning hands. And slowly but surely, I start to get my chips back. The reckless players will hand their chips over to me without me having to do too much. I almost get back everything I lost at this table; overall, it is still a winning day for me.
There is no one winning way to play poker; there are many. The winner can use the appropriate way to win the game at the appropriate time.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Yesterday I wrote: Poker is about human, not cards. Today I play online to try to put the theory into practice.
I watch how other players play their card. I start a bit cautiously and use about 30 minutes to draw an image and a profile of the players playing at my table. It is not easy in the beginning, and players join and leave the tables, but gradually I can put them into different categories, and I base my decision on what type of player I feel they are.
I try to play more aggressive then I usually am. I think after playing for many weeks on Macau’s poker rooms, I am becoming a more aggressive player. Sometimes it is only a fine line between aggressive and wild, but I feel I now have more confidence to determine when to bet aggressive and try to take the pot. The learning comes mainly from watching how other players play; it is very obvious that the chips on the table seem to flow continuous to players who can play aggressively. I have increases the number of times I raise and fold, and I seldom call.
I watch my position very carefully. Position plays a key role in determining what to do. With position, I can often do many things and take the pot. I need to be very careful when I am out of position. For a long period of time today, I always play when I am in position, and I think I do well there.
I start my online game with $1000, and after almost three hours, I leave my table with almost $4000. This is very good. I am starting to feel that I am a better player.
I watch how other players play their card. I start a bit cautiously and use about 30 minutes to draw an image and a profile of the players playing at my table. It is not easy in the beginning, and players join and leave the tables, but gradually I can put them into different categories, and I base my decision on what type of player I feel they are.
I try to play more aggressive then I usually am. I think after playing for many weeks on Macau’s poker rooms, I am becoming a more aggressive player. Sometimes it is only a fine line between aggressive and wild, but I feel I now have more confidence to determine when to bet aggressive and try to take the pot. The learning comes mainly from watching how other players play; it is very obvious that the chips on the table seem to flow continuous to players who can play aggressively. I have increases the number of times I raise and fold, and I seldom call.
I watch my position very carefully. Position plays a key role in determining what to do. With position, I can often do many things and take the pot. I need to be very careful when I am out of position. For a long period of time today, I always play when I am in position, and I think I do well there.
I start my online game with $1000, and after almost three hours, I leave my table with almost $4000. This is very good. I am starting to feel that I am a better player.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
My friend Mark cannot understand how and why he plays a hand at a home game.
I am sitting opposite to him and I can see everything that happens. After the flop, his opposition checks to him. His stack is about the size of the pot, and the flop is 9-J-Q. Mark is in the lead (which after discussing with him after the game I can confirm it is true) and he needs to bet big to prevent his opposition from attempting to get a straight draw.
Mark needs to push all in. I have known Mark a long time; being a good friend and a buddy in my poker game, he is and will go all in and force his opposition to fold. Mark picks up his chips and starts counting them. And then, to my dismay, he checks.
The turn is an eight. The rest is history, Mark’s rival gets the straight draw and win the pot.
Mark has been playing well but he cannot understand what happens there. He thinks it is something psychological, even before the flop he is mentally prepared to push all in but at the crucial moment he fails to do it. He has been playing well all night but that hand changes a lot; and surely enough, after that hand, his play declines and he suffers a lot of losing hands after that.
Things like these happen to all poker players. Maybe he would still win the hand even if he checks there but surely it hurts his confidence. We do not need to re-emphasize the importance of confidence in this game. With most of the hands ending before all the cards are revealed, poker has a lot to do with self confidence and courage.
Poker is about human, not cards.
I am sitting opposite to him and I can see everything that happens. After the flop, his opposition checks to him. His stack is about the size of the pot, and the flop is 9-J-Q. Mark is in the lead (which after discussing with him after the game I can confirm it is true) and he needs to bet big to prevent his opposition from attempting to get a straight draw.
Mark needs to push all in. I have known Mark a long time; being a good friend and a buddy in my poker game, he is and will go all in and force his opposition to fold. Mark picks up his chips and starts counting them. And then, to my dismay, he checks.
The turn is an eight. The rest is history, Mark’s rival gets the straight draw and win the pot.
Mark has been playing well but he cannot understand what happens there. He thinks it is something psychological, even before the flop he is mentally prepared to push all in but at the crucial moment he fails to do it. He has been playing well all night but that hand changes a lot; and surely enough, after that hand, his play declines and he suffers a lot of losing hands after that.
Things like these happen to all poker players. Maybe he would still win the hand even if he checks there but surely it hurts his confidence. We do not need to re-emphasize the importance of confidence in this game. With most of the hands ending before all the cards are revealed, poker has a lot to do with self confidence and courage.
Poker is about human, not cards.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
I am a losing poker player and I am wondering why.
I think I am doing well in tournament play, but I am wrong. I look at my record of playing in tournament, most of the time I do well, finishing in about top one third to one quarter of the field. This is not difficult if I play tight, but by the time I reach that phase, I am usually seriously short stacked that I virtually have no chance to win the tournament at all. The winners seem to be able to play much more aggressive than I do and they can consistently take my chips away. It is difficult for me to finish in the money.
My best game is in cash tables. This is where I can play a good solid game and be able to win some money. Sometimes this income is painfully hard and requires a lot of patience, but I am slowly realizing that this is how professional poker players make a living. If some people think that poker income is easy and exciting, they have watched too much poker TV. One basically needs to wait for your opponents to make a mistake to be able to get their chips.
The biggest problem comes when I am playing short handed. I lost my chips very quickly and I do not know why. I think I am not reading my rivals good enough, or maybe I simply have too little experience doing that. Most of the time I play 10 player tables, and I do not know what to do when there are only 2 or 3 of them. Short handed games on internet are played very quickly, a bit too quick for me. It seems I do not have the correct strategy to play in this situation. I need to find a solution quickly, otherwise it will be difficult for me to advance far in tournament play.
Which goes back to the basics: more studying and more practice.
I think I am doing well in tournament play, but I am wrong. I look at my record of playing in tournament, most of the time I do well, finishing in about top one third to one quarter of the field. This is not difficult if I play tight, but by the time I reach that phase, I am usually seriously short stacked that I virtually have no chance to win the tournament at all. The winners seem to be able to play much more aggressive than I do and they can consistently take my chips away. It is difficult for me to finish in the money.
My best game is in cash tables. This is where I can play a good solid game and be able to win some money. Sometimes this income is painfully hard and requires a lot of patience, but I am slowly realizing that this is how professional poker players make a living. If some people think that poker income is easy and exciting, they have watched too much poker TV. One basically needs to wait for your opponents to make a mistake to be able to get their chips.
The biggest problem comes when I am playing short handed. I lost my chips very quickly and I do not know why. I think I am not reading my rivals good enough, or maybe I simply have too little experience doing that. Most of the time I play 10 player tables, and I do not know what to do when there are only 2 or 3 of them. Short handed games on internet are played very quickly, a bit too quick for me. It seems I do not have the correct strategy to play in this situation. I need to find a solution quickly, otherwise it will be difficult for me to advance far in tournament play.
Which goes back to the basics: more studying and more practice.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
For the second day in a row I play well in a free roll tournament online.
I have discovered a very good reason to play on canbet poker. Their free roll tournament rule is such that: everyone starts with 1000 chips in the tournament, but if you have played in their poker room in the past 24 hours, you can get extra chips according to the number of raked hands you have played, up to a maximum of 3000 bonus chips. I therefore start my game with 4000 chips compared with many rivals of mine who have to start with much fewer chips than me.
To be honest, I do not play the game for the prize: if I need to defeat more than 7,700 players to win US$67, then I do not understand why I am doing this. I think the experience of playing such big tournaments online will give me valuable experience that will be very useful in the future. I am looking forward to playing other types of tournaments in the future.
Back to the game, my first hand in the tournament is QQ; someone pushed all in against me with his 99, and he becomes the first casualty in the whole tournament. I look at the tournament information board, for a very brief moment I am ranked #1 among 7760 players in terms of chip count. It is my moment of glory.
I win a few battles and towards the first break, I have about 19,000 chips, much better than average. I am contemplating when to make my next move. I lost a crucial head up with my two pairs versus a straight, and the distance between the chip leaders and me becomes very big.
With about 15,000 chips in my hand, I play my 4-5 versus the chip leader at my table who has over 75,000 chips. Flop is 5-6-8, and when a second 5 appears on the turn I know it is my time to push all in. The chip leader calls me and he has a flush draw. The dreaded fifth clubs falls on the river which ends my tournament life.
353th out of 7760 players, I am quite happy with how I play today. I know I need to play more often to get ready for the big tournaments in September.
I have discovered a very good reason to play on canbet poker. Their free roll tournament rule is such that: everyone starts with 1000 chips in the tournament, but if you have played in their poker room in the past 24 hours, you can get extra chips according to the number of raked hands you have played, up to a maximum of 3000 bonus chips. I therefore start my game with 4000 chips compared with many rivals of mine who have to start with much fewer chips than me.
To be honest, I do not play the game for the prize: if I need to defeat more than 7,700 players to win US$67, then I do not understand why I am doing this. I think the experience of playing such big tournaments online will give me valuable experience that will be very useful in the future. I am looking forward to playing other types of tournaments in the future.
Back to the game, my first hand in the tournament is QQ; someone pushed all in against me with his 99, and he becomes the first casualty in the whole tournament. I look at the tournament information board, for a very brief moment I am ranked #1 among 7760 players in terms of chip count. It is my moment of glory.
I win a few battles and towards the first break, I have about 19,000 chips, much better than average. I am contemplating when to make my next move. I lost a crucial head up with my two pairs versus a straight, and the distance between the chip leaders and me becomes very big.
With about 15,000 chips in my hand, I play my 4-5 versus the chip leader at my table who has over 75,000 chips. Flop is 5-6-8, and when a second 5 appears on the turn I know it is my time to push all in. The chip leader calls me and he has a flush draw. The dreaded fifth clubs falls on the river which ends my tournament life.
353th out of 7760 players, I am quite happy with how I play today. I know I need to play more often to get ready for the big tournaments in September.
I am playing in a freeroll tournament on canbet poker: an $500 freeroll tournament. 6508 entries, I cannot believe it.
I have never play in such a big tournament before; I mostly play cash games and live games at the casino poker rooms in Macau, but I was discussing with Andy yesterday and he suggested that it is a good experience to play in some online tournaments before trying our luck in the APPT Macau in September.
Cash games and tournament playing are very different. In cash games, patience is a big element; sometimes you are just not getting the good cards, and when some other players are in a hot streak, you just have to let them cool down first before taking them on. In tournament you cannot do that; the tournament is structured so that you are forced to play and gamble even with less than ideal cards.
Having said that, I do not think playing in tournaments are difficult, or I should say, it is not difficult to finish high up in a tournament. Within my very young tournament career, my experience says if you play tighter and just sit and wait, about half of the field will be eliminated in one way or the other before you. With decent playing tactics, it should be easy to finish in the top 25-30% of the field. However, winning a tournament will always be difficult and requires a lot of luck.
I am playing very well and maintaining myself around the top 200th place when I lost a major showdown: my AK cannot beat a pair of sevens. I am reduced to below average stack and from there on I am playing the survival game.
When there are only about 500 players left, I start to feel that maybe I have a chance to cash. Top 260 players can cash in the tournament. The blinds are increasing very quickly, and most of the short stack players are playing very tight, trying to cash if there is no chance to win. I got KQ and I decide that is my moment of truth. I push all in, and is called by a rival with A9. A nine on the flop kills my tournament life. I am out at 334th place.
Better luck next time.
I have never play in such a big tournament before; I mostly play cash games and live games at the casino poker rooms in Macau, but I was discussing with Andy yesterday and he suggested that it is a good experience to play in some online tournaments before trying our luck in the APPT Macau in September.
Cash games and tournament playing are very different. In cash games, patience is a big element; sometimes you are just not getting the good cards, and when some other players are in a hot streak, you just have to let them cool down first before taking them on. In tournament you cannot do that; the tournament is structured so that you are forced to play and gamble even with less than ideal cards.
Having said that, I do not think playing in tournaments are difficult, or I should say, it is not difficult to finish high up in a tournament. Within my very young tournament career, my experience says if you play tighter and just sit and wait, about half of the field will be eliminated in one way or the other before you. With decent playing tactics, it should be easy to finish in the top 25-30% of the field. However, winning a tournament will always be difficult and requires a lot of luck.
I am playing very well and maintaining myself around the top 200th place when I lost a major showdown: my AK cannot beat a pair of sevens. I am reduced to below average stack and from there on I am playing the survival game.
When there are only about 500 players left, I start to feel that maybe I have a chance to cash. Top 260 players can cash in the tournament. The blinds are increasing very quickly, and most of the short stack players are playing very tight, trying to cash if there is no chance to win. I got KQ and I decide that is my moment of truth. I push all in, and is called by a rival with A9. A nine on the flop kills my tournament life. I am out at 334th place.
Better luck next time.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Mr. X raises to $100. Mr. X is the chip leader at the table. He is playing a bit cautiously but luck is turning his way and he has win a few nice hands in the last hour. He has something nice in his hands I believe.
Mr. Y calls. Mr. Y is the chip leader at one point with over $6000. He lost two big hands to me, an AJ vs my AA, and an AK vs my JJ. I feel he is not that happy with his luck there, I feel he is playing on tilt. He could have anything, but I suspect he does not have a pair, maybe only a small pair. If he got a middle pair or above, I feel he will raise to $250 or $300. I put him on just one ace.
I got pair eights. I think for a very very long time. I hope that Mr. Y has a small pair so I have him cover, but I think it is likely he has an ace. Mr. X has a nice hand but it could be anything. If he has a big pair I am in serious trouble. I am not quite sure if my eights can beat both of them. After a very long while, I call. I have some chips in my hand and I am the last to act among them, everyone else folds. I am really hoping to see a third eight on the flop to win.
The flop is A-8-7 no flush draw. Oh my god this is almost a perfect flop for me. The eight is very good but the ace conceals my hand too.
Mr. X bets $300 very quickly. I don’t think he has pair sevens. I am sure he has an ace, maybe pair aces. Of course I am worrying that but does Mr. Y has an ace too?
Mr. Y raises to $650 pretty quickly too. OK he is not on a small pair. If he has sevens then it is perfect for me but I don’t think so. Maybe he has pair aces then? I don’t know but that will mean all four aces are in play, what is the chance of that? My trip eights is looking good. I thought about reraising to check out any pair aces out there, but I change my mind. I call. We are the three players with the most chips on the table. Oh no there will be a lot of chips in this pot for sure.
The turn is another eight. Wonderful; I try my very best to hide my emotions.
Mr. X bets $300 again. I am not hoping that he has pair aces but I don’t think so. It seems he is a bit concern about the pair eights on the table.
Mr. Y think for two seconds then go all in for his $1120. If he has pair aces it will be a dream come true for me. I count my chips and call. I have $530 left, and Mr. X has more than me.
Mr. X thinks for a very long while. I am very sure I am winning this hand, and I am praying that he will call. I am worried that my quick call there has scared him off, but I am too excited. Mr. Y is dead for sure but this is probably the only chance I have to win a very big pot.
The good news arrives; Mr. X calls. I am now thinking how to reveal my cards to make my victory looks nice.
Nothing on the river, he checks, I all in my $530 and Mr. X has committed too much money and is forced to call. He reveals AK. Mr. Y has AQ. I win over $5000 in one hand. This is one of my biggest victory in my short amateur poker player career.
My only mistake is: next time I should have a camera ready when playing poker.
Mr. Y calls. Mr. Y is the chip leader at one point with over $6000. He lost two big hands to me, an AJ vs my AA, and an AK vs my JJ. I feel he is not that happy with his luck there, I feel he is playing on tilt. He could have anything, but I suspect he does not have a pair, maybe only a small pair. If he got a middle pair or above, I feel he will raise to $250 or $300. I put him on just one ace.
I got pair eights. I think for a very very long time. I hope that Mr. Y has a small pair so I have him cover, but I think it is likely he has an ace. Mr. X has a nice hand but it could be anything. If he has a big pair I am in serious trouble. I am not quite sure if my eights can beat both of them. After a very long while, I call. I have some chips in my hand and I am the last to act among them, everyone else folds. I am really hoping to see a third eight on the flop to win.
The flop is A-8-7 no flush draw. Oh my god this is almost a perfect flop for me. The eight is very good but the ace conceals my hand too.
Mr. X bets $300 very quickly. I don’t think he has pair sevens. I am sure he has an ace, maybe pair aces. Of course I am worrying that but does Mr. Y has an ace too?
Mr. Y raises to $650 pretty quickly too. OK he is not on a small pair. If he has sevens then it is perfect for me but I don’t think so. Maybe he has pair aces then? I don’t know but that will mean all four aces are in play, what is the chance of that? My trip eights is looking good. I thought about reraising to check out any pair aces out there, but I change my mind. I call. We are the three players with the most chips on the table. Oh no there will be a lot of chips in this pot for sure.
The turn is another eight. Wonderful; I try my very best to hide my emotions.
Mr. X bets $300 again. I am not hoping that he has pair aces but I don’t think so. It seems he is a bit concern about the pair eights on the table.
Mr. Y think for two seconds then go all in for his $1120. If he has pair aces it will be a dream come true for me. I count my chips and call. I have $530 left, and Mr. X has more than me.
Mr. X thinks for a very long while. I am very sure I am winning this hand, and I am praying that he will call. I am worried that my quick call there has scared him off, but I am too excited. Mr. Y is dead for sure but this is probably the only chance I have to win a very big pot.
The good news arrives; Mr. X calls. I am now thinking how to reveal my cards to make my victory looks nice.
Nothing on the river, he checks, I all in my $530 and Mr. X has committed too much money and is forced to call. He reveals AK. Mr. Y has AQ. I win over $5000 in one hand. This is one of my biggest victory in my short amateur poker player career.
My only mistake is: next time I should have a camera ready when playing poker.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
There are a lot of crazy players in online poker. Sometimes you love them, sometimes you hate them.
I buy in at $1000 to play poker today. The first hand I am dealt pair jacks which I usually hate to play. I raise to $30, and the next player who join the table with me raises to $120 very quickly. I suspect he has a middle or big pair, but it is my first time playing with him, so after some consideration I call (everyone else folds).
The flop is K-K-J. Perfect flop for me.
I bet $90 hoping that he has a king. Very quickly he raises to $240. Alright, if he has pair kings I am dead but I do not think he will raise to $240 if he does. I move all in and he calls very quickly. He turns over king-three. Nothing on the turn and river; I have doubled up on my first hand. Well done.
On the very next hand I am dealt king-two of clubs. I limp in at $10, this same guy raises to $40. Everyone folds to me. Normally I do not play this hand but I feel he may be on tilt and playing crazily, and I have a chance to make a flush draw to kill this guy. I call.
The flop is A-K-2, no clubs. Is it another opportunity for me to make a killing?
I suspect he has ace-three or king-three or something like that. Probably one big pair. I bet $30 and see what he does. He thinks for a good long while before he raises to $200. He is probably worrying about what I have, but I do not feel he will suspect me having a two. I move all in again, and again he calls.
He turns over ace-king. Oh no. Nothing on the turn and river, and he has get back his $1000 from me within one single hand.
Maybe I should be a bit more cautious on this second hand, but overall I do fine. There are lots of players who will bet with one ace in his hand. This kind of roller coaster day is what poker is all about. I love poker.
I buy in at $1000 to play poker today. The first hand I am dealt pair jacks which I usually hate to play. I raise to $30, and the next player who join the table with me raises to $120 very quickly. I suspect he has a middle or big pair, but it is my first time playing with him, so after some consideration I call (everyone else folds).
The flop is K-K-J. Perfect flop for me.
I bet $90 hoping that he has a king. Very quickly he raises to $240. Alright, if he has pair kings I am dead but I do not think he will raise to $240 if he does. I move all in and he calls very quickly. He turns over king-three. Nothing on the turn and river; I have doubled up on my first hand. Well done.
On the very next hand I am dealt king-two of clubs. I limp in at $10, this same guy raises to $40. Everyone folds to me. Normally I do not play this hand but I feel he may be on tilt and playing crazily, and I have a chance to make a flush draw to kill this guy. I call.
The flop is A-K-2, no clubs. Is it another opportunity for me to make a killing?
I suspect he has ace-three or king-three or something like that. Probably one big pair. I bet $30 and see what he does. He thinks for a good long while before he raises to $200. He is probably worrying about what I have, but I do not feel he will suspect me having a two. I move all in again, and again he calls.
He turns over ace-king. Oh no. Nothing on the turn and river, and he has get back his $1000 from me within one single hand.
Maybe I should be a bit more cautious on this second hand, but overall I do fine. There are lots of players who will bet with one ace in his hand. This kind of roller coaster day is what poker is all about. I love poker.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
I am getting a lot of success on online poker games; I am starting to feel that in general online poker players are weaker than live games at casino poker rooms, and it is more profitable to play poker online at home rather than playing at Macau every week.
I play online for three hours today, and I find that I can accumulate chips just like a good player does, and I can demonstrate some of the poker skills that I learn in the last few months. Maybe I am just lucky to sit with a few weak players, but I can consistent gather chips from them. What a good feeling.
My moment of glory come later in the day when I have queen-jack suited, and they keep calling my raises. When the jack on the river landed my full house, I move all in, and as I predicted, my two rivals call. I win the three way all in and more than $5000 in profit. For the first time in history, I am actually ahead and making money with my online poker gaming account.
I do not know what they are thinking, maybe it just happens that they decide to play jack-ten or jack-nine and it is not their day, but if they do not even have top pair, why are they playing their hands and keep calling me? I read in a poker magazine some months ago that you do not need to be the best poker player in the world in order to be profitable in this game; you just have to be better than the players on your table.
Which is exactly what I do: I have added these players onto my buddies list. From now on every time I log on I will know where my buddies are playing. Maybe this is an easier way to the road of fortune rather than learning from my poker mistakes. That is what friends are for.
I play online for three hours today, and I find that I can accumulate chips just like a good player does, and I can demonstrate some of the poker skills that I learn in the last few months. Maybe I am just lucky to sit with a few weak players, but I can consistent gather chips from them. What a good feeling.
My moment of glory come later in the day when I have queen-jack suited, and they keep calling my raises. When the jack on the river landed my full house, I move all in, and as I predicted, my two rivals call. I win the three way all in and more than $5000 in profit. For the first time in history, I am actually ahead and making money with my online poker gaming account.
I do not know what they are thinking, maybe it just happens that they decide to play jack-ten or jack-nine and it is not their day, but if they do not even have top pair, why are they playing their hands and keep calling me? I read in a poker magazine some months ago that you do not need to be the best poker player in the world in order to be profitable in this game; you just have to be better than the players on your table.
Which is exactly what I do: I have added these players onto my buddies list. From now on every time I log on I will know where my buddies are playing. Maybe this is an easier way to the road of fortune rather than learning from my poker mistakes. That is what friends are for.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I play about two hours of cash game on canbet poker; about $1500 profit, not bad. I quite like playing on this website, I think the players on canbet are a bit weaker than the ones I played with on my previous operator.
I also play on my first freeroll tournament there; the money is small but I just want to try it once. It is a beginners’ freeroll tournament, by the time it starts there are I think about 650 players; I never think I will win it but I would like to see how players play here. In fact, the top prize of about $200 hardly justifies my effort of beating the other 649 players anyway.
Right on the first hand, a player has push all in with his ace-ten offsuit. Why would you want to do that? He has 50 big blinds in his hand! He is called by a pair of jacks, and with no ace coming out, he is the first casualty of the tournament. What a weak play. He has probably watched too much poker television.
I play solidly but I really never got some good hands to play with; I do not see the players being much better than I do and I expect myself to last quite some times. After two levels and about twenty five minutes into the tournament, my time is up. I have pair queens and someone raises to five big blinds; I push all I and he calls. Ace-king suited. An ace on the river ends my tournament life.
I know I am predominantly a cash game player and I think that is where I will spend most of my time in the coming weeks. I will check out if there are any satellite events for APPT Macau. I will probably play there anyway but if I can get some free entries into the tournament that will be a big plus.
I also play on my first freeroll tournament there; the money is small but I just want to try it once. It is a beginners’ freeroll tournament, by the time it starts there are I think about 650 players; I never think I will win it but I would like to see how players play here. In fact, the top prize of about $200 hardly justifies my effort of beating the other 649 players anyway.
Right on the first hand, a player has push all in with his ace-ten offsuit. Why would you want to do that? He has 50 big blinds in his hand! He is called by a pair of jacks, and with no ace coming out, he is the first casualty of the tournament. What a weak play. He has probably watched too much poker television.
I play solidly but I really never got some good hands to play with; I do not see the players being much better than I do and I expect myself to last quite some times. After two levels and about twenty five minutes into the tournament, my time is up. I have pair queens and someone raises to five big blinds; I push all I and he calls. Ace-king suited. An ace on the river ends my tournament life.
I know I am predominantly a cash game player and I think that is where I will spend most of my time in the coming weeks. I will check out if there are any satellite events for APPT Macau. I will probably play there anyway but if I can get some free entries into the tournament that will be a big plus.
Monday, July 28, 2008
My bad luck continues. Oh my god.
I am one of the 31 players sitting down at the $10,000 high roller Red Dragon event at Grand Waldo at Saturday. Not being an experienced live tournament player myself, this is so far the most expensive tournament I have played in. I decide to play a bit tighter, using more time to watch my rivals and read how they play before I make my next move. At least that should get myself playing a bit longer and get my money worth.
Not only me, but most of the players played much cautiously compared to the event the day before. Two hours gone by and still 20 players remaining. I am second last in stack size on my table, about the size of 9 big blinds. I got pair kings. The loose player on my table bet $500; I know I need to make my move to stay further in the competition, and I move all in. He thinks for about 30 seconds; I know he does not have pair aces. He calls.
He has queen jack offsuit. Good.
The flop is 6-5-4. Thank god I think I have doubled up. The guy stands up and prepare to put on his jacket and leave.
The turn is a 3. Wait, don’t tell me……..
The whole table erupts when the 2 landed. Split pot. The guy besides me pat on my shoulder. I am speechless.
The very next hand I got a pair again, this time pair eights. I bet $500 when the American quickly moves all in, I know I am in trouble. I have no idea whether he has a big pair, but I remember him playing some hands with only one ace, and I am hoping he gets an ace-king or ace-queen. I call.
He has pair sevens.
Nothing on the flop and the turn. You know what happens next. 7 on the river. My tournament has ended.
I shake hands with a few guys and I slowly walked away. I am feeling very bad, and I decide I do not want to play the cash games that night, nor am I interested in who will win the tournament, it is just not my day. There goes $10,000.
I need some sleep. There is always the next tournament.
I am one of the 31 players sitting down at the $10,000 high roller Red Dragon event at Grand Waldo at Saturday. Not being an experienced live tournament player myself, this is so far the most expensive tournament I have played in. I decide to play a bit tighter, using more time to watch my rivals and read how they play before I make my next move. At least that should get myself playing a bit longer and get my money worth.
Not only me, but most of the players played much cautiously compared to the event the day before. Two hours gone by and still 20 players remaining. I am second last in stack size on my table, about the size of 9 big blinds. I got pair kings. The loose player on my table bet $500; I know I need to make my move to stay further in the competition, and I move all in. He thinks for about 30 seconds; I know he does not have pair aces. He calls.
He has queen jack offsuit. Good.
The flop is 6-5-4. Thank god I think I have doubled up. The guy stands up and prepare to put on his jacket and leave.
The turn is a 3. Wait, don’t tell me……..
The whole table erupts when the 2 landed. Split pot. The guy besides me pat on my shoulder. I am speechless.
The very next hand I got a pair again, this time pair eights. I bet $500 when the American quickly moves all in, I know I am in trouble. I have no idea whether he has a big pair, but I remember him playing some hands with only one ace, and I am hoping he gets an ace-king or ace-queen. I call.
He has pair sevens.
Nothing on the flop and the turn. You know what happens next. 7 on the river. My tournament has ended.
I shake hands with a few guys and I slowly walked away. I am feeling very bad, and I decide I do not want to play the cash games that night, nor am I interested in who will win the tournament, it is just not my day. There goes $10,000.
I need some sleep. There is always the next tournament.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I arrive at the poker room at Grand Waldo 15 minutes late and miss the start of the Charity event which kicks off the Macau Cup event starting this weekend. I never want to play tonight anyway, I just want to watch the action.
A total of 59 players played in the event; well done to the organizer, this is pretty good result. Each player pays $2000 to enter the event, the top 2 players can each get $25,000 and gets a direct entry into the APPT Macau event in early September. Cash reward for all players down to the 35th player who will get $600. More than half of the players will get some home.
About one third of the players still remain after 3 hours of play, the final two players are not decided until four and a half hours into the event. At this moment the event has become something like a all-in festival. Most of the players are playing very tight and it is either fold or all in. I guess most players want to finish at least 5th which will get the player a hard earned $10,000 and an entry into the $10,000 Red Dragon event Saturday night.
The winner I think is a well deserved winner, among all the players who is playing this super tight tactic, he is the only one who seems to be consistently building his chip stack. By the time there are only five players left he has already half of the chips on the table. He has a very commanding lead against the players who are simply struggling to survive the ever rising blinds.
Most players are actually more than happy to play one of the many cash games available in the room. I am a bit tired after my travelling from China, but I will come back and hopefully will enjoy a good run in tomorrow’s tournament.
A total of 59 players played in the event; well done to the organizer, this is pretty good result. Each player pays $2000 to enter the event, the top 2 players can each get $25,000 and gets a direct entry into the APPT Macau event in early September. Cash reward for all players down to the 35th player who will get $600. More than half of the players will get some home.
About one third of the players still remain after 3 hours of play, the final two players are not decided until four and a half hours into the event. At this moment the event has become something like a all-in festival. Most of the players are playing very tight and it is either fold or all in. I guess most players want to finish at least 5th which will get the player a hard earned $10,000 and an entry into the $10,000 Red Dragon event Saturday night.
The winner I think is a well deserved winner, among all the players who is playing this super tight tactic, he is the only one who seems to be consistently building his chip stack. By the time there are only five players left he has already half of the chips on the table. He has a very commanding lead against the players who are simply struggling to survive the ever rising blinds.
Most players are actually more than happy to play one of the many cash games available in the room. I am a bit tired after my travelling from China, but I will come back and hopefully will enjoy a good run in tomorrow’s tournament.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I still have not received my funds from the poker operator I previously use; I am getting a bit impatient with this.
If I have the chance to speak to all the online poker and casino operators in the world, I will tell them that payment is the number one factor I will consider who I play with. This is so important for any players in China, I cannot emphasize it more. I think most of these operators, whether we are talking about online casinos, poker or even sports betting, they have more or less the same products. The poker operator I use now have I think exactly the same software that this previous operator use, but the service is what matters. We Chinese are already living in an environment with a lot of restrictions, I do not need more restrictions when I just want to get my money back.
I hate to need to call the operators to get my money back; I will only do that unless I am filing a complaint. Why do I have to? They process thousands of withdrawals everyday anyway, does everyone make a phone call to them to do that? If I need to call my bank to make a money withdrawal I will never use that bank ever again. All banking should be made online, this applies to my poker operator too.
Maybe all operators are like this in the world, if you deposit they take your money within 5 seconds, and when you make a withdrawal it will take forever. I will make a withdrawal from my current operator today just to test their efficiency. I think all operators should treat Chinese customers with respect; this is a country with massive potential in this market, and whoever gets their business will be doing very well. Let’s see who is up to this challenge.
If anyone have suggestions for me or have any good or bad experiences with any poker operators, I would love to hear their stories.
If I have the chance to speak to all the online poker and casino operators in the world, I will tell them that payment is the number one factor I will consider who I play with. This is so important for any players in China, I cannot emphasize it more. I think most of these operators, whether we are talking about online casinos, poker or even sports betting, they have more or less the same products. The poker operator I use now have I think exactly the same software that this previous operator use, but the service is what matters. We Chinese are already living in an environment with a lot of restrictions, I do not need more restrictions when I just want to get my money back.
I hate to need to call the operators to get my money back; I will only do that unless I am filing a complaint. Why do I have to? They process thousands of withdrawals everyday anyway, does everyone make a phone call to them to do that? If I need to call my bank to make a money withdrawal I will never use that bank ever again. All banking should be made online, this applies to my poker operator too.
Maybe all operators are like this in the world, if you deposit they take your money within 5 seconds, and when you make a withdrawal it will take forever. I will make a withdrawal from my current operator today just to test their efficiency. I think all operators should treat Chinese customers with respect; this is a country with massive potential in this market, and whoever gets their business will be doing very well. Let’s see who is up to this challenge.
If anyone have suggestions for me or have any good or bad experiences with any poker operators, I would love to hear their stories.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Poker chip is an important element in any home games; without proper chips, poker is no fun.
I still remember when I start playing this games, I had a few games in a friend’s home. Most of the players were beginners and novice players, and we did not have the proper equipments. We played on the dinner table with chips that were borrowed from two mahjong sets. First of all, the standard mahjong set of about 40 chips for each colour simply is not enough for a proper six player home game. In additional to that, the feel of playing with the traditional Chinese style mahjong set chips is simply way too different compared to what you get from poker chips. You know, poker players like to play with all sorts of things with poker chips. The way they stack them, they way they toss them into the pot, the sound that poker chips making when they hit the table, it is all part of the game. Without proper chips, the game is no fun.
Unfortunately, it is not that easy to find proper poker chips set in mainland China. Even though most of the poker chips in this world are already made in China, nearly all of them are shipped overseas.
Last week, I was asking my fellow players at my tables at Grand Lisboa where they get their poker chips. One Chinese guy told me about Ladies Street in Mongkok, Hong Kong having some decent ones, but I was told by another guy that those are low quality ones. It seems it is difficult to find top quality western style poker chips in this part of the world unless I order them from the internet. I can do that, but shipping cost is a problem. Poker chips are heavy, you know.
It is always a good idea to put poker chips at places where one most often play one’s home games. Do not try to carry poker chips around; it is hazardous to your health. Unless you need a serious workout.
I still remember when I start playing this games, I had a few games in a friend’s home. Most of the players were beginners and novice players, and we did not have the proper equipments. We played on the dinner table with chips that were borrowed from two mahjong sets. First of all, the standard mahjong set of about 40 chips for each colour simply is not enough for a proper six player home game. In additional to that, the feel of playing with the traditional Chinese style mahjong set chips is simply way too different compared to what you get from poker chips. You know, poker players like to play with all sorts of things with poker chips. The way they stack them, they way they toss them into the pot, the sound that poker chips making when they hit the table, it is all part of the game. Without proper chips, the game is no fun.
Unfortunately, it is not that easy to find proper poker chips set in mainland China. Even though most of the poker chips in this world are already made in China, nearly all of them are shipped overseas.
Last week, I was asking my fellow players at my tables at Grand Lisboa where they get their poker chips. One Chinese guy told me about Ladies Street in Mongkok, Hong Kong having some decent ones, but I was told by another guy that those are low quality ones. It seems it is difficult to find top quality western style poker chips in this part of the world unless I order them from the internet. I can do that, but shipping cost is a problem. Poker chips are heavy, you know.
It is always a good idea to put poker chips at places where one most often play one’s home games. Do not try to carry poker chips around; it is hazardous to your health. Unless you need a serious workout.
Monday, July 21, 2008
21 July 2008
Got an email from Mike this morning, he said he is going to play poker at Grand Waldo this coming Friday to Sunday. He emails me about the Macau Cup tournament at the pokerstars room.
Apart from the APPT tournament last year (the first of its kind ever in any part of China), this is one of the bigger tournaments in Macau. There are two satellite events for the APPT Macau tour stop this September. I really want to play there. And there is a $10,000 buy in high roller event this Saturday too.
Last year Mike went to the APPT tournament. There were about 250 players I was told, Mike got half of the entry fee money from his friends supporting him, and he paid up the rest himself. That is a lot of money for playing exactly six hands. Yes, six hands. He got pocket kings on the sixth hands, and too bad they come up against pocket aces.
Mike is not giving up easily I know. The prize money is at one million at this year’s APPT event and I know he wants a shot at it. He said he is watching youtube everyday. Well, I think too much Gus Hansen and Phil Hellmuth is actually hurting him. Sometimes you need to know how to play in tournaments, rather than on some poker TV shows.
Yes I want to play in September too. I know I am not the best poker player yet, but I feel I need the experience to help me go to the next level. I read poker magazines that said you really cannot start any sort of professional poker career unless you can some sort of sponsorship from one the websites company. Geez, don’t tell me I need to make the final table of the WSOP before I can get one of those. If I can get to the final table at WSOP, why the hell do I need a sponsorship anyway?
I still think the satellite events at Macau is my best chance. Maybe I need to go more often to play every Sunday. They are cheap and to be honest the players are not that good there. Only about 20-30 players, I think I can get to the final six to ten, then it depends on lady luck.
Hopefully one day she will smile on me.
Apart from the APPT tournament last year (the first of its kind ever in any part of China), this is one of the bigger tournaments in Macau. There are two satellite events for the APPT Macau tour stop this September. I really want to play there. And there is a $10,000 buy in high roller event this Saturday too.
Last year Mike went to the APPT tournament. There were about 250 players I was told, Mike got half of the entry fee money from his friends supporting him, and he paid up the rest himself. That is a lot of money for playing exactly six hands. Yes, six hands. He got pocket kings on the sixth hands, and too bad they come up against pocket aces.
Mike is not giving up easily I know. The prize money is at one million at this year’s APPT event and I know he wants a shot at it. He said he is watching youtube everyday. Well, I think too much Gus Hansen and Phil Hellmuth is actually hurting him. Sometimes you need to know how to play in tournaments, rather than on some poker TV shows.
Yes I want to play in September too. I know I am not the best poker player yet, but I feel I need the experience to help me go to the next level. I read poker magazines that said you really cannot start any sort of professional poker career unless you can some sort of sponsorship from one the websites company. Geez, don’t tell me I need to make the final table of the WSOP before I can get one of those. If I can get to the final table at WSOP, why the hell do I need a sponsorship anyway?
I still think the satellite events at Macau is my best chance. Maybe I need to go more often to play every Sunday. They are cheap and to be honest the players are not that good there. Only about 20-30 players, I think I can get to the final six to ten, then it depends on lady luck.
Hopefully one day she will smile on me.
19 July 2008
I hate poker rooms, maybe I should stick to online pokers in the future.
Maybe it is just not my day, I think I got 4 ace-king suited and I lost all four hands. The flops are simply not helping me the whole day, but I managed to beat the local boy’s jack pair with my 3-5 spades. Two spades on the flop and I shove it all in. He calls within two seconds and the spade I need shows up on the turn. Alright yeah.
On the very next hand I got ace-king of hearts. I need to double up here to have a winning day. Seat 3 raises to $60 and the lady opposite me pushes all in her $150. I think she wants to leave and have dinner with friends or something like that. The local boy calls again as expected; he is willing to call everything. I have about $1,000 and I push it all in.
He is murmuring to himself about ‘If I do not all in here, it will be a big mistake’. He is hesitating, so he does not have pocket kings or pocket aces, the only hands I fear. I do not mind going up a pair like QQ or even 99. Finally after about two minutes he calls.
The lady has J-10 offsuit.
The local boy has ace jack offsuit. Oh my god what is he thinking?
The first card on the flop is the ace; I like my position. Then comes the queen of spade, and I wonder where the hell are the low cards.
Then the third card is the dreaded jack.
Only two jacks left in the deck, how could this be? The local boy has two pairs, and the lady has an inside straight draw.
The turn and the river offer no help, and I need to join Mark early for drinks.
I do not mind bad beats but sometimes I hate the way Chinese people celebrates a lucky win. I do not even know if the local boy knows that he is a huge underdog here. That is another reason I like online poker. There are too many crazy guys like the local boys at Lisboa. Maybe I should play less in Macau and stick to canbet. At least I can offline anytime I want.
Or maybe I am simply a bad poker player.
Maybe it is just not my day, I think I got 4 ace-king suited and I lost all four hands. The flops are simply not helping me the whole day, but I managed to beat the local boy’s jack pair with my 3-5 spades. Two spades on the flop and I shove it all in. He calls within two seconds and the spade I need shows up on the turn. Alright yeah.
On the very next hand I got ace-king of hearts. I need to double up here to have a winning day. Seat 3 raises to $60 and the lady opposite me pushes all in her $150. I think she wants to leave and have dinner with friends or something like that. The local boy calls again as expected; he is willing to call everything. I have about $1,000 and I push it all in.
He is murmuring to himself about ‘If I do not all in here, it will be a big mistake’. He is hesitating, so he does not have pocket kings or pocket aces, the only hands I fear. I do not mind going up a pair like QQ or even 99. Finally after about two minutes he calls.
The lady has J-10 offsuit.
The local boy has ace jack offsuit. Oh my god what is he thinking?
The first card on the flop is the ace; I like my position. Then comes the queen of spade, and I wonder where the hell are the low cards.
Then the third card is the dreaded jack.
Only two jacks left in the deck, how could this be? The local boy has two pairs, and the lady has an inside straight draw.
The turn and the river offer no help, and I need to join Mark early for drinks.
I do not mind bad beats but sometimes I hate the way Chinese people celebrates a lucky win. I do not even know if the local boy knows that he is a huge underdog here. That is another reason I like online poker. There are too many crazy guys like the local boys at Lisboa. Maybe I should play less in Macau and stick to canbet. At least I can offline anytime I want.
Or maybe I am simply a bad poker player.
17 July 2008
Another horrible day playing online; I decide to change to canbetpoker and give it a try.
I know I only have myself to blame, but it seems the players playing online are getting better and better. There are players who are using software to give them an advantage while playing online; I have not tried any of those things but maybe I should give it a shot.
Last time when I finally win some money on poker, it takes me so long to actually get my money in my bank account. I am not happy with the way it is, but I know this is always a problem in this part of the world. I am not sure if banking is always a problem in China, maybe it is just my bank. Maybe I should switch to Bank of China instead.
I see ads on canbet poker on some live scores websites but Andy keep telling me about good things about them. I think Andy is right, sometimes playing on the ‘brand name’ poker sites is a liability because all the good players are playing on them already. Think about the money that some of the professionals get paid for to get them playing on these sites. Andy has been playing on canbet for a couple of weeks and he is doing well there.
I open my account today with canbet and very quickly the canbet guys give me confirmation emails. So far so good. I will probably withdraw some of my money next week to see if they are up to it. As I told Andy many times, for these overseas companies, withdrawal is the ultimate test on their reliability. I am not going to deposit a big sum of money with any overseas company unless I know I will get my money back.
I get an email from Mark, he is heading over to Macau this weekend to play poker at Grand Lisboa. This is good, I have a meeting there at lunchtime on Saturday, so I could play a bit there before heading back across the border. Maybe Mark will have a hotel room for me to crash in too.
I know I only have myself to blame, but it seems the players playing online are getting better and better. There are players who are using software to give them an advantage while playing online; I have not tried any of those things but maybe I should give it a shot.
Last time when I finally win some money on poker, it takes me so long to actually get my money in my bank account. I am not happy with the way it is, but I know this is always a problem in this part of the world. I am not sure if banking is always a problem in China, maybe it is just my bank. Maybe I should switch to Bank of China instead.
I see ads on canbet poker on some live scores websites but Andy keep telling me about good things about them. I think Andy is right, sometimes playing on the ‘brand name’ poker sites is a liability because all the good players are playing on them already. Think about the money that some of the professionals get paid for to get them playing on these sites. Andy has been playing on canbet for a couple of weeks and he is doing well there.
I open my account today with canbet and very quickly the canbet guys give me confirmation emails. So far so good. I will probably withdraw some of my money next week to see if they are up to it. As I told Andy many times, for these overseas companies, withdrawal is the ultimate test on their reliability. I am not going to deposit a big sum of money with any overseas company unless I know I will get my money back.
I get an email from Mark, he is heading over to Macau this weekend to play poker at Grand Lisboa. This is good, I have a meeting there at lunchtime on Saturday, so I could play a bit there before heading back across the border. Maybe Mark will have a hotel room for me to crash in too.
16 July 2008
I arrive at the poker room at Grand Waldo with high expectation; a poker room with 18 tables and professionally managed by Pokerstars should be something good. With poker becoming more and more popular at this part of the world, I think this is something Macau needs.
When I arrive there are two tables, one with $1,000 buy in and the other $2,000-4,000. The place was modeled after the poker rooms in the States and Europe, with players’ lounge and a bar area. A line of computers are at the corner for players who play on pokerstars online to register and check their account status. One does not need to be a pokerstars player to play there. I am greeted by Hil, the manager on duty that evening. He briefs me on the rules at the room. The room opens every day 7pm onwards, although players usually started after dinner around 9 or 10pm. On Fridays til Sundays it is 24 hours. There is a big screen showing the status of the tables: around 8 players playing at both tables, and 4 players have phone in beforehand to reserve a seat at a $10-50k table starting at midnight. I suspect these four players are from Hong Kong and know each other.
Hil manages to persuade me to play at the $4,000 table. I change my chips and play for about half an hour. Rake in is at 5%, I feel it is too much, but I understand that the room probably cannot come even close to break even with that rake in percentage. Without high stakes poker player playing at the room, the room will not be profitable anyway. I think this is just a marketing gimmick from Pokerstars. With Macau becoming an APPT tour stop, they have to have a presence here.
I got pocket Aces on just my third hand. I raise to $150, two callers, then a Korean on seat 7 raise to $600. He has about $6,000 in front of him, I had $3,500. It is just the third hand, I had no idea how he plays. I shove it all in.
He is muttering in Korean language, I have no idea what he is talking about. Probably he does not want me to understand anyway. He is hesitating, I think he either got big slick or JJ or something like that. Hil and the players start coming over to watch the action. After probably five minutes, the Korean turns over his pair queens and folded. Nice fold.
I win another $2,000 with pocket kings about half an hour later. The players are pretty tight and there is not much action. The $10-50k table opens up later and most of the players at my table head over; it is my first visit and I don’t want to play that late so I decide to call it the day. About $2,500 profit, not bad.
I think the players at Grand Waldo were better than the ones at Lisboa. At Lisboa there are too many players who simply refuse to play anything worse than pocket queens and they all in even if there are only $20 in the pot. I call that a lucky draw, not poker. Having said that, Grand Waldo is located at an absolutely horrible part of Cotai. I could imagine that if I leave the place at 3am, I will need to wait for more than an hour for a taxi to bring me back to my hotel.
People are telling me that they think in the future all the best poker games will be online; I agree.
When I arrive there are two tables, one with $1,000 buy in and the other $2,000-4,000. The place was modeled after the poker rooms in the States and Europe, with players’ lounge and a bar area. A line of computers are at the corner for players who play on pokerstars online to register and check their account status. One does not need to be a pokerstars player to play there. I am greeted by Hil, the manager on duty that evening. He briefs me on the rules at the room. The room opens every day 7pm onwards, although players usually started after dinner around 9 or 10pm. On Fridays til Sundays it is 24 hours. There is a big screen showing the status of the tables: around 8 players playing at both tables, and 4 players have phone in beforehand to reserve a seat at a $10-50k table starting at midnight. I suspect these four players are from Hong Kong and know each other.
Hil manages to persuade me to play at the $4,000 table. I change my chips and play for about half an hour. Rake in is at 5%, I feel it is too much, but I understand that the room probably cannot come even close to break even with that rake in percentage. Without high stakes poker player playing at the room, the room will not be profitable anyway. I think this is just a marketing gimmick from Pokerstars. With Macau becoming an APPT tour stop, they have to have a presence here.
I got pocket Aces on just my third hand. I raise to $150, two callers, then a Korean on seat 7 raise to $600. He has about $6,000 in front of him, I had $3,500. It is just the third hand, I had no idea how he plays. I shove it all in.
He is muttering in Korean language, I have no idea what he is talking about. Probably he does not want me to understand anyway. He is hesitating, I think he either got big slick or JJ or something like that. Hil and the players start coming over to watch the action. After probably five minutes, the Korean turns over his pair queens and folded. Nice fold.
I win another $2,000 with pocket kings about half an hour later. The players are pretty tight and there is not much action. The $10-50k table opens up later and most of the players at my table head over; it is my first visit and I don’t want to play that late so I decide to call it the day. About $2,500 profit, not bad.
I think the players at Grand Waldo were better than the ones at Lisboa. At Lisboa there are too many players who simply refuse to play anything worse than pocket queens and they all in even if there are only $20 in the pot. I call that a lucky draw, not poker. Having said that, Grand Waldo is located at an absolutely horrible part of Cotai. I could imagine that if I leave the place at 3am, I will need to wait for more than an hour for a taxi to bring me back to my hotel.
People are telling me that they think in the future all the best poker games will be online; I agree.
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