Sunday, June 22, 2008

Tournament win $5.50 2 table sng

I took down a $5.50 2 table sng for the first time. I've been feeling pretty good about this tournament since I returned to it. Today I had some luck and some reads and picked up my first win. I haven't won an sng in a while and I must say this is a good feeling.

I'm not going to post the entire hand history because nobody wants to read all that. I will post the more interesting and important hands along the way.


Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: 2,045
MP1: 1,355
Hero (MP2): 1,520
CO: 1,470
BTN: 750
SB: 2,685
BB: 2,115
UTG: 1,560

Pre-Flop: (75) Th Td dealt to Hero (MP2)
3 folds, Hero raises to 150, 2 folds, SB calls 125, BB calls 100

Flop: (450) Ac 4d Ad (3 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 300, 2 folds

Results: 450 Pot
Hero mucked Th Td and WON 450 (+300 NET)

In this hand both SB and BB were loose players. I cbet the flop since 3 way I could represent an Ace defending against the flush draw. With 2 Aces on board it was less likely they had an Ace. Plus if I had the best hand I could chase them away since I don't want to see a J-K on the turn.

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

CO: 1,820
BTN: 1,280
Hero (SB): 1,770
BB: 1,995
UTG: 2,285
UTG+1: 2,865
MP: 1,485

Pre-Flop: (75) 4s Ks dealt to Hero (SB)
5 folds, Hero raises to 150, BB calls 100

Flop: (300) 9s 3s 7c (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets 150, Hero raises to 400, BB folds

Results: 600 Pot
Hero mucked 4s Ks and WON 600 (+300 NET)

In this hand I made a bit of postflop play which I don't do a lot. I tend to play ABC poker which works well against this competition and I'm not very good postflop.

BB is loose and bad. I had a read that he will bet at the flop pretty much 100% of the time when checked to. I could have cbet the flop but if he had raised or floated me then I would have had a hard time staying in the hand. When he took a stab at the flop I check raised as a semi bluff. If he had nothing and was taking a stab then he might fold. If he called I had the disguised flush draw. As it happens he probably had nothing and he folded.

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

SB: 1,720
BB: 1,080
Hero (UTG): 2,070
UTG+1: 1,395
MP: 2,985
CO: 2,715
BTN: 1,535

Pre-Flop: (150) Qs As dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 300, 4 folds, SB calls 250, BB folds

Flop: (700) 8d Qd 3d (2 Players)
SB bets 300, Hero raises to 1,770 and is All-In, SB calls 1,120 and is All-In

Turn: (3,540) Ad (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: (3,540) Jh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 3,540 Pot
SB showed 2h 2s (a pair of Deuces) and LOST (-1,720 NET)
Hero showed Qs As (two pair, Aces and Queens) and WON 3,540 (+1,820 NET)

This was the first really big hand I won. These can be difficult spots. Here I flop top pair heads up on a monotone flop. His bet was weak and looked like a semi bluff on a flush draw. I decided to move in to try to defend. A flush draw was more likely than a flopped flush. If he flopped a set then he's getting paid off. I thought it was a bad call by him to play for stacks hoping I had AK or AJ and a flush draw. He should have folded to the flop raise. I guess that's why this level can be profitable, people making bad plays and losing their stack.

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

UTG: 630
Hero (MP): 4,190
CO: 1,345
BTN: 1,585
SB: 4,065
BB: 1,685

Pre-Flop: (150) Qs Ks dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG calls 100, Hero raises to 400, 2 folds, SB calls 350, 2 folds

Flop: (1,000) Qd 7d 9c (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 600, SB raises to 3,665 and is All-In, Hero calls 3,065

Turn: (8,330) Kh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: (8,330) 3c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 8,330 Pot
Hero showed Qs Ks (two pair, Kings and Queens) and WON 8,330 (+4,265 NET)
SB showed 4h 4d (a pair of Fours) and LOST (-4,065 NET)

This hand was a bit tricky for me. The limper was bad, weak tight. I hoped to take it preflop or get the limper all in preflop as KQs likes to see all 5 cards. Instead the limper folded and sb called.

On the flop I generally don't like playing for stacks with just top pair. But I had a read on SB that he was a donk who could make plays without a real hand. On the 3rd hand of the tournament he had shoved Q9s in middle position over a huge donk preflop raise and he beat AT on the river.

On the flop my bet was a bit weak which might have shown weakness and encouraged him to make a move. I felt against this opponent top pair was good enough to get it in on the flop. It turned out well for me he was drawing very slim.

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

UTG: 3,405
Hero (CO): 7,955
BTN: 10,915
SB: 1,640
BB: 3,085

Pre-Flop: (300) Kd Td dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 600, 2 folds, BB calls 400

Flop: (1,300) 6c Ks 8c (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 700, BB calls 700

Turn: (2,700) Ts (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 2,000, BB calls 1,785 and is All-In

River: (6,270) 5s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 6,270 Pot
Hero showed Kd Td (two pair, Kings and Tens) and WON 6,270 (+3,185 NET)
BB showed Tc As (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-3,085 NET)

This was another big hand that the opponent misplayed. Preflop I have KTs in the CO and raises had taken down a number of pots preflop.

I don't know what he was doing preflop, it seems marginal. If he had shoved preflop I would have had to fold.

On the flop he missed and his best move was to just fold. For some unknown reason he calls.

On the turn he improves but not by much. I suppose he should call because so much of his stack is in and he did improve. But he was drawing slim and got stacked. Again bad play by opponents is profitable for me.

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

SB: 2,805
Hero (BB): 10,540
UTG: 10,315
BTN: 3,340

Pre-Flop: (300) Jd 2h dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN calls 200, SB folds, Hero checks

Flop: (500) Jh 2s 7c (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 400, Hero raises to 1,200, BTN raises to 3,140 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,940

Turn: (6,780) 4s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: (6,780) Ad (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 6,780 Pot
Hero showed Jd 2h (two pair, Jacks and Deuces) and WON 6,780 (+3,440 NET)
BTN showed 6d 6s (a pair of Sixes) and LOST (-3,340 NET)

I don't know what villain was doing on the flop. It was drawless so I couldn't be semi bluffing. I either had to be way ahead of him or on a bluff. Maybe the checkraise was unexpected and caused him to lose his cool and tilt for a moment. In any case it was a bad hand for him to go bust on.

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It was a strangely fast moving tournament for a $5.50 2 table and we were in the money before the break. No painful and protracted bubble for once. So stacks were a playable at heads up, which is a bit unusual. I noticed the opponent would open fold his small blind so I suspected he was a bit weak. I'm not a strong heads up player myself so any edge I could find I would hope to use. These are some of the more interesting heads up hands. I'm not sure if I played them very well or not.

Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

BB: 13,220
Hero (SB): 13,780

Pre-Flop: (350) 6s Ts dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero calls 100, BB raises to 400, Hero calls 200

Flop: (850) 6d Qc Ks (2 Players)
BB bets 200, Hero calls 200

Turn: (1,250) 5d (2 Players)
BB bets 400, Hero raises to 1,000, BB folds

Results: 2,050 Pot
Hero mucked 6s Ts and WON 2,050 (+1,025 NET)

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

SB: 14,395
Hero (BB): 12,605

Pre-Flop: (350) 5s 6d dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to 600, Hero calls 400

Flop: (1,250) 4h 5h 8c (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets 600, Hero raises to 11,980 and is All-In, SB folds

Results: 2,450 Pot
Hero mucked 5s 6d and WON 2,450 (+1,225 NET)

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

SB: 12,070
Hero (BB): 14,930

Pre-Flop: (350) 6c 4h dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to 600, Hero calls 400

Flop: (1,250) 6h 3s Kd (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB bets 400, Hero raises to 1,200, SB calls 800

Turn: (3,650) 8d (2 Players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: (3,650) 8h (2 Players)
Hero bets 2,000, SB folds

Results: 3,650 Pot
Hero mucked 6c 4h and WON 3,650 (+1,825 NET)

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

BB: 9,495
Hero (SB): 17,505

Pre-Flop: (350) As Jh dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to 550, BB calls 350

Flop: (1,150) 6d 9h 4d (2 Players)
BB bets 400, Hero calls 400

Turn: (1,950) 5s (2 Players)
BB bets 400, Hero calls 400

River: (2,750) 3s (2 Players)
BB bets 1,000, Hero folds

Results: 2,750 Pot
BB mucked and WON 2,750 (+1,375 NET)

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Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

BB: 10,745
Hero (SB): 16,255

Pre-Flop: (350) 7h 8h dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to 500, BB raises to 1,000, Hero calls 500

Flop: (2,050) Qd 6s 9s (2 Players)
BB bets 1,000, Hero raises to 15,230 and is All-In, BB calls 8,720 and is All-In

Turn: (21,490) 4c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: (21,490) Th (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 21,490 Pot
BB showed Tc Td (three of a kind, Tens) and LOST (-10,745 NET)
Hero showed 7h 8h (a straight, Six to Ten) and WON 21,490 (+10,745 NET)


The last hand I think was pretty bad by me. Preflop raises were not taking down pots so I should have just limped. After the 3bet I knew he was strong. On the flop he is likely to have connected with his 3bet range so I may not have had enough fold equity for the move I made, especially since I had used this move earlier on the flop and he had folded. On the river I hit my 6 outer and that's that I guess. I think that was the only really big hand I played where my money went in as an underdog. So that's not too bad I guess.


So that's that. I haven't won tournament in a while. I'd been in kind of a blah stretch. Hopefully this will help me to break out and I can get my bankroll out of neutral and increasing again.

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