High On Poker

It comes with great joy that I bring you news of yet another sign that poker sites recognize the greatness that is the poker blogging community (and the hardwork of the One Man Party, AlCantHang). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Al is not just a man. He is a force of nature.

As bloggers, we all have our “thing.” Al’s “thing,” though, is his amazing energy. I don’t mean energy like some pompom weilding cheerleader, although that’s some fine energy too. I mean sort of a magnetic personality type thing. When you meet Al, it feels like you know the guy by the time the first shots are poured (3.8 seconds, to be exact). By the time the second shot is poured, you may realize that the library you were just in suddenly morphed into Spring Break. This guy just exudes a good time. It doesn’t hurt that his sweat is 98% Soco either.

What has Al done this time? Not only has he arranged a third Battle of the Blogger Tournaments, but he also got FullTilt to kick in the best prize package ever offered to bloggerdom:

• A leaderboard over the 55 tournaments will award cash prizes from $750 (first) to $350 (fifth) for the top five points leaders over the course of the tournaments. Players who palce sixth through twentieth will receive a FullTilt jersey.
• $2000 WSOP Bracelet package (to be used for preliminary events) for the top points earner for the three months of the BBThree, March, April and May.
• Two $12,000 WSOP ME packages to the winners of the Tournament of Champions, and two $2000 WSOP Bracelet packages for third and fourth place in the TOC. Entry to the TOC is provided to each winner of the 55 BBThree events.

Do the math, people! That’s over $35,000 in prizes. $35,000!!! I just wet myself. Really!

Things kick off this Sunday with the Big Game. Details for all of BBThree is available at AlCantHang’s site.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I think this is my second Dickensian reference in the last 10 days or so. I feel smart.

I played a little live poker yesterday. The game was hosted by Lee, a guy who works in the financial field and somehow knows Matty Ebs. A while ago, Ebs got me into the game, which I dubbed the Financial Game for the finance-heavy crowd. I made a few pesos the first time around, but couldn’t make the second invite. Instead, I sent my brother-in-law Marc, who also made a few dinar before we both agreed that this was a juicy game. Most of the players seemed to have money, and the action was fairly loose.

It was with great delight, then, that we met up after work yesterday for dinner before poker at the Financial Game. We opted for nearby Jackson Hole, a bar, like JG Melon, known for its burgers. The difference is that where JG Melon has a small menu of standards, Jackson Hole has a huge menu with a variety of options. Even so, we opted for cheddar cheeseburgers and shared orders of fries and onion rings. Jackson Hole burgers are huge. They are also incredibly juicy. A couple of weeks ago, I was working late on a Saturday and stopped there solo for some dinner. I sat at the counter, where I watched the line cooks grilling burgers. It’s an interesting system they have. Their burgers cook for a seemingly long time, which is probably necessary, given their girth. They are also covered at some point to keep the heat in. This is probably what cooks the burger through. Whatever the case, there must be more to it. My guess is that the meet is infused with some sort of liquid to keep it juicy. The grill is probably cooking at a low temperature to cook the meat without drying it out.

After gorging ourselves on burgers and beer, we began the long, cold walk crosstown, eventually opting for a roundabout subway trip, since we had time to kill. When we arrived, most players were already there, and the game started within 15 minutes. We each started with $200, playing $1/2 NLHE.

Within the first 5 hands, I was dealt A3s. I decided to play it for cheap, since the post-flop action can be great and we were shorthanded. These guys sometimes play any two cards, so the chance of coming against a stronger Ace, while still present, is not a foregone conclusion with multiple callers in this game. I’m not sure if someone raised it up, but in any event, me and three other players saw a flop: A3A. Yep. Flopped the boat.

In the SB, I checked. It checked around. Gulp. The turn was a 2, which also made a flush draw. I bet out $10, hoping to look like I was merely betting to take down the pot after everyone checked the flop. I think I got one or maybe two callers.

The river was a 5, and for a second, I thought that some donkey hit his straight. Then I remembered that I had a full house. Duh. I bet out $20, and only one player decided to play, Pete, a tall-ish shaved-bald guy wearing a suit. I looked like I didn’t want a call, and saw him reach for his $25 chips. “Raise $50 more.” When it got back to me, I pretended like I was really distraught. I was praying that he had a 4. I finally said, “You know what? $75 more.” “All-in.” “I call.” I flipped over my full house and he showed 46o, for a rivered straight. Wow.

The very next hand, I made a few pesos off of Lee when I flat called his bet from the button after flopping top two pair on a J97 board. The turn was a 9, giving me another full house. He checked, I bet, and he folded, admitting that he was playing bottom pair.

As you can imagine, that’s a nice way to start a game. I was up $280 or so by the time I had my next colossal hand of the night.

I’m pretty sure that b-i-l Marc had already rebought once by this time. We were now a full table of 9 players, and I was the chip leader or 2nd chip leader. Marc lost a big hand against a guy everyone called Ham. Ham was very tight by reputation, but he didn’t show that yesterday. In the pivotal hand that left Marc broke, Marc decided to re-raise Ham huge in order to force Ham out of a pot. Ham had two pair, if I’m not mistaken, and Marc looked the fool at calldown. He rebought, but seemed to be on tilt.

I was super glad when I saw AA. I was up $280 or so, but I was card dead and I wanted to play tighter to avoid losing my stack. I was UTG+2, and UTG, a small guy with an eyebrow twitch named Piller (he was named Piller, not the eyebrow twitch) raised to $12. Lee called in UTG+1. I decided to thin the herd by raising to $30. I wanted to raise more, but I also wanted the action. Two players later, allegedly-tight Ham called. A few more players folded and Marc, in the BB, raised to $100 or something similar. I was salivating. Piller than pushed all-in for probably $70-90 or so total. When it got back to me, I raised all-in. Ham grumbled and folded. Marc called.

We all flipped our cards. I had AA, Marc had KK, and Piller had…AA also. Someone said, “It’s over.” I said, “Hell no. It isn’t over until I see five more cards. Deal it out.” Things looked good on the weak flop and turn, but a King river sealed my and Piller’s fate. Marc had turned his $200 and change into a mass of chips, an I went from being up $280 to being down to $60-70. I opted for a full $200 rebuy immediately.

This is where the Tale of Two Shitties begins. It was frustrating to lose in such a manner, but I understand that such things will happen. I did my best to compose myself. I wasn’t really upset with the suckout. It just sucks going from a profit to a significant defiict in no time.

I reminded myself that there was more poker to be played. If I played well, I could win my money back and thensome.

Later into the evening, Marc seemed to be still on tilt. He engaged in a major hand with Ham, where Ham bet big preflop, and Marc called. The flop was 842, with two diamonds, and Ham bet out $100, an overbet to the flop. Marc carefully pulled out a stack of greens and raised $200 on top. Everything he did screamed set. I was praying that Ham would just fold, but I figured that Marc was in good shape in any event. Ham took his time, but to everyone’s amazement, made the call. Ham had JJ. Marc had A8. Marc was caught making another move, but it was one that I think was warranted or at least justifiable.

From there, though, Marc just tilted hard. I think the final straw that caused the uber tilt came when Marc had AhQx on an all heart flop (Marc had a nut flush draw and two overcards). A shortstack pushed all-in for $30. Pete called and Marc called. The turn was a blank. Pete bet $80 into the dry sidepot. Marc showed his hand to Lee and I, which to me is never a good sign. When people start announcing their hard decisions and bad luck, the rest of the table picks up on the frazzled mental state. It’s like sharks to blood. He eventually folded, which in my estimation was the correct move. The pot was around $100. His chance of rivering a heart did not justify the call. Besides, it appeared from the action that the other players had at least one heart, and someone may already have the flush, reducing Marc’s outs. The river, though, was a 7h. Pete showed a baby flush (64h in his hand), and Marc steamed.

His tilt really became apparent, though, at the very end of the evening. I think Marc had to reload again, so he was already down $400, at least. This hand is almost hard to type because it was just so aweful. On a diamond flop, 789. Marc held QTs. There must’ve been some preflop action, because the pot was sizeable, although not huge. It was just Marc and a quieter player at the table. The quieter player pushed all-in, and Marc mentally locked up. He showed his QTs to Lee and I, trying to determine what to do. “I don’t think he has it.” All I could think is, “Yeah, but you know that you don’t have it.” There is 0 fold equity, since his opponent was all-in, and even a King Duece was ahead of Marc’s Queen high. Sure, there were 8 cards for a straight and Marc had overs, but that is being very generous. In reality, Marc could’ve been drawing dead against a flush, and even if his opponent only had one flush card, two of Marc’s outs (6d and Jd) would not help him, leaving him with 6 outs or, if his opponent had a pair and a diamond, 12 outs. Whatever the case, it just made no sense to call, but sure enough, that’s what Marc did. The quiet guy showed his hand, JJ, with no diamond. Ironically, that took away two of Marc’s outs, leaving him with 2 Jacks, 4 Sixes, and 3 Queens, 9 outs total. As it turned out, the turn and river were both diamonds, and the players chopped the all flush board. Still, Marc’s tilt was exposed, and from there on out, he was fighting from his back foot.

All the while, I was playing smart poker. I wasn’t tight. I still limped into as many hands as possible. But I made some good laydowns and some great value bets.

At the end of the night, I stood up down $41 (I thought it was -$15, but I guess I counted wrong). Even though I lost, I recouped some of my earlier losses and for the most part, avoided tilt. Marc, on the other hand, stayed later than me, and probably left a decent loser.

Amazingly, I don’t feel really bad about losing, either. The truth is, I’m down a couple of hundo for the year, but the year is still young. I also do not play live poker often enough to be worried. If you only play 4-6 times per month, there will be months where you are a net loser. I think I played 3 times in February and probably 4 times in January, so while I’m a loser so far, there is a lot of poker to be played.

Tomorrow, I have to go to Pennsylvania for work, but I’m angling to end up at AC for a few hours afterward. Wish me luck.

I am also toying with the idea of going down to AC for the weekend of March 28 to hang out with Jamie from the Wall Street Game. Apparently, Van Halen will be in town, and while I will not be attending the show (I just never got into VH…before my time sorta), I will be up for some poker.

I’d like to take a moment to wish a very happy birthday to wifey Kim. If I haven’t made it clear, wifey Kim is the centerpiece to my life. As much as I love poker, as much as I love myself, I love wifey Kim even more. I’ve heard stories from other people about terrible relationships. From these stories, I see how truly blessed I am. Not only is wifey Kim a beautiful person, inside and out; she also “gets” me. She understands who I am, and she supports my endeavors, whether it be poker or anything else. Happy Birthday, wifey Kim! I can’t wait to give you your presents.

I’d also like to take a briefer moment to wish wifey Kim’s twin brother, b-i-l Marc, a happy birthday. But really, I hope he doesn’t even read this post. Reliving tilt can be almost as bad as the tilt itself.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Grumble grumble. I’m tired. Very tired. But there is poker to be had, so let’s get to it.

I feel like I’m burning myself out this week. Monday, I played the Hoy rather late (but bearable). Even so, I was sluggish yesterday as I dragged my ass out of bed. After work, I was exhausted, but I made plans to meet some buddies uptown for dinner. We decided on J.G. Mellon, a bar/restaurant known for its burgers. According to my cohorts, J.G. had some of the best burgers in the city. The reviews online were split 50/50. While most agreed that the burgers were great, a lot of people complained about long waits for a seat and subpar service.

By the time I arrived with el Jefe, our good buddy Dutch was already hanging out. Scary Eric wasn’t there yet, so we waited outside under an awning as it rained. The restaurant looked uncharacteristically vacant, with a few empty tables, but the place was so small that I was praying that Scary Eric arrived in time to get us seated quickly. Once he did arrive, we were told that the wait was ten minutes. Ten minutes later, we were seated in the backroom, at the largest 4-person table in the joint. It was still a tight squeeze, and I barely could fit between the chair, which was backed against a wall, and the table. Dutch and Scary Eric are sizeable guys, both tipping 250lbs. That probably was what earned us the best table, even if it still left me tiny room.

We ordered some food. Jefe and I decided to share an appetizer mozzarella in carozza. We also both ordered the burger, mine cooked medium-rare with cheddar. Finally, we opted to share an order of the crinkle cut, round fries. Dutch and Scary Eric opted for starter chilis, followed by burgers and fries. We all washed it down with surprisingly small $4 beers.

I’m not a food snob, but I just don’t get what people are talking about when they praise food that is mediocre. I can only imagine that, with reference to JG Melon, it’s all about the hype. This place is “known” to have the best burgers and is on every NYC best burger top ten list. Ergo, its good. People ignore the fact that the burger itself was really merely adequate. No doubt, it was good, but it didn’t have that extra something to make it great. The mozzarella in carozza on the other hand was a complete disaster. It tasted like a grilled cheese made with french toast and mozzarella. The fries were mere adequate. At least the beer was good (albeit small, but good).

After dinner, I caught a ride home with Dutch, who was stopping by a friend’s apartment in my hood. Back at home, I signed up for the Skillz series and the Bodonkey, knowing full well that I would sit out the first few rounds of one or both tourneys.

Frankly, I don’t know why I played the Skillz HOE (limit Hold’em, O8 and Stud8) tourney. Limit tournaments, with the exception of HORSE, are usually boring and slow. The slowness is as bad if not worse than the boring part. I finally realized that I did not have the wherewithall to play proper limit poker, so I opted to play uber agressive until I chipped up or busted out. The latter happened sooner than the former. It didn’t help that I was dealt several strong hands only to land in brick city. A five card low draw and flush draw with a pair turned into a weak two pair after sixth and seventh streets. Things like that. Blah blah blah. It’s poker. Let’s move on.

The Bodonkey was an assload of fun. I don’t know why, but I really like this tournament. Maybe it is the fact that I have had some decent success in the past. Sadly, I made the final two tables, only to be knocked out 18th or so. Still, I rather go out 18th than on the bubble, so I guess I have that going for me.

When I logged off, I watched the penultimate episode of the inaugurral season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. If you are a fan of the movies, check this series out. If you are not, move along. There is nothing for you here. On a related note, I caught T2 on the TV a couple of nights ago and immediately hit the DVR Record button. I then sat and watched a good 40 minutes of the movie. All I can say is that it has it all: one of the best chase scenes ever filmed, an amazing villain, an even better cast of heroes, and a fantastic mythology. Big thumbs up to the cast, including the often overlooked Edward Furlong, who in my estimation is the best John Connor ever, although his only competition is the ever ugly Nick Stahl, the creepy goth kid from Heroes, and the T4 unreleased Christian Bale (sorry, Mr. Bale, but you cannot be Bruce Wayne, Patrick Bateman, and John Connor…save some roles for the Americans) (I’m sorry, Mr. Bale, you know I can’t stay mad at you).

Wow! How did I get off on a Terminator tangent?

As we were waiting for a table at JG Melon, I received a telephone call from bro-in-law Marc. Marc wanted to see when we were meeting up for poker tonight (Wednesday). To tell you the truth, I had totally forgot about our plans. Early last week, I received an email from Lee, the host of the Financial Game I played in midtown a while ago (thanks to Matty Ebs). Since then, I had never returned to his game, but I did get an invite for b-i-l Marc, who cleaned up when I wasn’t there. Now we are returning to the game tonight, only it was moved to the West Side…the far West Side. Any more West, and we’d need swimming trunks. For you non-NYers, that means that the location is not easily accessible by subway (crosstown is a bitch by subway and the shoreline is usually subway free for a good several long avenues). Still, I committed to attend, so we arranged plans to meet up beforehand.

The thing is, I just don’t feel like poker this morning. I want to finish my workday and go home. Wifey Kim won’t even be around (America’s Next Top Model weekly gathering with her friends), so I’m not running home to anything other than comfort and quiet. Man up, I thought to myself this morning. I grabbed a backpack, loaded up a change of clothes for comfort, and then hit the road.

It wasn’t until midtown when I realized that I forgot my poker wallet and card cap. This sucks for a few reasons, most notably the fact that I now have to go to the bank to take out a wad of bills to play. I hate mixing real world funds with poker funds, even temporarily.

Ultimately, though, the game should be juicy. I just know that it’s going to be a long night.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I had an interesting evening last night. When I got home from work, wifey Kim was out shopping for more shoes. She has already reached centipede status with well over 100 individual shoes and now she’s seeking out millipede status. We are thinking about renting out the neighboring apartment to hold her shoes.

While she was out shopping, I was busy at work, putting together an Astin-like dinner. It wasn’t anything as fancy, but after cooking for 8 guests (including wifey Kim and I) for this Saturday’s MexiWii Birthday Extravaganza for my lovely wife, I had some left over peppers and onions. I stopped by the nearby supermarket/deli and picked up one potato, two pieces of sandwich steak and a soft roll and made myself a helluva cheesesteak with wedge-cut fries. As I sat down to eat, wifey Kim was just returning home. Before I went food shopping, I checked if she had eaten. “I just had some soup for dinner.” Once she saw the cheesesteak, though, I was glad I made it an extra-long hero roll. She got the shoes and half my meat.

As for the shoes, wifey Kim was kind enough to model them for me. “Um, honey, aren’t those the same shoes you wore on Saturday?” “No, those were heals, these are wedges.” “Um, are you sure. It looks the same to me. Closed-toe, Mary-Jane style.” Yes, I have been learning about shoes. It’s the natural course of things when your wife bi-weekly tries to convince you that she needs this pair because unlike the other pair of brown slingbacks, these are a matte finish. “This heal isn’t as high, and the wedge makes it less formal and better for work.” “Wait a second, didn’t you say that the shoes were for your friend’s bridal shower.” “I can use them for work too.” “How do you even choose your shoes every morning? It would take me an hour.”

As much as I don’t get the shoe thing, I don’t begrudge it. We all spend money on stupid stuff. For wifey Kim, it’s more shoes than are necessary to clothe a small village. For me, its poker…which actually earns me money… Okay, admittedly, there are stupid stuff like comic books and video games too. It’s all about perspective.

At around 9:30, wifey Kim wanted to watch the Fashion Police wrap-up of the Academy Awards, so I fired up the comp. I had $9 left on FT and entered a token SNG. AA fell to 67s and I was near felted. A few minutes later, I was felted.

I fired up a Stars Turbo 180-player SNG, only to lose near the bubble. I also fired up a 45-player turbo SNG on Stars, falling in the same fashion. While still playing the 45-player SNG, I realized that there were 15 minutes until the Hoy. I told myself that if I didn’t win my token with my last $9, I wouldn’t play. As I neared the game, I felt like I was playing well, even if the results didn’t show. I finally bit the proverbial bullet and sent an IM to GCox. “Can you spot me $26?” G was happy to comply.

With barely enough to play, borrowed money no less, I started the Hoy with high hopes. I played uber aggressive at times, chipping up by taking down small pots. I lost a big pot in the middle of the game when I made a bad play against a player who turned an inside straight. That left me with under 1500, but I kept the pressure on my opponents, chipping up with small pots. Eventually, I found myself in 2nd place out of the remaining 12 players. At this point, my uber-aggression had set up my table image nicely. I raised two hands in a row and my opponents folded. On the third hand, in the BB, I held JJ. It folded to Katiemother in the SB. She raised, probably assuming that my uber-aggression would be curbed. With my strong hand, I raised. She raised back and we got all-in. She held A8o. The flop was JTX, giving me top set. The turn was a Queen. The river was a 9. With her straight, Katiemother took down the hand and more than half of my chips. I was now the shortstack. Earlier in the game, a player stated, “pp (pocket pairs) are not doing me any good.” I replied that mine were doing just fine after I took down the pot. After the hand against Katiemother, CMitch, who was looking on while he played at the other table, typed something along the lines of, How are those pps now? I don’t remember the exact statement, but it wasn’t mean spirited. I just got the impression that he thought it was a bad suckout and that I was in trouble. I replied, “I’m still healthy.” And for the most part, I was. Even though I was the shortest stack, I had more than 10x the BB, so I knew that there was more game in me…and I’m a shortstack specialist.

By the time we reached the final table, I was still in last place. I tightened up at times and loosened up at others, depending on the play at the table. Sometimes, the shortstack can chip up through sheer aggression. The key is to have a stack that is at least a little scary. It also helps if players see that you are aggressive. It isn’t the first bet they fear in these situations. It’s the continuation bet all-in for your whole stack that curbs players from calling you preflop.

In that way, I was able to claw my way back up to fourth place eventually. Sixth and Fifth fell, and I was ITM. Fourth fell as well, and I was three-handed with about 12000 against two players with 24000 or so. My comeback had ended in 3rd place. At least I had money to pay G back. And I’m still in the #4 position for most money earned in the Hoy this year. And it was a hard-fought game as well. I came back from a shortstack on more than one occasion and played well from what I can recall.

Future poker is looking good. I planned to return to the Wall Street Game on Friday, but I have to reconsider my plans. The Big Boss Man wants me to take a deposition in Pennsylvania by myself. I looked up the location and its about 90 minutes from AC. I could, hypothetically, take the deposition at 2:30pm, finish by 4:30pm, head to the casinos by 6pm, and make my way back to NY at around midnight. It’s a bit of a degenerate’s move, and one that I haven’t done before, but I’m really itching to play some casino poker. I can also opt to grab a room in some nearby town, crash for a few hours and then head back. Wifey Kim is busy Saturday afternoon and I don’t have anything to do until Saturday night.

If you’re going to be in the AC area, let me know.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Kaja recently asked about the live homegame tournament structures that I’ve played, and it came to my attention that this is a topic that I hadn’t really discussed. I have a lot of experience with homegame tournaments, from quick super turbos like the 10 min blind levels at the Roose Game and long-form tournaments, like the rebuy for two hours, two table tournaments at the I Had Outs game. I never considered myself to be particularly adept at tourney structures, but at the recent Wall Street Game, where I was surprisingly the second-to-last person to arrive (and took 4th place for $19 profit on a $70 buy-in, no rebuys needed), host Jamie asked me to audit the format to ensure that it was proper for the longer-form tournament he wished to run.

I looked at the structure, and it was pretty standard. If you follow the traditional 25/50 starting blinds, there are two blind levels that are essentially the key to a longer or shorter tournament: 75/150 and 150/300. Jamie opted for the second of the two tweener levels, which is probably the smarter choice between the two, assuming you don’t want to use both.

Ultimately, when I am looking at a structure, I want to know when the big blind reaches to 1/10th of the starting stacks. In Jamie’s tournament, we started with 5000 chips, and the structure was as follows (as best as I can remember):

25/50, 25 mins.
50/100, 25 mins.
100/200, 25 mins.
100/200, 25 ante, 25 mins. (last blind period for rebuys)
150/300, 25 ante, 20 mins.
200/400, 50 ante, 20 mins.
300/600, 50 ante, 20 mins.
and so on…

According to Jamie’s format, the BB reaches 1/10th of starting stacks at the 100 minute mark. Since this is a one-table tournament with an 11-person table, that meant that at around that mark, a good 1/2 of the players will be shortstacked. After all, if no one is busted, the average stack is just about at 10x the BB (or, more accurately significantly less, since its 600 BB and an ante, with a 5k starting stack). The point is, for me, this feels like the part where certain players are bound to be shortstacked.

From there, you have to factor in how many players are left and add in more time accordingly. Again, it is an art, not a science. I don’t have any magic formula, but I can offer some general suggestions for setting your blind structure.

Start the blinds at either 1/50 to 1/100 of the starting stacks for an average tournament length. I used to play a homegame with blinds of 1/2, 2/4, 4/8, and so on. We started with 200 chips. This may appear vastly different than a 25/50, 50/100, 100/200 structure, but if that 25/50 structure has 5k in chips, its exactly the same (although, psychologically, the game may play different).

Next, figure out how long you want your tournament to run. Then, pick your final blinds with that goal in mind. You can end any tournament at any time if you set the blinds right. For example, if you only have 6 people and want to run an hour-long tournament (which, admittedly, is a bit turbo of you, but who am I to judge), with starting stacks of 2000 chips, plan on having the blinds reach about 400/800 by the end of the hour. By that point, if players aren’t voluntarily all-in with any two cards, they will be blinded all-in with any two cards anyway. It might seem low, but if you tell people ahead of time about the structure, it is up to them to play accordingly. In that scenario, with 2000 in chips and a 1 hour desired time limit, I would set blinds at 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 300/600 and 400/800 with 10 minute blind levels. I would also tell everyone to pay attention so we can get as many hands in as possible given the time constraints. Admittedly, this structure will really last slightly more than 1 hour, depending on the play, but it won’t get much farther because at the 1 hr mark, you are playing 500/1000 with only 12,000 chips in play.

Oh yeah, chips in play. I’ve discussed stack sizes compared to the big blind, which is key to figure out when players will sincerely begin dropping out of the tournament. Sure, some guy may bust in the first 5 mins with KK v. AA, but you can almost guarantee bust outs to begin seriously accumulating when the BB reaches 1/10th of the starting stacks. To determine the end of the tournament, just figure out when the total number of chips reaches is only 20x the BB. So, for a 10-person table with 2k in chips, there are 20,000 chips in play. When blinds reach 500/1000, if there are more than two players left, then each player has on average less than 10x the BB and someone is busting really soon, even if they are all even with ~6.5k stacks. Likewise, if they are heads-up, the game should not last longer than perhaps one more blind period because the blinds will force the action.

This isn’t rocket science, but as I said earlier, it is a bit of an art. I could offer a generic structure, but truthfully, you can find that online by searching for “homegame tournament structure.” These are the considerations you can use when tweaking a structure or determining how someone else’s structure will affect the play.

Quick recap:

• When the size of the blinds reaches 1/10th of a starting stack, players are bound to begin dropping out of the tournament.
• When the size of the blinds reaches 1/20th of the total chips in play, the game will end very soon. Likely, the game will end before you reach this point, but in any even, if you have a definite end in mind, for instance midnight on a weeknight, plan your structure so that in the worst case scenario, if anyone is still in the tournament at 11:50, theywill be so shortstacked that they will have no choice but to be all-in every few hands.
• Work backwards to determine how many blind periods you want and how long each blind period should take.

One last example to demonstrate. Johnny Poker wants to throw a home game. He gets 18 people to RSVP. The game is supposed to start at 2pm on a Sunday, but Johnny has to get everyone out of his house by 9pm because his wife is on the rag and giving him shit about his poker habit. The only way we can save Johnny from a trip to the pokey for knocking out his yapping harpy of a wife is to help him with his structure. Johnny has ample chips that he purchased for way over market price at the beginning of the poker boom (and now sell for peanuts).

With 18 players, and a 6 hour time limit, I would want players to start dropping out several hours into the game. You want players to feel like they are getting some play for their money. Let’s use a 5000 starting stack, since there is the psychological component of giving players more chips (as opposed to 2k). Don’t believe me? Check some casinos out. At Showboat in AC, they offer a few different buy-in tournaments. Some tourneys have 10k chips, whereas others have significantly less…but the 10k chip tournaments usually start at a higher blind level. In other words, there is no benefit to the higher starting stack aside from the psychology of the players. 10k for $120 instead of that stupid 4k for $75. SUCKERS! Yeah, not so much.

With 5k stacks, I want to reach blinds of around 250/500 in about 2 hours, to start weeding out players. Since we usually don’t have that blind level, we’ll try to make the 300/600 level somewhere near the 2.5 hour mark. Remember, once players bust, the average chip stack will increase, so if a bunch bust at that 2.5 mark, the other players will have cushion for several more blind levels. That’s why we need to consider the total chips in play. With 5k stacks and 18 players, there are 90,000 chips in play. Divide that by 20 and we get 4500. So, to really end the game, we need blinds to reach about 2000/4000. The game will definitely end by 3000/6000.

We’ve set some water marks. We want to hit 300/600 at about 2.5 hours, and 2000/4000 at around 5 hours (leaving Johnny time to clean up before the wife gets home). Let’s see what I come up with:

25/50 <--Standard Start 50/100 100/200 200/400 300/600 This is the standard starting structure. If we give each level 30 minutes, we will reach the end of the 600 level at about the 2.5 mark. That's a bit too fast, so let’s add one of those extra middle levels.

25/50 <-- Standard Start 50/100 100/200 150/300 200/400 300/600 <--Starts at 2.5 hours into the tournament. Ends at 3 hours into the tournament. Now we are talking. We start the 300/600 level at 2.5 hours into the tournament exactly, using the 30 minute levels. I chose 30 minutes after I chose my levels, in order to reach the 2.5 hour goal. If we wanted to finish faster, I would spead up the blind levels or drop levels altogether. Now let’s look at the second half of the tournament, when we begin to whittle down players we only have 4.5 hours to get rid of everyone.

400/800 <-- Standard next step after 300/600
500/1000
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000
1500/3000 <--Some people skip this level, but I believe, personally, that it is too much to jump from 1k/2k to 2k/4k.
2000/4000
3000/6000

Give each of these levels 30 minutes and you’ll reach the 3000/6000 level at the 6.5 hour mark and complete it before moving to 4000/8000 at the 7 hour mark. This is cutting it close, so you may want to ditch the 500/1000 level, but realistically, the game will be over by the beginning of the 3000/6000 level.

Naturally, there are many variables to consider, like late starts due to late players or breaks, but if you start with the ideas I set up, you will make sure that your tournament is not over too fast or too slow. I also did not include antes, which naturally speed up the bust-out process. Frankly, though, I do not recommend antes for home games. If you want to speed up the action, just increase the blinds or decrease the speed of the blind levels (prior to the tournament). And remember, there will probably be at least one person doubting your structure. That’s fine, but don’t doubt yourself. Once you start putting it up for a vote, nothing will get done. A well run poker homegame should be a benevolent dictatorship. You may take suggestions, but in the end, a strong host/”floor” is needed to ensure that disputes can be resolved if anything comes up.

This was all put together on the fly, so I am very curious if anyone can offer further insight.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I didn’t really want to play poker, but at the same time I didn’t not want to play poker either. I was sitting on the couch, wifey Kim already asleep on my right. The laptop stood two feet away on a tray table. It was open and I could see the glow of the screen. Television was abysmal and even though I’ve been sitting on the same Netflix DVDs for a month, I didn’t feel like watching them. I tried to watch The Number 23, a thriller from a few years back starring Jim Carrey. It actually started off strong, but I have a multi-tasker’s mind. I also could feel the tension of the film and I didn’t want to get myself amped up before bed.

I looked back at the laptop and felt that feeling I get from time to time. There is a certain comfort to playing poker online. It is always available and if you begin doing anything often enough, it becomes a habit. Not a bad habit either, just a habit.

I manuevered myself out from under wifey Kim’s feet and moved to the overstuffed chair that matches our couch. I turned on FullTilt and checked my bankroll. Pitiful. I openned Bodog and checked my roll there. Passable. I considered playing an SNG or a cash game, but neither seemed to call out for me. I didn’t want to grind. I didn’t want to play tight. I wanted to get in there and mix it up.

As I perused the SNGs, I settled on something that wasn’t even on my mind when I got up from the couch: Heads-Up SNGs. I chose a cheapo $10 SNG and beat my opponent on the first hand. I immediately fired up a second HU SNG for $20. The match was long and well fought. Ultimately, I lost, but I came to a realization about the urge to play online.

Heads-up is the answer to many of my problems. If I can’t play a long tournament but I don’t want to play a cash game, I should play a HU SNG. If I don’t feel like exposing myself to potentially large losses, I should play a HU SNG. If I felt like playing aggressive or playing too many hands, I should play a HU SNG.

After losing that one HU SNG, I shut down the computer. I had enough poker to feed the habit. All that remained was sleep.

I’ve got live poker coming up, folks, and I’m feeling goooooooooood about it. I was thinking back to my more successful runs, like when I bubbled in a live tournament at the Showboat in AC and then moneyed (albeit in the worst money spot) in the Resorts tournament a scant few hours later. Or when I went on a run of wins at the Wall Street Game when I first premeired. Or my early run of success with live homegame tournaments. In all of those instances, I felt like I was ready to crush the world. I felt confident and I played smart. I admittedly have moved away from that attitude in live games. I know longer think that I am the best player at every table. Some people may see this humility as a positive thing. I do not. We are all wired differently, and for me to do my best, live, I need to think that I am the best. I need to feel that no one at the table is better than me. Call it self-denial or false confidence, but whatever it is, it’s effective. It’s probably closely connected to the idea that one plays better when one is in a good emotional state. It’s all too easy to play poker as a way to distract from inner turmoil. When that happens, losses tend to follow. I am hoping that entering a game with the old confidence will help. We will see tonight.

Tonight, I attend a rare long-form tournament at the Wall Street Game with a $70 buy-in. On Wednesday, I attend a homegame with my brother in law in midtown with a $200 buy-in and a slew of aggressive players trying to one-up each other. In both instances, my number one goal is to play with intelligence and confidence.

Until next time, make mine poker!

On February 20, 2008, a tournament was played that dwarfed all other poker blogger tournaments. When it was done, one man stood victorious, one man to unite a nation. Presenting, the champion of the

As a poker player, I have always had some goals in the back of my head: play in a WSOP event (not Circuit), play in the WSOP Main Event, win as much per year as I earn as a lawyer while maintaining both. Those are the goals that come into my head most readily. I have already completed some goals, most notably my annual profit goal for the last three years and playing in WSOP Circuit events, but the first three goals I listed are far from happening.

I have no illusions about the game of poker or my place in the game. I started off playing .25/.50 limit, and have worked myself up to decent bankrolls several times before using those funds for me or wifey Kim. Still, I have been able to increase my goals yearly because I have been able to move up the ranks.

Things change, though. I have begun to fear stagnation, particularly when it comes to live poker. If my stakes don’t increase and my amount of time playing doesn’t increase, how can I expect to make more this year than next year. If there was an answer it would be that I have to play better. Frankly, though, even the best play can only get you so far when your stakes are low.

It seems to me then, that I have three choices: (1) play higher stakes, (2) play more often, and (3) accept stagnation for now.

(1) Play higher stakes. Plainly put, I just can’t do this right now. The truth is that my bankroll probably cannot handle it. I would like to move up to 2/5 NL regularly, but my roll is inadequate, plain and simple. I will, however, work toward increasing the roll through non-poker means. It feels like a cop-out to me, since I prided myself with earning my way up the ladder, but I have spent enough of my poker bankroll over the years to justify reclaiming some of those funds. Ultimately, however, higher stakes may not be possible all that regularly, due to the same problems I have with (2).

(2) Play more often. Ah, if only this were possible. I am working like a dog lately, and work must come before poker. I have other responsibilities too, including spending some time with wifey Kim, so it isn’t like I can spend 5 days a week at a cardroom from the end of the workday until late night. But if there were any real block to (1) and (2), it is availability. Live games are just not readily available unless I am willing to play in underground clubs…and I’m not willing to play in underground clubs. I did it and I’m done with it. I am unwilling to risk losing my bankroll to a robbery or raid. I am unable to jump through the hoops necessary to get into some of the newly opened rooms. I do not want to live like a fucking bandit. AC is still available, but its a bitch of a trip at about 3 hours. Even so, I may look into more weekend day trips and travel via bus. Lord I hate the idea of taking a bus, but Matty Ebs does it regularly and he seems to think its a good setup.

(3) Accept stagnation. NO DAMNIT! I cannot! I will not! Okay, I have. I will do what I can to increase profit this year, but I will be happy if I can repeat 2007′s profit. Poker is a long term goal for me, and I don’t intend to abandon these long term goals anytime soon. I will also not allow speedbumps or slow downs to take me off course.

I am 28 years old. I can play the WSOP when I’m 50 and be happy. I can hit my goal to earn as much with poker as I do as a lawyer when I am 60 and be content. This is a long ass game. There is no 3 lives and you are out. There is no end boss that I can stomp out and save the princess. This is poker, damnit, a game that can be played by children and seniors alike. It would be great to have immediate success, but it is not a prerequisite.

Thanks for reading through my ramblings. If I’m not mistaken, I’ve got poker this weekend, so hopefully this will help me develop some new strategy ideas to share with you. But whatever the case, I just need to keep on playing.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I have a little secret to tell you. My wife is bad luck. It’s a sad state of affairs, but there is something about wifey Kim and poker that makes for a deadly combination.

Some people ask, “Hey Jordan, why doesn’t wifey Kim play poker?” Half of the time, these people are trying to determine if wifey Kim is even real. The other half of the time, these people are really just auditory hallucinations brought on by excessive consumption of narcotics. But the third half of the time, it’s a very valid question. Why doesn’t wifey Kim play poker?

The reason, my friends, is the same reason why you and I do not get manicures. Manicures are made for a certain type of person. Yes, a female, but even moreso, a female who wants to be feminine. Or perhaps a female who wants to be pampered on occasion. But the point is, people do what they do in any aspect of life because it fits them. I don’t get manicures and wifey Kim doesn’t play poker.

To play poker (not well, mind you, but just to play the freaking game) there must be some impetus to play. For me, its the gambler’s buzz, that feeling of adrenaline that comes with making a great (or terrible) play. Poker also appeals to my competitive nature. Finally, poker appeals to my love of games.

So, in other words, I play poker because I like the excitement, competition and gamesmanship. Wifey Kim, not so much. She likes excitement, sure, but she is not a gambler at heart, even though she dabbles at casinos. She likes games, but for some reason the gamesmanship in poker doesn’t appeal to her. Ultimately, though, it is the issue of competition where wifey Kim falls short. It’s a wonderful thing, really. Wifey Kim is just not a competitive person. She wants to see others succeed and she is willing to help anyone in that endeavor. Me? No such problem. When I am at the table, it is my goal to make you subservient. Give me your chips. Do as I say. Go home broke.

In the end, it is wifey Kim’s lack of bloodlust that makes poker a non-entity to her. But then there is that other aspect I hinted at early on.

Wifey Kim is bad luck at the poker table. I hate saying it. I truly do. But when wifey Kim comes home while I’m playing an MTT or calls during a live game, I can’t help but hear that doom switch turn on. In fact, she has a remarkable ability to appear just as I am about to get my chips all-in.

I recently mentioned how I play the FT 2-table token SNGs in a very formulaic manner. Since I am about to attempt a turbo token SNG to earn my buy-in to tonight’s Hoy, I figured it may be fun to do a tournament simulblog.

My rules are simple for 2 table token SNGs. Since the top 5 spots all pay out the same prize, I am not playing for first place. I am playing for 5th, or even 6th, which earns a small cash profit. My goal is to limit myself to playing strong hands, with the hope that the weak players or dwindling stacks relative to the fast escalating blinds will allow me to double up when I do hit a strong hand. In later stages, I may make some plays, but it will be very rare and very situation-specific. The goal in those instances is to win the pot without over-exposing myself.

I easily fold for the first few hands, until I am dealt 77 in the fourth hand UTG+2. I am tempted to fold, but I may limp. Nah. Fold. A player after me raises from the 40 blind to 480. By folding, I saved 40.

In my first BB, I am dealt 56o. UTG limps and SB calls, preflop. The flop is AJ9, and we all check. The turn is a Queen and the UTG bets 80. SB and I fold. In the next hand, in the SB, I have 67o. It folds to me and I fold as well. The BB (who was formerly the UTG) has been fairly active, and I don’t need to mess around.

AJs in the CO. I am extremely tempted to play to a raise, with blinds of 25/50. But I fold. It folds to the BB. If not for this blog post, I probably raise there, but I am hoping to use this post to keep myself in check and test my theory on playing uber-tight.

I fold 55 in MP. Folding is harder than I thought. The button raises preflop and the BB calls. The flop is JT9. Folding once again saved me a BB, which is very useful in the later stages of these tournaments.

I’m back in the BB and receive Q8o. I’d really like to see a flop just to feel like I’m playing poker. The CO calls, as does the SB and I check. The flop is AJ6. We all check. The turn is a 2, and we all check again. On the King river, teh SB bets pot (180) and takes down the pot uncontested.

In the SB, I am dealt K30. I am glad when a player in MP raises to 280 (blinds just went up to 40/80). I fold happily.

Without playing a single hand, I am in 10th place out of 15 remaining. It isn’t a bad place to be, as three players have already busted and one double-up places me in the top 3.

Fold, fold, fold. Nothing to see here. Blinds are about to go up to 50/100. There are two players hovering around 900 and one around 1000. I fold twice as I type this. My fold finger is getting a workout.

I am now moved to the other table. A9c in MP gets folded. We are down to 14 players with 5 at or below the 1000 mark. One busts and I am 8 of 13 without playing a single hand.

JTc in the BB. Everyone folds to the SB who calls. We see a K42 flop with two diamonds. He bets pot and I fold. If he checks there, I probably bet out. I am now at 1155 with 60/120 blinds. I fold my SB with crap cards to a min raise from the button. I am now in push or fold mode. I am at 9 our of 11 and blinds are going up to 80/160. If I don’t get a pushing hand soon, I’m in trouble.

AQo in UTG+1. UTG is loose and raised to 320 (min raise). I push over the top, everyone else folds and he calls with ATo. Neither of us hit, and I’m at 2550. Like clockwork.

I’m now in 5th out of 10. It’s a good place to be in right now. I’m aching for the final table instead of these shorthanded 5-person tables. Usually, I love 5-person tables.

I see a flop with T6o in the BB vs. the SB. The flop is A34 and its checked to me. I min bet. He min-raises. I am reminded of why I am playing super tight. I fold.

Blinds are at 100/200. I have 2130 after I fold my SB to a raise from the CO. He ends up busting the BB and we are at the final table. I’m in 6th of 9…and immediately placed in the BB. Damn. QTo. Better now than when the blinds go up again. I fold to a limp by CO+1 and a raise by CO that takes down the pot.

In the SB, I’m dealt AJs. This may be a place to make a stand, depending on the action. A player in LP with 1430 pushes all-in. I fold. I’m playing for 5th, I remind myself.

On the button, I’m dealt A6o. The SB has 2600 and the BB has 7k. A player in MP limps, so I fold. Better safe than sorry. Blinds are up to 120/240 after this hand.

In the Hijack, I’m dealt 66. If it folds to me, I push. A shortstack (the same guy who recently pushed over my AJs) limps and I decide to push. Everyone folds and I’m back to 2430, 6th place out of 9.

The same shortie pushes all-in, UTG. He has 1490. The SB is even shorter, but manages to fold, leaving him with under 800. He pushes in the next hand and the UTG shortie is now the BB. Everyone folds to the under 800 guy. Damnit. It’s like the two shorties just got a free orbit.

In the BB at 150/300, I’m dealt 83o. I’m back into push or fold mode, for the most part. The SB is very short, so when he pushes, I’m inclined to call. I lose to his Q8. The next hand, I’m dealt J5o. It folds to me and I have to fold. With only 1370 left, after pushing the last hand, I cannot expect the BB to fold.

The very next hand, I am dealt KK. One shortie with 1100 pushes. The next player with 3900 pushes. I call. I am facing A2c and QQ. The turn is a Queen, but I four-flush the river. I am up to 4280, 2nd place out of 8 remaining players. I can go back to folding with impunity. Blinds just went up to 200/400.

Desperation sets in and a player pushes with AT into QQ. AT is busted. 2nd out of 7 remaining players. We have reached the bubble.

A shortie doubles off of the big stack, who seems to be calling all-ins with anything.

In the BB, I am dealt A8o. It folds to the SB, who folds to me. Easy. In the SB, I get Q4o. I’m glad to fold to an EP’s all-in for over 3k.

Another shortie doubles off of the big stack, when the big stack calls with 66. Shortie had AT and flops an Ace. Blinds are going to 250/500.

The big stack doubles up another shortie, with the big stack’s 44 v. TT. Yikes! Still 2nd of 7, but even I’m a shortstack now. Everyone else is looking fairly healthy. I have 4280 and everyone after me has 2370 and up. The big stack dropped from 10k+ at one point to just over 5k. One player has taken over the 2nd place spot with 4500.

In the BB, I am dealt Q6o. I hope it folds to me. Hope fails. The SB min raises, and I choose to fold.

In the SB, I’m dealt A3o. The BB is mad short at 1870. That’s still more than half my stack, but I push anyway. He folds and I’m back up to 4280.

In the next hand, the SB pushes and the BB chipleader calls. This time, the chip leader finishes him off. I’m ITM with 3rd out of 6. Now I just need one more player to bust to get my token.

Three hands later, the chip leader takes out another player, TT v. AJ. I immediately push all-in with 9To in the next hand, since I won my token. I hit a straight and bust two more players. I then take out the rest in the next hand with T6o. Go figure.

It bears noting that I played 14% of the hands only. I won my major hand with KK, as planned. I doubled up twice, as planned.

It also is worth noting that my goal is to get into the high-blinds/low-stacks section of the game. I joke about being a Short Stack Specialist, but there is some truth to that title. I enjoy the aspect of the game where you have to make the hard decisions, like pushing with crap cards like A3o against a short stacked BB. It’s knowing when to steal and when to fold that really makes the later stages so interesting for me.

Even so, I can pretty much play this game with my eyes closed. It is worth noting the one dilemma. Inevitably, there will come a time when the KK does fall to the QQ. By playing super tight, you basically place your entire game in the hands of luck. When you finally push with your JJ, you may be facing QQ-AA. Even when you wait for AA, you may get sucked out on merely because mathematically the other player has to call given the stack sizes or blinds. With this in mind, my real goal is to minimize the amount of times I’m all-in, to avoid the chance of a suckout. In a normal tournament, I may play a wider range of hands because I know that it won’t be an all-in or fold situation anytime soon OR because there is a benefit to accumulating chips early. In token tourneys, I only want 5th place, so I fold until I have to push.

I may take some time to elaborate later in the week. However, I hope this was somewhat helpful to any players curious about the ease of token SNGs.

With token in hand, I will see you at the Hoy.

Until next time, make mine poker!