Angels Poker Blog

WSOP Circuit Event No 2 Other noteable hands

2011-05-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to make the other post to long so I decided to break it up in two for those that care to read more about my hand history, tells I saw, etc

JJ on the Buton: I was on the button in seat #4. The Small Blind was in seat 5. I had JJ and normally I'll do a standard 3xbb from here. As I reached for some chips I noticed out of the corner of my eye the Small Blind look at his cards. He was a heavy set man... yes more then me. I decided to take an extra longer pause to see his reaction to me stacking chips to bet. It didn't take long when the man began to breath very heavy. Almost looked like his chest was going to blow up. I knew then he had a monster. At that time I felt I didn't need to make it 3xbb so I min bet that. I really dislike doing this in position. As I dropped the chips in front of me he moves all in. He didn't hesitate to do so, but no sooner then he said all in the Big Blind in Seat 6 which I could not see insta-calls the all in. Now my JJ is looking really weak so I open folded them. I got the "Oh how could you fold" and "You folded Jacks!!!" by some weak players, and "good fold" by the solid players. SB flips over KK, and the BB turns over AK. KK holds and I would have bricked. For the first time in a live game I laid down a big hand pre-flop by going with my read.

Laying down this hand has given me great deal of confidence for last night in the Mini Ftops #24 I ran into similar situation holding QQ. The players had not played a pot in over 30 hands. Player 1 raises 3xbb, player 2 moves all in, I fold, player 1 calls all in. AA vs KK and AA wins. Easy fold but don't think I would have made that fold had I not experience the above hand in a live game.

AdKc vs my AcKd: I was in the big blind when the button raised 3xbb. Something about the player told me to look out. He was sitting in seat 1 directly in front of me. Before he looked at his cards he was bobbing his head up and down to the sound of his music. This player had those noise reducing head phones and was enjoying them a great deal. This all changed the second he looked at his cards. He stopped the player, stopped bobbing his head and took a big look at his chips. Thats a warning sign. So I decided I was going to play this with caution and keep the pot small. I just smooth called his bet. Flop AsXdXd. I check/call his bet. Turn brings another diamond. and we Check Check. River another Diamond. Now I really don't like my hand. He throws out a 2xbb bet and is staring at my chips. I know he wants me to raise so I just smooth call to confirm my tells. All though I have the Kd I am to to happy about my hand. He's either got pocket AA, AdQd and for sure the Ad and is trying to trap me.

Grinding Live Poker Post Black Friday

2011-05-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

I knew in advance I was going to loose my job on March 31st, 2011. At the time I was grinding a lot online on Pokerstars and Fulltilt Poker. I did very well in 2010 on both sites but didn't have much success in big Live MTT's. Well I still haven't but I made some goals and the main one was to play live poker more. I was lacking the table skill needed to take on players in a live setting. After I got laid off I continued to play online and rarely made the trip to casino to do so. Only live games I played were the WSOPC in mid March. I was able to make a deep run, was solid at reading the hands as they played out, but lacked the live table skills.

Two weeks passed and my goal went out the window. I continued to play online like a maniac with little to moderate success. Then one day some one up there must have heard my whimpering cries, because on April 15,2011 the all mighty DOJ stepped in and shut down online poker as we know it.

At first I was bummed and disappointed about it. I tried looking at all the positives. Maybe this would be the kick in the booty that I needed to get out there and grind the live games? I been told by a lot of poker friends and pro's that cash is where the money is at. All the pro's make their money there and MTT's are just for show, a chance to hit it huge, a shot in the dark, and a way to accomplish your dreams in one tournament. Yes, MTT's are fun, but cash is where the real money is they said.

Post Black Friday my new goals were to:

1. Play a lot of Live tournaments
2. Play a lot of Live Cash games. Learn it, live it, DO IT!!!

I wasn't a cash player. I actually hated sitting at the casino's where all the drunk's were. For one there is that long drive you have to do and not to mention you actually have to get out of bed...geeez how annoying live poker could be I thought. So all my emphasis was on tournaments and I stayed away from the cash games.

So I began to do my casino trips and play live cash and mtt's. I played MTT's at Pachanga and Morongo and chopped them both. Nice. As for the cash game I needed to start of slow and played the 100 max $1/$2 HENL at the Morongo. After a couple hours I had more then tripped my buy in. I got lucky I said so went home about my business. This was a great boost to my confidence and allowed me to trust myself and my "skill".

I slowly played more and more cash games. I took a trip to The Bike with my TPT/OPT Poker buddies Paul and Tracey. I did ok in the MTT and didn't cash, but afterwards I crushed the 40max $1/$2 HENL. I made my buy in for the MTT and a lot more. That day I staked Paul in the MTT and he busted out as well with out cashing. I stacked him in the 40max cash game and in 1hr came back with the cash and mtt stake. Made it look easy. I after experiencing my "short" success I knew if I could do it, then most definitely would. Paul is a much better player then I am. So he proved me right and won.

Scott Diamond

I continued to grind it and took a trip to San Manuel with Scott. They only had a 300max $2/$5 HENL game and played for a couple of hours loosing about $100 there, but got to watch and learn from Scott a great deal(pictured right). While I took a loss, it was a big learning experience and more table time. Besides I made all back and then some playing black jack. :)

I been playing about 4 times a week now. I now play the $1/$3 and $2/$5 HENL with a lot of confidence. My biggest win was a 14hr marathon cash session good for $3k and that was in the $1/$3 200max. That day I was going to play a MTT, but the cash game was going so good that I never left the table. My tournament which up to this point my favorite poker game, so I thought. I wasn't upset or regretful that I had missed it. The cash table is where the money was and me being unemployed....

Street3

I have a very good feel for the tables. I don't come in raising or trying to make any moves. I study those cash games, get to know who my opponents are, and what style they are playing. I get a feel most importantly of who the Reloaders are. The guy that is going to bust and yell CHIPS PLEASE!!! Cha-ching!!! Thats my best friend at the table and the one that gets my full support. ;)

At first I was disappointed and upset the DOJ stepped in and shut down the Online sites, but now that I am having such good success I thank them. I support their choice 100% I have no intentions of playing in any site. I don't care if it gets approved, or some how FTP and PS come back for any reason. I might even send them some flowers and a thank you card.

Thanks to Scott aka @DeputySD and Steven aka @Street3(pictured left) for their continued support. Its always good to have friends to talk poker and get advice from.

I am finally improving at the game I like to play with out all the online unnormal continuous bad beats. Hope to continue to do well.

Thanks all,

-Angel 'gijoe' Valdez

WSOP Circuit at Harrahs Rincon in San Diego. Event No 2 Aftermath

2011-03-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Off I went to Harrahs Rincon to play WSOP Circuit Event #2 armed with a great deal of confidence and knowledge. I wanted to play some satellites the day before the event. Instead of driving back and forth I decided to stay there, so I could wake up nice and rested.

I went to the ball room where their WSOPC tournaments are held and saw they only had 1/2 the tables they did the previous year. They moved the bulk of the tournament across their new poker room on the 2nd floor and thats where my table was... So with 10 min to go I had to go across the casino through hundreds of slot machines and players. I got lucky and was able to squeeze into an elevator and make it to 2nd floor. When I saw the room I was in complete shock. Not only was it small it was cramped with poor ventilation. Harrahs really dropped the ball on this. Their tournament in this casino went from an A+ to a C- for sure. All the restaurants are located near the old ball room. I could already tell that breaks were going to be a problem. They were and thats a whole different story.

With their local boys players of the year announcement the call of shuffle up and deal was heard, and play began. The structure in these tournaments is outstanding. Gives you a lot of room to sit back and learn. I could already tell I was in an aggressive table. Everyone wanted to get in all the pots as cheaply as possible in order to flop the nuts. Well you don't always flop the nuts so a lot of players were spewing chips at a nice pace. After about 10 minutes I had enough of sitting back. I had all the info at the time I needed so I began to 3bet and lead out more. I began to chip up nicely and got myself up to about 14k or so.

I was in level 2 with about 15k when a player had enough of my re raising I guess and decided to play at/with me. The action started with blinds 25/50 UTG+2 player raised to 300. I looked down on the button and saw AA. Mid position player smooth calls it, and so does the High Jack. AWESOME! I got action. So I needed to weed out the weak and made it 2000. Well they were in a chip giving mood so why not over bet it a little. Sure enough the original raiser calls. Others folded right away. The flop AcXTc and while I'm very happy that I hit my set the flush draw had me a little uneasy.

The player then leads 4000 into a 4675 pot leaving himself with 5k. He was a tight player that wasn't playing many hands so I put him on AK and is trying to protect his hand. I reraise him and put him all in. He SNAP CALLS and turns over AdJc!!! The turn brings another club and so does the river. He jumps up as happy as he can be as if he made a good play. I'm ussed to getting sucked out online and say nice hand, keep my cool, and am ready for next hand. Loosing a 22k pot this early in an MTT is not a big deal. Its a deep structure tourney that gives you chances to recover. All though I am left with 4k and the short stack at my table. I just have to tighten up a little at this point. Can't be aggressive like I was and off we go.

As play continues I wait for a while until getting TT on the button. It is checked to me and I raise, and both blinds come a long. The flop Txx rainbow. Nice! I bet again and this time the BB 3bets me and I call. Turn x. BB and I check. Another small blank on river and bb checks again, I value bet and he calls. He shows AKs and missed. He only called cause he thought I had same hand...

I continue to chip up by 3betting from late position with SQUADOOSH. This works great in live MTT's. You can get a lot of reads on players not like online. So by this point I am almost at starting stack when the following happens.

We are in level 7 blinds 50/100 25a. I had just 3bet a player pre from the Small Blind and stole the pot. In the Big Blind I look down and see KK. UTG raises to 800, UTG+1 smooth calls it. I re-raise to 3475 and only UTG calls. The flop KT9 and I kind of like it. If player was crazy like me he could have QJ and i would be in trouble. So I have 2 options here I can lead out, or check raise him.I need chips so I don't want him to fold by leading. I go with option number two and decide to check it. Sure enough he bets out 2k into a 7700 pot. I have 6k behind so I move all in. He snap calls me, we flip our cards, he see's my set, he shows AJo and he says "I thought you were bluffing and I have outs". Thats ok with me. I want players to gamble because they won't hit their hands every time. Well the turn brought a Q and he's jumping up and down as if he had already won. A solid player to my right says "He has outs. He pairs the board and he wins". Well the river was a blank and i was out.

I was upset for about 1/2 a second but though of Matt Affleck and realized bad beats happen. I was more disappointed then anything. I had high hopes that I would do well this time around and I didn't. It was my 3rd year playing this tourney and expected bigger things from me. I am still disappointed but there is nothing you can do in those situations. I played it well and like Paul aka Coolwhipflea said to me "You made the mistake of getting it in good".

There is another MTT coming up this Friday. I might take another shot at it, at worst I am getting better and better every time I play this MTT. Its just bad timing right now as I am getting ready to be out of work. I don't know if I should be using up 10% of my bankroll for 1 tournament. I had a nice deep run last night in the MiniFtops #24 but a 2500/33k player finish didn't pay out as much as I wanted(1st). Will continue to grind it this week in hopes of getting that buy in.

Good luck me and thanks to all my friends for their great support.

Angel 'gijoe' Valdez

WSOP Circuit at Harrahs Rincon in San Diego, Ca is BAAACK 2011 Part 1

2011-03-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

Its that time of the year when the WSOP comes around to my back yard a long with my hopes, illusions, and delusions. This will be my 3rd year playing this event and my 4th series that I've played at. I know I have improved a great deal each time I have played. I can even say I made very good improvements from my last event I played at the WSOPC in Chicago till today.

This past year I didn't play as many live tournaments as did the previous years. I know I needed to learn more about poker its self. What good is it to be able to get reads on players if my Poker Hand reading skills needed a lot of work. So I played thousands of hands online like Super Turbos, Rush MTT's, SnG's, Double Stack and Deepstacks MTT's, and different buy ins. I got a chance to work with Tristan Wade, The Grinder, and Alex Outhred. Can't even begin to thank The OPT for all the help, support and great advice. I wanted to get good at reading flops and more important playing them correctly.

The results have exceeded my own expectations. It's been a work in progress and I've put a LOT of work to get there. All I need now is to put it into effect. I tell myself "I'M THE BEST" all the time to pump myself up and get motivated, but this year its different. I'm digging deep and going way back...I mean waaay back to my Drill Sergeant who used to say to me when I was in the Army "You know what to do. Now its time to MAKE IT HAPPEN".

So MAKE IT HAPPEN and SHIP IT!

-Angel 'gijoe' Valdez

Final Table of the WPT(LAPC ME) at Commerce Casino

2011-03-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

Final Table of the LAPC ME

While I didn't goto any of the previous days of play(shame on me) I decided I wanted to watch the big boys play the WPT(LAPC ME) Final Table at Commerce yesterday. See if I can pick up any points on table manner, style of play etc.

The televised WPT Final Tables are 6 handed. I believe this holds a greater edge over any other televised final tables. 6 handed games are much more aggressive because players can open up their hand ranges and take advantage of the short stacks.

That turned out to be true to form as we were in our 3rd hand when the Raise, Re-Raise, Re-Re-Raise and ALL IN and a Call sounded between Gregory Brooks and Vivek Rajkumar. We waited on what Steve Gross would do since he was the Re-re-reraising player... He went into the tank for a couple of minutes. It was a tough choice for him. When the hand started he was at 1.3m and his re-raise was for 650k and half his stack. As the time ran out in my opinion I kept saying no way he folds. He will be crippled in a 6 handed table. But I was wrong and he folded, and thats why he's the pro. Vivek turned up QQ while Gregory showed Big Pocket Rockets. Aces held up but on the turn I believe a J hit and Steve had a look of disgust as if he laid down JJ that would have given him a set. We'll have to wait for the show for us to see what he had. Crazy hand. Great start to the night. I was hooked after that :)

Gregory went on to take that pot he won convert it into a win. His play through out the night was that of a man that would not give up any pot easily or would make it easy on any opponent. He put the pressure on every single street but always in position. I don't recall him playing aggressive out of position at all. If a player bet he would re-raise. If he was check raised he would call and on the next street he would wait for other player to act first. If that player checked to him he would fire off a monster bet of close to 3/4 of the pot. It was unbelievable the amount of dead money that he won with out a show down. He took advantage of the bottom 3 players that wanted to move up to the good pay outs. His 2 all ins that I saw him play he had Straight and flush draws. Great game by a very young player that we will be hearing more of for sure.

Other cool things that happened while there was met Matt Affleck, The Royal Flush Girls, Derryl Fish, Amir "Homer Simpson" Lehavot, and many other pro's. But I have to say the biggest treat I got when I arrived there was being able to throw "Paul Elis" name to the door person and be walked to the media row with out a question.

door person: Hi sir, can I help you? Who are you with?

Me: ahhh Paul Elis

door person: Yes sir, right this way, I hope you enjoy your time....

Easy as 1-2-3!

Got the best view of the house and even got our own big screen TV to watch the flop. Of course I paid Paul with beers as the night went on... =) Had to keep the man happy ya kno.

Great moment were when Vivek decided to pump up the crowd by buying his entire section a round of drinks! I will have to remember that when I make my first WSOP, WSOPC or WPT Final table. Thats a great way to get every one to cheer for you lol It gave a new vibe to the entire place and I will have to say I was swayed very promptly to the Vivek side and chanted along with every one else INDIA INDIA INDIA lolol

Wish I had taken any pictures but thats me. I'll wait for Paul to post them and then steal them :D

Check out the Commerce Blog on the WPT for more pics and great info

I recommend for all who wish to improve their game to go watch the pro's live at any chance you get. They are good for a reason and there are a ton of little tips you can can pick up from them.

-Angel 'gijoe' Valdez

Poker Update Stardate -311856.6862633181 aka February 22, 2011

2011-02-22T08:46:00.000-08:00

This past week was memorable. While I won a nice 500+ MTT and finished very high in just about any other tourney I played online. getting knocked out of the 40k Guarantee last night that I learned the biggest lesson so far in my poker career. Listen to ME, stick to the plan, and do what I know I am suppose to do.

Before I can tell you how my Sunday lesson came about let me tell you about my Saturday. I had spent the entire day grinding out 3 mtt's like no body's business. I had some solid finishes in them and if not for some bad luck or no luck I would most likely have shipped them. Was a fun ride and my strategy and game play works. I take advantage of weak play, play back from the blinds, 3bet for power, 3bet to get info, 3bet for control of the pot, and don't risk my tourney life with a weak hand.... DON'T RISK MY TOURNEY LIFE WITH A WEAK HAND!!

I mean this strategy works. I have proven to grind it deep in an MTT as of late with very good success. Saturday I made it deep in all 3 while only getting a pair of Aces and one pair of Kings. Obviously, the opponents folded to my raises and I just got the blinds. It can be done. You can win a tournament with out getting the big pairs. Play the player and do what they aren't willing to do.

So move to Sunday and it started out just like any other poker day and was feeling the emotional high about Saturday. I can't be out played, I didn't get any luck on Saturday and ran deep. The only way I can get knocked out is by getting UL and rivered by some bs hands.... see whats coming next?

Played about 10 mtt's yesterday and yeah, you guessed it I got beat every which way by runner runner Turn-River cards. I mean, my sets got blown up by over sets, my trips by bigger trips, my straights by boats, my flushes by bigger flushes, and the sweetest one my Flopped Aces full of Tens by runner runner Ten's for QUADS!! So it was bad but on the bright side I hit my monthly allocations of bad beats in 1 day. So its down hill from here on right? lets hope so.

So I decided that my bad luck was due to the fact I was playing weak fields and they got lucky. There fore I wanted to test my skill with the big boys. I tend to do this from time to time to kind of guage where I am at, especially after a good week. I have never done this while on tilt or in the midst of a bad day. I tell my self I am way bigger then a bad beat. It won't bring me down even after a horrendous day where the Bad Beat monster dominated me.

I set of to play in the 40K Guarantee. Its a $75 buy in MTT where all the online grinders play. Its their Bank roll builder that allows them to give it back on the Sunday's to the rake gods. Even at this level of buy in poker is poker. Yeah they don't call on a whim but instead they will re-raise you a bit more. In either case I shot to the top of the leader board with in the first couple of levels. Yes! I was sitting at number 1 with a 2-1 chip lead over 2nd place. I was 3betting and outplaying them and there was no difference then any other game. I loosened up at times and made what seemed to be a bad call on a short stack. I had about 32k and raised from the button to 2k, Big blind moved all in for 6k, so it was 4k more for me to call so I insta-called with K4o! BB shows Ad9d... Flop 4h4dTd! whooot but oh oh... Turn another diamond and my "I'm a bad ass" feeling was short lived lol But it put everyone on notice that I was crazy & would snap call their short stacks.

Now to the good part... I was able to grind away and regain those chips that I lost and then some. It was about 20 players away from the money. I was top 10 in the standings, I had great control of my table, used wise judgment and never... NEVER risked my tourney life with a bad hand till.... yeah...

I'm sitting in the Small blind with about 35k and the Button raises to 4k. He has about 14k and I know he's just trying to steal so I figured I move all in on him with my AdJdsoooooted. So I move that lever over to the all in and click it as fast as I could. No sooner then I do that it hit me... 1. The big blind has 300 more chips then I do, and 2. I don't know a single thing about him. He just moved to my table. Fuck, I say to my self, and sure enough he calls my raise. The Button insta-folds, and the BB shows a HUGE pair of 8's!!! WOW! Risks most of his chips with that hand. What a dumb... Flop KsXX... that has to be the worst... Turn 9s... COME ON AJAJAJAJAJ River 3! I am out! That was the most AWESOME CALL I have ever seen. Well to me it was since I normally don't play at those levels. Hell I've seen it in a $5 game and even done so myself, but to do it in a $75 game with 20 players or so from the money is that much better. Yes, I messed up. I broke my own rule DON'T RISK MY TOURNEY LIFE WITH A WEAK HAND!! and I paid for it. But I have to give "IAMADONKASSMOTHA" for making the right call. ;)

I had played a very good game up until that point. It has been weeks since I've done a bone head play like that. Had the Big blind been short stacked as well then yes its a good play, but not if they can bust you out of tourney. I normally take my time when making a decision. I let that timer go whether I am going to fold, call, or raise. I didn't do that this time. I played it like a nub is way worse then a noob!

So if I can do what I know I have to do I can see myself shipping this MTT or the next soon.

Angel 'gijoe' Valdez

Its been a while since I posted a blog

2011-02-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I posted on this blog. I've had lots of good things to talk about and some blah as well. Went to Chicago for a training session with Alex Outhred, and played an wsop event while I was there. While the result of the tourney wasn't what I wanted(sucked). I did get a chance to meet a great deal of some cool people.

Had an awesome poker instruction with Deepstacks crew consisting of Mike Matusow, Michael 'TheGrinder44' Mizrachi, and Tristan 'cre8ive' Wade. Actually got taken to school and put in my place big time. I found out that day that I had a LOT to learn about poker.

Soon after towards the end of 2010 I took a complete break from poker. Not because I was tired of it, didn't like my results or the above spanking, but because I got some crazy news that my safety net(JOB) was shutting down our plant. That was a hard thing to take. Here I was a super agro player who's bank roll varied up and down because of my style. Well the thought of loosing my job sent me into a cave. I began to worry about my play and strategy. If I were to go broke with my style I would have no way of reloading if needed. So that stopped me from me being me. In poker being timid, not yourself, focused, etc is a bad recipe for disaster. Therefor I took a hiatus to get my thoughts in order.

While I was in my cave I thought of strategies, watched a lot of Deepstacks Live videos, and thought about what I was going to do. I really had two options, either go pro and dig in 110%, or just do nothing and get another job. But going pro requires a big bank roll which I don't have at this time and some mad proven skill. Which I am very unproven especially in a live game.

In the mean time while I "think" I been grinding out a new style. You ready for this? Its super agro with no distractions!!! Turning the TV off...DONE, Multi-tabling 4 poker games at a time..DONE, web browsing while playing errr almost DONE(DAMM TWITTER), and Turning off Poker Tracker...DONE.

So I have the TV off, am playing 2 tables max, just about stopped tweeting any poker stats(like it to much), and haven't used poker tracker all year. These changes while insignificant have improved my game 5 fold and more. I end up 2010 with a +12% ROI for the year which was my best ever. This year, my ROI for January is +60%, and so far in February its in the +100% . If I continue to follow my own advice and STICK WITH IT *augh* thats all our problems I guess. I know I will be more successful at this crazy game. Its bad enough having to try to defeat lady luck, but to throw in distractions while at it is just plain stupid.

I have a new found focus and my motivation to succeed had never been higher. I am going into the 2011 WSOPC in San Diego with such a mind set and will succeed. You can bank on because I will :)

-Angel 'gijoe' Valdez

I am starting an Online Poker Team

2010-01-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

I am starting an Online Team and some of you might be asking what will it consist of? What is it? The OPT will work in the following matter. I will set a date and players interested will be able to purchase stock at $5 each. Let’s say I get 10 players to buy 10 stocks each at $5. That will put the total team bank roll at $500. So far I have a dozen players interested so am sure there will be more.

I will then randomly select a playing order of two players per team. Each player will get 5% of the total BR to play with. In this case the Treasurer will send $25 to each. Players will have 5 days to play with the allotted amount based on specific rules and guidelines such as no cash games, no Satellites, SnG's(recomended), small MTT's (recomended), etc etc. I will post all rules and guidelines once we have team ready to go.

Let’s say player one lost $10 and only transfers $15 back to Treasurer, but player #2 tripled it to $75. Now our Team BR is sitting at $535. So now shares are worth $5.35 each ($535/100 shares). Then trading day comes and players buy 100 more shares @ our new rate of $5.35. So now our BR is at $1070. So the next players up to bat would get $53.50 each to play with.

Could go the other way and if both players lost all the money, so now our Team BR is at $450 so our shares are worth $4.50 each and the next team would only get $22.50 for playing.

I been playing in a poker team with this forum that I post at and when they first started their allotments were $17 each. Now they are up to $65 with careful BR management and players willing to grind the SnG’s.

Weekly schedule will consist of:
Tuesday: will be trading day. Buy or sell shares.
Wed: Treasurer will send money to players as soon as possible.
Wed-Sunday: Teams to begin their play.
Monday: Transfer all money back to Treasurer.

Action list to get this going:

Get a list of player’s information of those interested.
Email rules and guidelines. Rules are starting point. Team will later make changes and vote on it. Est time Jan 15th.
Take member pledges. Such as “Yes, I want to be part of the team. I pledge to buy XX amount of shares” by Feb 1st.
Hold our first Team meeting on Skype
a. Vote on rules and guidelines. Make changes, and/ or add more.
b. Select volunteer for message board manager. Will manage that area of the team
c. Select and Vote on Treasurer.
d. Vote on Team name if any
Finish a PRIVATE password protected website that will show all transactions taking place. Almost complete. I am about 3 weeks from finishing it. =)
Create Message board to let member know that OPT game is going on, post rules, etc. For now we will skype our team meetings.
Set first Stock Sale date for all to purchase.
Create teams and set schedule
Let the games begin.

Good thing about an online team:

Playing with other people’s money makes you pay more attention to the games.
You will have a lot of people watching you play and they will give you very good feedback. You can’t put a price on this coaching aspect.
The Bankroll will increase and basically you will play for free when your time is up. Again it gives you more practice and more players watching you.
Make great friends.
Every 6 months with money won. We can give best player money for Sunday Millions, or WSOP Main event sat. Winnings will be split 50/50 with team and yourself.
Competition, bragging rights and pressure to succeed will make you a better player

If at any time you are unhappy for whatever reason you can just sell your stock and walk a way. You have stock, you get to play. No stock, no play.

There will be a minimum amount of stock you will need to own in order to play. It would be unfair for some one to own 1 share and play. The min will be set later by the team. You can also own stock and not play if you like. Its your choice.

Let me know if you are interested by emailing me at gijoevaldez at yahoo dot com.

Send me your info:

Full name
If you have a Twitter and Facebook name
phone number
preferred site and name if Fulltilt, Pokerstars, UB, and AP or all.
Your skype name. If you don't have one install it or recomend other means of online conference.
If I don’t know you please have someone I do know email me a letter of recommendation. I am selecting people with excellent character. If you are good at poker is a plus but not necessary. Like I said before you will have a lot of coaches to help you improve your game.

Thanks,
Angel ‘Gijoe’ Valdez
Gijoevaldez at yahoo dot com
skype: Gijoevaldez
Twitter: GiJoevaldez
Facebook: gijoevaldez
Riverside, CA

1st Dream Team Poker Tournament

2009-11-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

The theme for the night was “Implied Odds” for this tournament. I will get back to that later.

Last week I was invited by Marie Lizzete to join her DTP team ‘Rags2Riches’ and thought it would be a lot of fun to do so. Well it turns out it was all that and a bag of chips. My girlfriend and I met up with Marie and Johan(our 3rd team mate) at the Bike Casino, and after a few “ah’s” and “oh… are you? Ahhh.. yes I am’s”. We registered and picked out our Team Colors. That was tough since they had a lot of choices to pick from. We went with the black baseball jersey that opens up in the front. Since they didn’t have XXL for me an XL will work just fine.

We talked a little poker strategy. Marie is an excellent cash/tourney player and had a lot of great advice. She knows I can build a stack, and also knows I tend to lose it in the late stages of a tourney. Her main point to me was that once I build a stack to go take a break and have a smoke. A lot of players go on tilt when they lose a hand. I am the opposite. When I go on a rush my over confidence will be my undoing. Even though I will have what appears to be the best hand, sometimes you have to lay it down.

The tournament started and 1st hand action went just like this… Blinds were 100/200, UTG players raises to 2k!!! YES! 2K!! 5 callers decide to go along. Flop comes Jack high rainbow and no straight draw. It gets checked down to the button where he bets ¾ of the pot. UTG calls and the rest fold. Ok.. I put him on AJ. Turn a blank card and not a threat. UTG checks again and Button this time moves all in. UTG player SNAP CALLS his bet. I mean even threw it down. So to my surprise when I saw AQo and Button shows KK daahhh!! The river is another blank and UTG is out! After the player was ear distance away the whole table broke out in laughter. I mean how could you not? It was an interesting hand but what caught my attention was that 5 players came along.

A few hands later a 2nd player bust out holding AA vs J2o. Again the same thing happened. Someone raised to 3K and 4 limpers called. J2o was the BB and called because of…IMPLIED ODDS! It was an all in and J2 won with 2 pair. Of course the player holding AA was very upset and this hand set the tone for all the other donkeys to follow. Some argued he was nuts to play that hand, others praised him for doing so. I just kept my mouth shut. I read a blog from a friend that said her strategy was to not be friendly and to be unnoticed. You don’t want to draw attention to you because it makes it easier for players to remember you.

The J2o player won the tournament. He was solid and used Implied Odds wisely. His friends were not that wise and would call all bets in order to see the flop. They went out within the hour and one of them courtesy of moi =) I like it when I knock out the table big mouth. I see it as “I WAS RIGHT FOO!!”

Knowing their strategy I decided to use it against them for my first big double up. I had AKs from the Button and after 3 limpers came a long I raised 4x BB. They were all shocked that I only made it 800 since 2k was the norm. SB and BB of course called as ALL THE LIMPERS. I kind of played it small there. They weren’t going to fold to any bet and AK can easily be crushed with that many players in the hand so that’s why I bet it small. The flop came KK9 and it got checked to Mr. Implied Odds who bet 5k and all the players folded to me. I took my time like I always do and gave out some weak tells like shaking my head, exhaling deeply, etc and I just smooth called his bet. Turn, a junk card and this time Mr. IO checks it. I decide if I bet high he’s going to fold, but if I bet weak along with my weak tells he’s going to shove. I figured 3k would be good amount and no sooner then I put down my chips that he calls out loud “ALL IN”. I insta-call him and flip over my AKs and he shows me JJ!! No help for him on river and bye bye Mr. IO.

I take Marie’s advice and go chit chat with my girlfriend that is looking EXTREMELLY board. I don’t think she will ever attend another tournament of mine unless the tournament is at a casino that has a room she can go back to relax.

By now players are very weary of me and are folding to my raises. One hand I had JJ and raised 3xBB. I got one caller. The flop was J9x and I bet my set. The other player which was sitting to my right said “I have a very good hand, but I fear your bets. I fold” and showed me J9. I showed him my JJ to keep them thinking I only play good hands.

I kept up with the blinds by changing my raises from min to crazy amounts. Threw players off and made it sneaky especially since they were all about the 10xBB bet strategy.

This was a deep stack event with 20 min blinds, but as in most deep stack tourneys the blinds are nutty and get skipped. I got blinded down to about 40k at one point when I looked down to find AA on the SB. No limpers at all, the player in mid position moves all in for 28k and I insta-call him. He tells me I got you beat and shows pocket Tens. He quickly changes his mind when he see’s my rockets.

The very next hand I look down and see AA again! Whoot whoot! This time 3 limpers tag along and the same mid position player moves all in for 20k. I contemplate smooth calling it but am weary of all the others coming along like they have been. I raise it to 45k and all the players fold. One of them says show us your junk cards. I show them AA and they are like what? This guy gets all the cards… Flop Axx, turn X, river X. Another player out and I have about 90k.

At this point Marie’s advice comes to mind “when you stack up, walk away and get a smoke”. I am stubborn and don’t listen to her. Soon I am in the BB. Blinds are 1k/2k and I have KTs. 4 limpers in the pot and I just check it. I check the flop and UTG player bets 10k. I re-raise him to 35k and he shoves on me. I don’t put him on AJ because he had raised before with that hand. I call and he turns over KQ. I was over confident that the player didn’t have AJ and not once did I think he had KQ. Again I was blinded by my rush and didn’t walk away….Check! Will do so next time.

Thank you very much Marie and Johan for inviting me to play with you. It was a great experience and can’t wait to do it again.

My new nick name ‘OneAWayValdez’

2009-10-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

As promised the story of how I got my new nick name "OneAWayValdez".

First of all I got a little distracted and apologize for the wait. I know a lot of you have been waiting anxiously for this =/

While in Laughlin I had a couple of bad tournament showings there, and when this happens to me I like to take a break and do something else. Just like if I'm having a bad couple of tournament runs online I will just not play for a couple of weeks. Helps me clear my head and forget about the bad beats. Like I always say "every tournament I get knocked out of ends in a bad beat"

I been wanting to spend some quality time with my lovely girlfriend and since she decided to go "watch" me play(for about 20 min) I figured I owed it to her and would do something she likes to do.

Let me start by saying her game is intense. There are more bad beats in one session then I have ever experienced in a week in poker. They have more one-outers and runner-runners then you can imagine. The crowd will get on you like you've never seen when you make a mistake, so the pressure is on for you to make the right call. The excitement of winning is enormous, and the loosing just as devastating.

Craps? naaah lady luck rules there. Blackjack? Bunch of drunks and you can always change tables. Try BINGO!! Whoot whoot! Yes my friends I took the BINGO challenge. Off I went armed with my daubers in hand, $10 Bingo Packet, and pride in my back pocket. After all this was for my wonderful girl friend, to spend quality time, get away from poker, etc etc etc.

We sit down, and all the blue hairs and snow leopards are in effect. Sometimes armed with a basket full of daubers. I have a lot of card protectors that I have purchased through a various casinos, but have never even came close to the daubers collection some of these Bingo players have accumulated. As I am sitting down I watch them closely as they start to pre-mark all the Bingo games from the odd/even, pointed arrow, inside box, outside box, straight bingo, bingo the hard way, easy bingo that turns into a two-way then a three-way bingo, etc At this point my head already hurts and not even hung over. Wait! What’s that? I see relief! yes! A BAR with BEER! ahhhh that helps some.

The announcer calls of for a balls check (I sure the hell hope he wasn't talking to me) and let the games begin.

First game starts off with a bang. I quickly get 4 out of the 5 first balls called to make a bingo! Whoot! All I need is the dreaded O74...non-suited of course I think. I double check my number, then triple check. I do NOT want to yell BINGO in this crowd and have it be wrong. These old timers have a look like they are out for blood and are not going to take any Bingo newbie screwing up their morning! Another ball gets called and I miss, G64, N45, I32, O73, O75 *augghhh*, I28, I29,... This whole time I am on pins and needles and with every miss I my anxiety is through the roof. B1, B5,... then I hear the dreaded "BINGO"!!!! Followed by the enormous sigh from the whole crown and the fake "good game" shout. The whole time I made some friends across from us and they wanted me to win more than themselves. They wanted the newbie to win! Nice old couple.

Second game 5 around the corner is called out and starts. The numbers begin to get called out and just like the first game I start to dab all over!! YES! YES! I got that! Whoot whoot got that one as well. Then again I’m ONE number from my bingo. Again, a bunch of numbers get called out. I zero out the board and whalla "BINGO" gets yelled out and I again miss my one outer!!! That’s when I heard it the first time from my new found friends "You were ONE A WAY again"

The third game down pretty much the same way but this game was a double bingo and I need 1 number to get both my bingo's done. I missed a two outer this time and again ONE A WAY!!! Now my girlfriend says GO GO ONE-A-WAY-VALDEZ!!! And it stuck!!!

I had a total of 6 games of a 10 game set where I was ONE A WAY! by the end I was exhausted, my nerves were shot, and I walked away feeling like I should have played Russian Roulette for much more relaxing time.

In the poker world I'm still known as GiJoeValdez, but don't be shocked if some old timer calls me out by my new name and alter ego "OneAWayValdez". Yes, I'm a Bingo player and I like it!!

Angel 'OneAWay' Valdez

Going To Play In A Major Tourney?

2009-10-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

Going To Play In A Major Tourney?

I was asked "I think u should write a first time article about newbies going to play in major tourneys. Advice", so with that said here it is.

As some might know I've only been playing Hold'em since July 2008. Like most I watched it on TV for a couple of years. Then one day, a buddy of mine while at a casino encouraged me to play a tourney. The experience was awesome and have never looked back. It helps to make the final table your first time but thats a whole different story.

Before I knew it I had a library of poker books, became a member of a poker forum, signed up to play online, and continued to play live tourneys with some success. I wanted to learn and master the game of Texas Holdem.

After 6 months in to this new found hobby of mine and still green as can be, the WSOP Circuit came to Harrahs Rincon in San Diego. In which I took a leap of faith and played a few events.

I figured if you want to learn the game right you need to play with the big boys. So off I went with money in my pocket and a stomach full of butterflies.

My advice before playing a major tourney:

1. Learn to play something else other then Holdem such as PLO H/L, or Stud H/L. This will actually make you a better player. They will improve your hand reading ability. Even if its online for play money. Invest some time in them.

2. Play a lot of live tournaments. Online is ok but you need to get used to being at a table and seeing the cards. The more table time you have the better.

3. Take a WSOP Academy class or Deepstacks Live event. Its a well worth the investment that you need to make. Thats if you really want to compete at a high level. It will break down the game and teach you a ton of things to look for.

4. Play the single table Satellites or the Mega's. Its part of the experience and the same dealers that deal during the tournament will deal at these tables. Its a great way to get to know them, and also get to know the other playes.

5. Play more then one event. The WSOP Circuit has great buy in's of $230, $560, $1080, and their main event of $5k. Its a bargain compared to the WSOP where their buy ins start at $1500. Last year I played in 2, and this year I plan on playing 5 or 6 and tone of satellites.

6. Leave the ipod at home. You are not that good as it its. You don't need any other distractions. I even think a lot of the pros that wear headphones might not even be listening to music, but rather have them on so you don't talk to them. Leave the distractions at home.

7. Bring a backpack with you and make sure you have water, snacks, lunch, etc. During the tournament when everyone breaks for lunch guess where they all go? yep, the the restaurant or the rest room. And trust me there will be in line in both and only one of them is worth the wait. Be smart, pack a lunch and relax.

8. Make sure you bring a card protector. A lot of players like to think they are all that and say "I use my chips" yeah well like a lot of us saw this past WSOP where this player went all in, put ALL her chips in front, then the dealer mucked her cards! This was the main event of the wsop! She goes all in and the dealer still took her cards? yes it happens. First time caught on TV but you don't want to be that person that looses a lot of chips because you were careless. This happens a lot so be ready.

9. Get a reservation at the casino where the tournament is at. You won't have to worry about getting a cab to your hotel, and you can focus more on poker.

10. Enjoy the experience. If you get knocked out on a bad beat be professional about it. The poker community is a small place. I met so many players in those events that I keep crossing paths with in other tournaments. I had a very good player knock me out of one event, since then I have played him twice and knocked him out once. That was my "revenge" but most important I made a friend that respects me and likes my style. In this game all you have is money, honor and respect. You loose your money and you're still welcomed. You loose your honor or respect, and I can guarantee you won't be.

11. Update your twitter on your breaks. You don't need the distraction while at the table.

12. Go with friends that you can turn to for advice. Its always nice to have that support you can count on when you have a bad beat. Trust me, all of my lost pots end in a bad beat =)

13. When you are done with the tournament don't play any cash games. You might be on tilt and in a bad mood. Go out and enjoy a few.

Thats all I have for now. If I missed something please let me know. I will add more as I recall them.

Tournament 2 – What do you do when you flop bottom 2 pair?

2009-10-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

The second tournament I played in Laughlin was a $40 buy in MTT with a $20 add on. You got 2000 starting chips +3000 for the add on. With 15 min blind levels you have work faster then normal.

I paid the add on. Who wouldn't do so? In an add on tournament I always pay it. Here is my thinking of it and its not that I am giving up, or don't believe in my skills, but Au Contraire Mon Frair. I know I will double up, and 10k is much better then 6k don't you agree?

In this tournament Gijane decided to sit close by to watch me play. It was the first time EVER so I was kind of happy. I been playing very well in all my tournaments so it was nice to have that support. At first I though she would get bored. Was I wrong! I barely made it to level 2. I think she had just opened her magazine lol

Blinds were 50/100. I was on the big blind holding 57s. 6 limpers came a long so I checked. The flop 57K rainbow! Flopped bottom 2 pair. With 750 in the pot I make a nice pot size bet of 750. It gets folded to the button where he calls. So I start thinking of what hands he could have called my bet with AK, KK, QQ, or AA? Naaah to many limpers in front of him. He would get them cracked if he did that. Any sane person would raise with those hands to eliminate donkies. KJ, K10, K9 maybe, 77, 55, A7, or A5. Didn't put him on K7 because he would have raised my bet and been more happy to see flop.

I put him on one pair and I have him beat so far.

The Turn is a TEN. I take my time and get my reads. I don't put him on K10 because he's not interested in that card, so I make another pot size bet to get him off the hand. He smooth calls that bet! oh! oh! Was my read wrong? I still think he doesn't have K10.

The River a Jack. Now he sits up and his eyes look like they are going to pop out of their socket. I check to him and he only has 900 so he shoves, and I call. At this point I am pot committed and its 900 to win 7k, and I really want to reaffirm my read more then anything.

He flips his cards over and shows me KJ!! After I throw my cards into the muck I am left with 800 or so.

Went out few hands later with AQs vs K7s when he rivered his flush. =) good times.

I made so many mistakes in this hand I don't even know where to begin, but if you see something else let me know.

1. I should have shoved on the turn. I was 75% favorite to win the pot. It's the tourney and as much as I want to start building chips I should have been happy with taking it down right then.

2. Should have folded to his river bet. I knew I was beat. I wasted 900 chips so I could re-affirm what I already knew? Calling there left me short stacked. 1700 in chips is a descent stack to work with.

3. Lost my patience when I needed it most when I knew I was beat. I should have stayed the course and not got frustrated.

Wince then I been reading a bunch of stuff on how to play bottom 2 pair and most say to get all your money in on the flop, but that hand is so easily counter fitted that a fold is ok. Your only two options are fold or go all in.

Had a WSOP instructor said he never liked playing the blinds because that's were he lost most of his chips. I can see how this hand fits in with that.

Next blogs:
My new nick name OneAWayValdez

Old timer I almost killed when I flopped top pair

2009-10-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here is my part 3 of my Laughlin trip and I wanted to tell you about something funny that I saw at the tables. Well its funny NOW, but back then it got very serious.

I was playing a MMT and doing well with a nice stack. I was on the button with about 8k in chips when player Under the gun limped in, then the Old man sitting on the Hijack position limped in as well. I looked down at AJo and raised 3x the big blind. The blinds and first limper got out of the way, but the old man sitting on the hijack was VERY quick to call. As a matter of fact, was shaking when he put his chips in. I knew something was up with him.

So the flop comes J84 rainbow. My first instinct was to bet half the pot. I have top pair with top kicker, but as I started going through my routine I noticed the old man continued to shake more and more. You could tell he was ready to pounce on any bet that I had. Both palms down on the table and a nice lean forward. As I waited to sweat him out I noticed the color of his skin began to change. Normally it takes 45 seconds for me to get this kind of read on someone, but 20 seconds was way to fast.

I check the flop and sure enough he shoves all his chips with a squeaky all in! I know he's got something really good in his hand so I start to take my time. I know at this point I am going to fold but wanted to sweat the old man a little, but his condition didn't look good. He was shaking more and more. He began to hunch down slowly while reaching for something in his lap. I decided I wasn't going to put him through the torture and I folded.

He flips over Pocket Kings and as he starts to gasp for air, he reaches for the pot of chips and brings them closer, and THEN grabs this hose sitting on his lap and puts it over his nose. As I stood up to see what he was grabbing to his side I noticed an air tank. Its one of those tanks that the old smokers use and wheel around.

Once he turned it on and sucked in some air he said with a smile "No risk, no reward. I took a chance limping in with Kings". lol He was more worried about the hand and chips then his health. At that point it went from serious to everyone laughing.

I felt like I was in an episode of ER and was playing against a person on their death bed!!

Anyone ever seen anything like this before? If so share.

Laughlin and my cash game attempt

2009-09-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took a trip to Laughlin for a nice adventure/poker vacation. Laughlin is a lot of fun. For those that never been there it’s a mini Vegas that sits on the side of the Colorado River. Tons of places you can rent jet skies from, BBQ and enjoy some beers on a beach. I stayed at the Harrah's and they comp'ed me the first night and $45 for the other 2. How can you not take that offer?

I never played a cash game in my life and wanted to get my feet wet, so I made up my mind that the next time I was in a casino I would take the plunge. But sadly, Laughlin, like Vegas, is taking a big hit in this economy, so there weren’t many cash tables opened at all. At most, I saw 2 tables in any casino open for cash and they were playing 3/6, or 5/10 HNL. Once I found a 3/6 HNL “Kill” game. Can someone explain to me what the heck that means? I was looking for a $1/2 and I didn’t want to make those limits my first. So my cash game devirgination will have to wait till next time.

I did find that Harrah’s had a descent tournament with 30 min blind levels for $100 buy in. I signed up for it and by start time there were 40 players with 12 on the waiting list, and all were able to get in. The starting stack was 5k so off we went. Started doing my thing and began to chip up steadily to 7500 when in level 3 I got smacked out of the tourney.

Blinds were 100/200. I had AQs on the button. UTG player makes it 600, the Hijack smooth calls it. I love these opportunities because it lets me squeeze and put pressure on the table, so I reraise 4x to 2400, the BB comes a long and so do the other 2 players. *haaaah?*

The Flop is AKQ rainbow! YES!! With 9700 in the pot it got check around to me. I have top 2 pair and about 5100 left in my stack. I take my time getting reads on players. It gives me time to torture them and see what they are all about while intimidating them at the same time.

My standard half the pot bet would only leave me with about 400 so I shove all my chips. Well the BB calls and my first thought is that I am screwed. Dude has AK or JT and just checked raised me. Then UTG also calls!!! What? I am really screwed now. For sure one of them has the above hand. Then to my horror Hijack calls the all in. At this point I stand up and start getting all my things ready to leave.

I flip my cards over and BB moans as in pain and flips over KQo. UTG flips over pocket 9’s, and then the Hijack flips over his mighty pocket 4’s!!!

I am not a poker instructor or a professional but I did stay at the Holliday Inn one time, and do know someone that knows someone that is really good at poker. And calling two all ins in front of you with 99 and 44 on a over card flop is just plain… Dee Dee Dee.

Well at this point I am ok and way “ahead”.

The turn a 6 and that is good news so far. I am ahead and only need to dodge one more flip of the wrist from the dealer.

The river a 9!!! Bam. I am out!!! Oh well…

I got a few more fun stories to tell that I will post in later this week.

1. Tournament #2 – What do you do when you flop bottom 2 pair?
2. Air tank old timer - I almost killed when I flopped top pair/top kicker
3. My new nick name ‘OneAWayValdez’

The pre-flop Re-raise of a Raise Naked Bluff Move

2009-09-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

The pre-flop Re-raise of a Raise Naked Bluff Move

As part of my learning strategy I been watching a lot of Online poker’s bigger buy in events. There was a move I wrote about “How to Turn the Small Blind Into The Button” That particular move when in the Small blind, faced with a raise, you would shove all your chips. Its a moved that works well when at the bubble stages of a tourney or when tournament life means something.

I started using that move quite a bit with great success in Live games as well as online but with out the shoving. Then I decided to take advantage of it and go one step further.

I was playing in a $220 buy in tournament at the Commerce Casino and decided I was going to try my new found moves and be super aggressive. I finished the tournament in 35th place our of 220 players.

I not only used this move from the small blind, but anytime some one would raise in front of me. I was always in good position either middle to late.

Open up your range to 70% of possible playable hands. If the opportunity comes and all you are holding is 72o then do it. Play the player and not the cards.

The key is to act strong. Look around at all the players as to say you are looking for action. Don't go in the tank and try to hide your tells. You want the players to see you. Look at the raiser and the players left to act. Look at their chips, pretend you are counting them, and count yours. Add up what the pot would be if a player would call and get your 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot bet ready.

Don't shove while using this even if you are holding a hand like JJ. Players are very smart now a days and in live tournaments they will call that. It is a sign of weakness. The good player is going to want more chips from you when holding the nuts.

When faced with a call from the raiser watch the player when the flop comes. Don't even look at the cards. The player will tell you a great deal when the flop hits or misses the instant the cards are turned over. If he shows weakness and you don't see a problem board, then fire off a bet.

Pre-flop players folded 7 of 10 times. Post flop they would fold 2 out 3 with my flop bet. The one time it was called, it got checked to the river and I showed my 72o. Well not really 72o but any 2 cards will do. You get my point.

This allowed me to chip up often and strong. Players feared me in late position. Every bet from them was a tough one because I put them through the ringer. I never had so many of my blinds get a pass. One time I got a pass I was holding QQ and I flipped them over to show them they are playing "smart".

I didn't know what to call this move since in some books it says to re-raise with AA or KK. Well its a new era and you need to be creative. Thanks Mitchell Cogert for coming up with the name. It made me laugh and inspired me to write this blog.

Have fun and let me know how it works out for you.

Morongo Casino - What would you do?

2009-09-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

September 3rd, 2009.
Morongo Casino

I played in a good size 200 player MTT at Morongo Casino. It was a $48 + $20 rebuy event. I finished in 5th place which made me very happy to get my game going again. There was a hand that came up that I been thinking about since.

With blinds at 4000/8000.

The UTG players raises to 20k and has about 130k.

The player in the Cutoff moves all in for his last 18k.

The SB moves all in for 150k then thinking the UTG player folded he SHOWS HIS KK!

At his point everyone is shocked and dealer tells him there is still one more left to act and UTG has not folded yet, and he gives out an *AUGHHH*.

Now the UTG player looks at this and goes into the tank, then finally FOLDS face up AJs.

Cutoff player shows A3o.

What would you do? Do you make the call against KK or fold?

You can guess what the flop brought but it doesn't matter.

Commerce Casino - Sep 15, 2009

2009-09-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

So I went back last night to the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles to play some sats. I jumped into the $80 ten player and chopped it with 1 other for a cool $360. This allowed me to buy into the $220 tourney that they have.

This tournament was a 6 handed MTT and started you with 3k in chips. The blind levels were 40 min and had a very good structure. Started with 25/25 and went up the normal way. Structure PDF

I asked a couple of pro's that I know how to play it and they said open up your range big time, and that my post flop moves would make or break me.

It turns out they were correct. The good players know players make a move on the flop, so the turn was where the real action went. With this in mind I was able to raise pre, bet the flop, and check raise the turn to win a LOT of big pots holding doodoo =)

Against the really good players I made that move holding the nuts.
There were a few hands that I was able to make the right read and call and others I folded, but the most memorable is the one that got me knocked out.

I finished in 35th place but again was the chip leader for most of the tournament.

so here it is. I had about 45k and was the SB. Blinds were 200/400 with 50 ante.

I got dealt JJ

Player on the Cutoff raises to 1k. This player when faced with a re-raise was the type that would fold if he didn't have the nuts.

Player Highjack raises to 2400. He's got about even chips with me. This player was very aggressive out of position. When raised he would call all bets. Bluffed a lot and his range was open like mine. We been playing at a different table and been head butting for a couple of hours.

I moved all in - It was the first time I had shoved all night. I wanted him to think I was weak.

Cutoff folds of course.

The highjack goes into the tank for about two minutes. Seemed longer but I was nice and relaxed. I had a very good hand. Thats what made it tough on him. He tried it all, asked me for my count, how many chips I had, etc He counted his chips which came up to 48k. I was right or close to it. So he had me covered by a little.

Highjack moves all in shows AsQs and says "I know you have a good hand but I have to take a chance" I know what he meant.

The winner of this hand would make the final table and would be in great shape to win it considering the average stack was 12k and there was no one else that came close to our stacks.

FLOP: 9s9c2d - very nice flop for me.

TURN - 3s Yikes. Not a good card. Now he has a lot more outs to help him out. Any spade, any Ace, and any Queen.

RIVER - 4s!!! OUCH! I am done. I knew it the moment it hit.

After the fact I am thinking what a bone head move on my part. I risked it all for no reason. I should have kept playing the way I was. Called to see the flop, made my bet, saw the turn made a bigger bet, etc I don't know if he would have called the post flop bet. Maybe the turn but I would not have been knocked out. Dunno.