Shootout on Party

Ok..so I have to get up for work in a couple of hours and I'm still in the Shootout. We are on break and about to start the 4th round. There are 21 left in out of 683 entrants. I have an average stack of 180,000. I finished 1st in the first round, 1st in the 2nd round, and 2nd in the 3rd round. I wouldn't mind the 172 more dollars if I win this round, but I'm really tired.....so we'll see.

Full Tilt Quest

Full Tilt has a 200 buck tourney that is a qualifier to a WPT event of your choice main event entry. I'm going to take a shot at a few of these. I saw one running last night. They called it the Tuesday something.
I've made the money in almost every tourney I've played on Party since the software change; sng's and multis alike. The structure seems to suit my style.
I've stepped up a few levels at the limit tables and so far so good.
Good luck at the tables this week everyone......surf

Money Machine

The new format at Party for single table tournaments is just like having a money machine. They start you out with over double the chips they used to.....so the blinds don't become much of a factor. I've been racking up on them. If you like single tables you should give them a try.

WWdN Tourney

I played the WWdN tourney tonight. It was a lot of fun playing with all the bloggers. I managed to grab the chip lead for a little while and stayed in the top 5 for an hour.
I min-raised with AK and called an all-in re-raise only to be up against KK...no A and I'm out. I got exactly what I asked for....lol. Oh well, good times. I hope I see all of you at the DADIII tomorrow night. If you don't know what that is, page down to the big bright banner from my entry on the 5th...all the details are there.
I finally heard from my friend that was MIA....all is well...good night everyone.

Final Tables

Not to be outdone by my 8th place finish in a multi yesterday, Da Shark nabbed a 6th place finish today in a 10+1 with 600 entrants....great job man!!!!!
The biggest Cardinal fan I know nailed down a 7th place as well...good stuff!!!!!!

MTT Strategy

This is a layout of the basic strategy I’ve been using in multi-table tournaments and I will point out the adjustments I’ve made recently which have so far yielded much better results. The adjustments are in bold.
For this example I will use a field of 2,000. You can figure the percentages of folks left in and apply it to different sized fields.
1) The beginning of the tournament: 2,000 players down to 1,000
I’m looking to see flops cheap and hit a monster. I’m willing to gambool a little here and I never fear getting knocked out at this point. I would much rather finish here than three hours in on the bubble. I’ll take note of what cards I show to determine what type of table image I am representing.
a) If I’ve shown a few premium hands early I’ll use this to my advantage and go ahead and start stealing blinds. I'm looking for good position and minimal pressure from my opponents. If I am on the button I look for semi-premium cards. One or two spots off the button I'll play almost anything. If no one has raised ahead of me I will raise it up 3-5 times the big blind. If they let it go, great. If they call, I'm looking for a non-threataning board and I will take one more shot at picking it up. Don't hesitate to let these hands go if someone plays back at you.
b) If I've shown some loose play early I'll use this to my advantage also. There is nothing more dangerous than the loose guy with cards....so I'll try to appear to stay loose but I start looking for the chance to play the loose cannon and double up with a premium hand.
I like to switch gears several times and bet odd amounts. This is the time of the tourney you can really cut loose and have some fun with your bets and hands.

2) The Big Gun section of the tourney: 1,000 down to 300
This is the part of the tourney where we see how much heart we have. I typically sit back for a few rounds here and just try to find a few big starting hands where I can come out gunning and try to pick up big stacks of chips. People have been playing for a while and they usually don't want to get all their chips in without the nuts...they usually won't have the nuts.(this takes some experience to aquire a feel for avoiding trouble) The biggest key is to have picked up lots of chips early and be able to afford to lose one out of three coin flips.

3) Crunch time (nearing the money): 300 down to the money (usually 140-220)
I determine where I stand at this point: assessment time
Am I a) short to medium stack or b) a big stack
a) short to medium stack: If I fall in this category I go ahead and play the part. I tighten up and try to get to the money. If I get a chance to double and become a bigger stack, I don't fear getting knocked out here. I'm not playing a 22 buck tourney to win 35 bucks.
b) a big stack: Attack the medium stacks blinds. Try not to fight the other big stacks unless you have the nuts.

4) In the money: 140-220 down to final 3 tables.
I like to open up my game here and take some shots at continuing to pick up chips. If you hit your flop and you want a caller, try to bet a little weaker(i call this the nuisance bet) then come over the top with a strong reraise. Most folks are staying super tight right now and just trying to move up to the next money level. You can buy a lot of pots here pre-flop and post-flop.

5) Final three tables: 30 down to 10
There is usually some pretty good competition now so you can put some moves on people. Try to put yourself in your opponents head after the flop. Think about what range of hands he would put you on and then use that to your advantage(if that doesn't make sense to you then you should just play solid here)

6) Final Table: 10 down to 1
I can't write this part yet because it would just be guesswork.... I've made it to 4 or 5 final tables in multi's but I am far from mastering it. I can tell you this...people will go out quicker than you think so moving from making 500 bucks to 2,000 bucks can happen in 2 or 3 hands.

Please keep in mind that these are all generalities and every individual tournament is different. These are not rules but just some general guidelines.
Best of luck to everyone and I hope this helped..........surf

Final Table!!

I made my first final table in a while in a multi.
1,159 entrants...limit holdem.....finished 8th place
Yaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

Metamorphosis

When I began playing my main goal in tournaments was to make it to the money. I started out playing very tight and would get deep but usually barely made the money or more frequently went out on the bubble. Every once in a while the cards would hit me hard and I would go deep in a tourney, but it was rare.
Then I ran in to someone on Party that played completely opposite of my style; seemingly complete reckless abandon. Notice I said seemingly reckless, for what I was seeing was not what it appeared to be. There was purpose and strategy behind every move. What a great persona....appearing to be an idiot and yet sucking out time and again and becoming a gigantic stack constantly. We hit it off right away and became online poker friends. I would cheer them on, they would cheer me on and we would chat about each other's style of play. I have to say I think I got the better end of the deal because all I could teach was how not to get knocked out.
Well, my friend hit a huge payday and it was awesome. I couldn't have been prouder for them. They were on top of the world and they played all the high limit online games they had been wanting to play.
Then a sad thing happened. I talked to my friend and they told me they wouldn't be around for a while. I don't know if they lost all the money playing or if something personal happened but they were gone. I miss them.
OK, so back to the story. When I was talking to them and learning more about my game I began to meet in the middle between their style and mine and found almost a perfect harmony with my game. I made a few final tables in multis and took down some very nice prizes.
Then I started focusing on the limit tables and got good enough to constantly grind out a profit, so my focus was completely off of multis. When I went back to multis I had reverted back to my old style and didn't know what was wrong. I talked to Matt a few nights ago and he said a few things that made light bulbs go off in my head. I remembered some things I had quit doing and he pointed out a few more that I hadn't been doing. I've put them all together and made a great run the last few days.
I've made it to the money 5 of the last 7 multis I have played and won the last two qualifiers that I have played; and 4 of the 5 times I have had a much larger stack than I have averaged having. I'm back in harmony with my game and it's GREAT!!!!!!!
I miss you G..... I hope you are well...........surf

Luckbox

I played well in the 10,500 guaranteed tourney until we were almost to the money. I then became involved in about 3 hands I shouldn't have. This left me extremely short stacked. One away from the money I limped in and flopped top pair. I check raised all-in and was called by trips. I got knocked out but I was very fortunate; the one player with less chips than me got knocked out also and I squeaked in to the money.
I'm playing another MTT on Full Tilt right now. It started with 504 players. There are 71 remaining. I have a big stack so maybe I will do better this time.
I want to give special thanks to Matt who helped me with a part of my game in MTT's. I have taken your advice Matt and I've had huge stacks late in the last 3 tourneys I've played.
It's not a unique concept that Matt helped me with. I mentioned to him that I get to the money often but I'm usually short-stacked. He asked me questions and pin-pointed some opportunities I had been missing; namely picking up the blinds when I have position. I have to admit I was tightening up at the wrong times. After talking to Matt, I laid out my strategy and changed my timing on changing gears and added a little more aggressiveness. I want to refine it a little more before giving specifics, but if it nets the results I believe it will I will post them soon.

Edit: I finished in 20th place. I got my money in with the best of it....AQ against A 10 but he hit two more tens and I'm out.

Poker Tonight

I'm playing the 24+2 $10,500 guaranteed on Full Tilt at 8pm tonight.
I've given myself the night off from playing the limit tables so I'm just going to pick 4 or 5 tournaments and have some fun.
Mrs. Surf had a great finish in a multi this week. She finished 19th out of 900. That's her best so far.

Hines Ward Story

Warning: This is not a poker related post.
I want to say Great Job to Hines Ward and the Steelers for winning the Super Bowl and Hines for winning the MVP title.
I've met Hines a few times and have a very funny story to share.
Hines was a customer at the Acura store I worked at when he played football for the Georgia Bulldogs. He and Robert Edwards were customers and I would see them occasionally. Hines is very nice. He was also a customer at the Lexus store I worked at.
Hines was in the Acura store getting his car serviced. He was waiting in the customer lounge. The coke machines were also in the lounge. I was thirsty. I pulled my change from my pocket and headed for the machine. I noticed Hines standing and reaching for change in his pocket as well. I quickly made my move and got there first. I looked at Hines and kiddingly remarked, "Oh WOW!!! My friends will never believe I beat Hines Ward to the coke machine." He took the loss in stride.....lol.
I knew Hines was going to be a great player in the NFL. He is a great person on and off the field. Congrats Hines.

Heads Up

TripJax and Jordan have set up a Heads Up Championship for Bloggers and Readers.
It is on Poker Stars in the Private Tourney section.
Password: blogsaregay
Lets show our appreciation to these guys for taking the time to put this together and register early.
Thanks guys.....see ya there

Wading Through The Masses

I played a 1 buck on Party tonight for fun....the entertainment listening to the 1 buck pros is worth the price of admission. 3,589 entrants...i finished 45th.
I also played the WWdN tourney... 21st place out of 75 entrants. I got my money in with the Hilton's against 77 and went down when he caught four diamonds for the flush.
The Hammer Player was still running strong when I got knocked out. I've been meaning to mention his blog. If you don't read it already, you should check it out...good stuff.

Duggle,Gcox25,Jordan, and the Shark

I ran in to OklahomaDug on Party tonight. It's always fun to play some low stakes poker with a fellow blogger.
Gary and I played a 3-table tourney last night. He played well but ran in to a lemur early that sucked out with a terrible play. I managed to make the final table but was very short-stacked. I bubbled out one spot shy of the money.
I also played the Million Dollar 64+6 single table last night. I caught Quad Kings early and was off to a good start then missed a flush/straight draw and my AQ ran in to AA.....out...sigh
If you havn't been reading HighOnPokr for a few days you are way behind. Jordan has been turning out quality and quantity this week....great stuff.
Mike aka His Sharkness left Atlanta today. He lives in Pennsylvania and was down here for a few days. We had some great times and it was really cool meeting him in person after being on-line poker buds for about 3 years now.
I'm in the 10+1 on Party tonight and I'm off to a good start. The tourney started with 2,090 entrants. We are down to 938 at the first break and I have a slightly below average stack of 1,800. I'll post again later if I make it very far.
Update: Finished in 84th place. I hung in as a short stack for a long time then doubled up to a semi-average stack. Blinds were getting really big 1000/2000 . I had 10,000 and shoved with pocket tens; ran in to pocket kings.