Sorry for not updating my blog for the past couple days, been pretty busy the last few days in Vegas and coming back home.  It’s probably evident that the Main Event didn’t work out too well for me.  I built my stack up almost flawlessly from the starting stack of 20k in chips and peaked at 44k in chips approaching the dinner break.  About the second level of the tournament a professional poker player that goes by the name Michael Binger sat exactly on my right.  If you don’t know who he is, he took 3rd place in the Main Event 2006, the year Jamie Gold won it, he took home an amazing $4M (yes, that’s million).  I didn’t get into any real key hands with him because he was a pretty tight nit player and plus our table was later broken.  I also saw JJ Lou playing in another table and heard that Todd Brunson was also in the field.  The structure for this tournament was awesome, 90 minute levels!  One of the best structured tournaments I’ve played in non-WSOP.  I came back from the dinner break and that’s where things started to go really sour.  Got into some key pots with some of my good draws and ended up blanking off in a lot of them which dwindled my stack down to about 18k in chips.  After a raise in middle position and two callers, I put a pretty fatty squeeze play committing half my stack.  The original raiser folded but one of the two callers, who has been the table bully ever since he got moved to my table, figured me on a squeeze and decided to put me all-in since he had me way covered.    I wasn’t too happy about the all-in and took me a while to decide if I wanted to put my $2500 buy-in tournament at stake.  I factored in that it was the last level before Day 1 ended and told myself that I rather double up and have a decent stack going into Day 2 or get busted with my semi-shortstack and not even bother coming back for Day 2.  So I ended up making the call and was happy to see that I was a slight favorite when he flipped over KQo vs. my AJs.  He ended up flopping and king and rivering another one for trips and that was the end of my tournament.  I wasn’t too bothered about getting knocked out in this situation because 1) I still got my chips in while I was ahead, 2)  I was free-rollin since I made the final table in the $540 tournament, and 3) I really believe this was a good spot to either double up or not even bother coming back for Day 2.

       The last two days was comrpised of me playing long sessions of $2-$5 cash game and spending some last minute time with my good friends out there in Vegas.  I flew back home Tuesday night and have been busy catching up on some errands ever since.  I don’t plan on jumping right back into online tournament play because of some other priorities I need to take care of, so I will be back in full effect starting Dec. 1st.  For now I’ve been multi-tabling $2-$4 ring games online to keep up with my points for Ironman status.  I have a small sample size in $2-$4 but am doing quite well I would say.  Unfortunately, my time off tournament play has dropped my ranking on OPR (official poker rankings) and in the TLB (Tournament Leader Board) but I can sacrifice a few spots for Nov.  and prepare to tear it up in Dec..  Happy Thanksgiving all!

Day 5 – Friday, November 21, 2008

       Played my first $540 buy-in event here this series.  This tournament started at noon and had about 300-400 players that entered.  I made some pretty bad plays and call downs early on in the tournament, but towards the early-middle stages I shaped up and got into my groove.  Started to play well and accumalate some chips to survive, but then I hit a cold deck which caused me to pick spots to put my chips in as the blinds were getting pretty high relative to my stack size.  I made it through the dinner break which was at around 6:30PM, came back and played another hour before getting knocked out.  After that I played a few satellites to win my buy-in for tomorrow’s $540 buy-in event, but that didn’t go too well either.  I needed a break from poker so my Vegas buddies and I went out to the new ultra lounge called “Lavo” at the Palazzo.  Nice place but small and drinks are really expensive.  Always good to have a break from poker once in a while but tomorrow is going to be another full day of poker.

Day 6 – Saturday, November 22, 2008

       I got a good five or six hours of sleep the night before and went downstairs at exactly 11:45AM to go sign up for the second $540 buy-in tournament this week.  I’m going to go over today very briefly because it’s about 5AM right now and I need to go to sleep to play the biggest and last tournament in the Deepstack Series, so I got to get at least a few good hours of sleep in.  The reason why I am up this late is cause I accomplished my main goal of coming out here which was to make at least one final table out of the 6 tournaments I planned on playing.  There’s a lot of crazy hands and stories to tell about this tournament as it was one of the craziest and fun tournament I have ever played, with the exception of the WSOP $1500 buy-in event I cashed in this summer.  In a nutshell, it started with around 300 players for $540 buy-in a person, total prize pool was approximately $150k, first place was taking home $50k, and I played for 15 hrs straight and made the final table.  There was some complications with the final 9 players including myself and their itinerary for Sunday.  We had two options: (1)  Stop playing for the day and come back Sunday 4PM to conclude the final table, which some of us weren’t agreeing with because we wanted to play the $2500 buy-in event on Sunday noon, or (2)  Chop the total prize pool nine ways according to what our chip count was and in order to do this it had to be unanimous vote.  We ended up all agreeing we wanted to chop it nine ways so that some of us could play the big tournament tomorrow and some players even had a flight to catch.  I was about 5th or 6th in chips and cashed out $11k, which isn’t bad for what I bought in for and I could still consider a good days work for 14hrs of play.  Ultimately, I feel very proud of myself for cashing once getting 15th place in the $340 buy-in event and also making the final table in this $540 buy-in event and taking home $11k is nice as well.  I can officially say that I can hold my own in live tournaments, probably still have some leaks that I can work on but my results prove I’m skillful not only in online tournaments but live as well.

       Originally, I wasn’t planning to play the Venetian Deepstack $2500 buy-in Main Event unless I was to win a satellite for my buy-in or if I made some good money in any other tournament.  Now that I did make some extra cash from my final table and am up overall on my whole trip I will end up playing in the Main Event tomorrow.  This is a 3-day event if you make it to the final table so hopefully I’ll be here till Tuesday, which means I’m rich already!  The structure is just like the WSOP $1500 buy-in events, 90 minute levels with 20k in starting chips, just an awesome structure!  Like I said earlier, I will go into further detail on the crazy stories of the tournament I played in today but I must get some rest so that I’m in tip top shape for the Main Event.  I’ll keep everyone updated as best I can.  Good night or morning, which ever one it is.  Wish me luck!

Oh yeah did I mention first place for the Main Event is going to be $150k+!!!  It has my name on it!

Day 3 – Wednesday, November 19, 2008

       I took the day off poker to hang out with some old time Vegas buddies.  Plus, I really didn’t feel like playing poker that day, which is very unusual and rare.

Day 4 – Thursday, November 20, 2008

       The night before I went to bed extra early so that I could get some good rest and play a whole day of poker without having a hint of fatigue.  Oh and what a day of poker it was, results-wise not so good, but as far as my commitment and treating poker like a true grinder I think I far exceeded expectation.  Here is a day in the life of a Rounder:

10AM – 12PM:  Woke up and put on my usual poker attire that consists of a hat, hoodie sweater, and jeans.  Went downstairs to the food court and had a nice hearty breakfast.  Registered for another $340 buy-in Deepstack touranment.

12PM – 4PM:  Played quite well in the Deepstack tournament.  I really never made a mistake and always had my chips go in good but the cards just weren’t agreeing.  Just one of those days where the focus and skills are up to par but the poker gods just don’t give no love.  My final hand was my KK vs AJo all-in preflop, flop – 7, 8, 10, turn – 9.  I lost to a 4 card straight and that was the end of it.  I wasn’t too bothered about getting knocked out cause I knew there was nothing else I could’ve done and felt that I played my A-game. 

4PM – 6:30PM:  Checked into my room at the Venetian and setup shop, ie- my laptop.  Put in some work online 4 tabling $2-$4 cash games.  I really don’t play cash much these days online but I just play it to earn 200 FullTilt points a day to keep my Ironman status. I’ve been keeping up and have been Ironman status for over a year now, which considers me a valued player and comes with a lot of bonuses and perks.

6:30PM – 8PM:  Went back downstairs to eat dinner at the food court.  I went to go register for the nightly $225 buy-in 7PM tournament but found out they weren’t having it tonight and instead a Las Vegas radio station was hosting $100 buy-in tournament at 8PM.  So now, I had an extra hour to kill and tried to figure out what I wanted to do.  I was just pacing around the poker room and ran into the “Prince of Poker” Scotty Nguyen, he was just hanging out and later got interviewed by the radio station.  Everyone was asking him for autographs and pictures but I just went up to him to congratulate him on his HORSE win at the WSOP this year, even though he did act like a drunk imbecile.  I ended up just sitting down at an open $1-$2 cash game and playing for an hour.

8PM – 9PM:  Played in the special promotional tournament but got busted out early trying to double my chips early due to the crappy structure (20 min levels, $5k in chips).

9PM – 11:30PM:  Shortly after getting knocked out of the 8PM tourney, I went to sit at a $2-$5 cash game.  Made a quick couple hundred bucks and decided to cash out and play satellites for tomorrow’s $540 Deepstack event.

11:30PM – 1AM:  Played two single table satellites but unfortunately didn’t win a seat in any of them.

1AM – 3AM:  Went straight back to the $2-$5 cash game and won another couple hundred bucks.

3AM – Now:  Writing in this blog and about to go to get some rest to wake up at 10AM to do this all over again!

     I think today I pretty much broke even in expenses for tournaments by making my buy-ins back in the $2-$5 game.  So from 10AM in the morning till 3AM at night I pretty much played all kinds of poker and didn’t make anything, not typically what I call a good day’s work but good for my experience.  Breaking it down, I played:

• 4 hrs in the Deepstack tournament
• 1 hr of online poker cash game
• 1 hr of $1/$2 live cash game
• 1 hr of $100 buy-in tournament
• 2 1/2 hrs of $2-5 live cash game
• 1 1/2 hrs playing two single table satellites
• 2 hrs of another $2-$5 live cash game session
• 1 hr writing in my poker blog

Total hours dedicated to poker today = 13 hours!!!

      I played another $340 buy-in Deepstack tournament at the Venetian.  Today I did far far better than the first tourney I played.  Yesterday, I got knocked out in the first hour and a half.  Today, I went really deep and got to the final two tables and ended up getting KO’ed in 15th place out of approximately 300+ players.  My gameplay for this tournament was probably one of my best performances I have ever played.  I surprised myself how well I played and have no regrets on any of my plays, even towards the end when I got knocked out, I wouldn’t of played the hands any differently.  I was pretty much chipleader throughout the whole duration of the tournament until the final 3 tables, that is when I caught a slight cold deck and as the levels got higher my stack stayed the same and other player’s stacks caught up.  The only problem is that these tournaments are more top-heavy than online tournaments, which is already top-heavy as is, so I ended up cashing for $790 making only $450 profit. while 1st place takes home $24k.  The worst part is, I played for about 12 hrs!!!  This is one of the main reasons I’m more of an online pro than a live pro, I make thousands of dollars more in almost half the time!  The only reason why I do play live is cause I like the experience and practice so that when the big live tournaments, like the WSOP, come around I am experienced enough to hold my own.  In my opinion, there’s not much difference in tournament play between live and online as far as gameplay and strategies go.  Live takes more patience since you’re not seeing as many hands an hour as online and you are only playing one table at a time.  Physical tells from opponents and you become a factor in decisions.  Keeping track of pot sizes and stack sizes takes more concentration since you have to calculate and gauge them yourself because they aren’t automatically calculated and displayed on your table.  Other than that, my betting patterns, starting hand requirements, and tactical strategies are all the same.  There were plenty of key hands in the tournament that attributed to me being chipleader but there is mainly one hand I was very proud of how I played it and according to the other players at my table, was a “world-class professional call down”:

Blinds 800/1600 with 200 ante

Opponent was a decent player but has been maybe too overly loose preflop, opening the pot with a very wide range of hands and relentlessly aggressive postflop in position.  He has built his stack to around 45k in chips which was second in chips at my table and first in chips being my stack with about 55k.  So we had most of the chips at our table and were close to even in chips.  When you go through the motions of playing this hand in your head keep in mind that my opponent has enough chips to leave me cripped and could have just about any combination of low cards that could connect with the board.

Preflop:

Opponent raises from early position to 4200, which he has been doing quite a lot.

I call on the button with 76.

Everyone else folds.

Flop (pot = 12,600):   7 2 3

Opponent bets 5k

I call flopping top-pair with a crappy kicker

Turn (pot = 22,600):  7 2 3 [ T]

Opponent bets 12k.

I call.

River (pot = 26,600):  7 2 3 T [ J]

Opponent stalls and cuts out some chips from his stack.  With a very confident voice announces “18 thousand”.

I take some time and reassess the texture of the board relative to what he can be holding in his hand.  After a few minutes of thought, I shake my head and mutter “Nope, you don’t have it.  I call.”

I announce “I have a pair of 7′s” as I flip my hand over.  Opponent stands up and looks across the table at my hand, puts on a disgusted face, shakes his head and mucks.

Comments:  I played my suited connectors in position for two reasons (1) we have the deepest stacks at our table, and for as aggressive as he is postflop, my implied odds are infinite, (2) I had position on a loose/aggressive player.  To decent players this is a standard play.  I was pretty confident throughout the flop and turn I had the best hand but for pot control didn’t want raise risking building a big pot I didn’t want to play in.  By the river, his hesitation worried me a little and so does the Jack that fell off.  His river bet was definately small relative to the pot size and definately gives me the right pot odds to call but, it was small enough that it could’ve passed for a value bet with AJ or AT as well.  By the river, I had him on a range composed of: 55, 44, AK, AQ, AJ, AT,  and Ax suited.  Since he was a decent player I just couldn’t imagine him betting a good portion of his stack on the river as a v-bet with any one pair type hand despite him being really aggressive.  I would expect him to give up on most of his bluffs and check the river w/ a one pair type hand.  There was no way he had anything better than one pair, the only real concern is if his leading bets on the flop and turn backed him into a pair of 10′s or J’s.  I finally decided that even with a pair of 10′s or J’s he would check the river and the only reason why he would bet was to 3-barrel bluff being his only way for him to win the pot.  I could’ve asked to see his hand since it was me who called his last bet, but I was pretty confident it was either AK, AQ, or Ax suited.  After winning this pot, he was very rattled and confused on how I could make that call and gave me more respect in later hands.  This hand looks like it’s really easy to make the river call since his bet was so small compared to the pot and I did have top pair on the flop but when it’s the only player at the table that could take most of your hard-earned chips at stake, it’s a lot harder when you’re actually going through the motions.

I’ll be playing the same buy-in tournament tomorrow, so we’ll see if I can make the final table this time.  I’ll keep everyone posted.

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
65518022	Nov 16 19:06ET	The Sunday Mulligan		$200.00 + $16	1,273	61	$560.12
62640637	Nov 16 18:02ET	FTOPS Main Event		$500.00 + $35	5,225	1,575	–
68801540	Nov 16 14:06ET	$27,500 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	2,416	2,087	–
62640533	Nov 16 14:02ET	FTOPS Event #24		$120.00 + $9	7,000	3,785	–
65517282	Nov 15 21:01ET	Winner’s Choice Qualifier		$200.00 + $16	68	47	–
68376506	Nov 15 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	497	220	–
67916813	Nov 15 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	158	117	–	You made 1 rebuy/add-on for $100.00 .
68700209	Nov 15 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	708	104	–
62639179	Nov 15 14:01ET	FTOPS Event #22		$5,000.00 + $200	500	275	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $905 (FTOPS not included because was won by satellite)

Today’s winnings/losses = +$760.12 (+$200 for Paul Wasicka KO)

Today’s net profit/loss = -$144.88

          Well the $5k buy-in FTOPS #22 didn’t work out so well for me, I made it through half the field but towards the middle stages of the tournament my table got tougher.  There was one player, who goes by the name BusterLove, ran over our my table from the very beginning of the tournament with his uber loose/aggressive style, according to my brother this player is actually Mark Seif himself.  NEONPILS99 also got moved to my table later in the tourney who is a well known online tournament poker pro.  Ultimately, he was the one who knocked me out of the tournament as I made a play to his raise preflop that looked like a squeeze, I will post the hand below.  Paul Wasicka also got moved to my table which I KO’ed collecting yet another T-shirt.  It was definately a good experience playing this tourney mainly because I’ve never played an online tourney with such a great structure, $6000 in chips with 30 min. levels starting at $10/$20.  Only problem is this tourney is comprised of all the top-tier players in online poker today, I can rightfully admit that my gameplay is not up to par as a lot of the top-notch players online but I am closing the gap everyday that I play.  Proving that my table was tough is the fact that both BusterLove and NEONPILS99  were both at my table and both made the final table!  Fortunately, it only cost me a few hundred dollars to enter this event by winning a satellite.

           The Main Event went really well for me in the first couple rounds of the tournament.  Doubled up first hand beating a turned flush with my runner runner full house, hand posted below.  Lost my stack in the middle stages in an inevitable all-in preflop situation, my QQ vs. KK.  Winning almost half a million dollars is going to have to wait till next FTOPS.  I am very pleased with my 3rd place finish for $60k in FTOPS #7, considering this is my first FTOPS I have ever played.  I’m also proud of myself for winning my seat to all the events by satellites and see myself doing it again next series.

          I just arrived in Las Vegas for the Venetian Deepstack Series and played my first tournament at Noon.  It was a $340 buy-in tournament starting with $12k in chips with 40 min. levels starting at $25/$50.  Great structure!  Too bad I played horrible on my first day and got KO’ed an hour and a half into the tournament.  It’s really hard adjusting from online to live tournament play but should get it down as the days go on.  My goal is to make at least one final table in this Deepstack Series and I got six more tournaments to make that happen, so we’ll see how it goes.

———————–
Paul Wasicka KO
———————–

Full Tilt, 50/100 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 5 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

Paul Wasicka: 2,725 (27.3 bb)
BB: 19,890 (198.9 bb)
4XTRADER (MP1): 7,080 (70.8 bb)
MP2: 10,669 (106.7 bb)
CO: 8,040 (80.4 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is MP1 with
4XTRADER raises to 250, MP2 folds, CO folds, Paul Wasicka calls 200, BB calls 150

Flop: (750) (3 players)
Paul Wasicka checks, BB checks, 4XTRADER bets 475, Paul Wasicka raises to 2,475 and is all-in, BB folds, 4XTRADER calls 2,000

Turn: (5,700) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (5,700) (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 5,700 pot
Paul Wasicka showed (high card Ace) and lost (-2,725 net)
4XTRADER showed (two pairs, Aces and Kings) and won 5,700 (2,975 net)

—————————————–
FTOPS #22 vs. NEONPILS99
—————————————–

Full Tilt, 50/100 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 6 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

NEONPILS99: 8,430 (84.3 bb)
BB: 39,625 (396.3 bb)
4XTRADER (UTG): 11,607 (116.1 bb)
MP: 10,619 (106.2 bb)
CO: 6,320 (63.2 bb)
BTN: 14,761 (147.6 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is UTG with
4XTRADER raises to 200, MP calls 200, CO folds, BTN calls 200, NEONPILS99 raises to 1,180, BB folds, 4XTRADER raises to 4,440, MP folds, BTN folds, NEONPILS99 raises to 8,430 and is all-in, 4XTRADER calls 3,990

Flop: (17,360) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (17,360) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (17,360) (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 17,360 pot
NEONPILS99 showed (a pair of Tens) and won 17,360 (8,930 net)
4XTRADER showed (a pair of Tens) and lost (-8,430 net)

————————————-
Main Event Early Double-up
————————————–
Full Tilt, 15/30 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 8 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

MP2: 7,485 (249.5 bb)
4XTRADER (MP3): 7,500 (250 bb)
CO: 7,455 (248.5 bb)
BTN: 7,200 (240 bb)
SB: 7,470 (249 bb)
BB: 7,590 (253 bb)
UTG+2: 7,545 (251.5 bb)
MP1: 7,755 (258.5 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is MP3 with
UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 90, CO folds, BTN raises to 315, SB folds, BB folds, 4XTRADER calls 225

Flop: (675) (2 players)
4XTRADER checks, BTN bets 380, 4XTRADER calls 380

Turn: (1,435) (2 players)
4XTRADER checks, BTN bets 1,000, 4XTRADER raises to 2,500, BTN calls 1,500

River: (6,435) (2 players)
4XTRADER bets 4,305 and is all-in, BTN calls 4,005 and is all-in

Results: 14,445 pot
4XTRADER showed (a full house, Queens full of Aces) and won 14,445 (7,245 net)

BTN mucked (a flush, Ace high) and lost (-7,200 net)

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
68377553	Nov 14 19:46ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	82	34	–
67769657	Nov 14 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	247	208	–
67762176	Nov 14 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	375	243	–
68553022	Nov 14 16:31ET	$18,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	286	103	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
64966675	Nov 14 16:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	185	4	$6,248	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
68377516	Nov 14 15:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	143	75	–
66427811	Nov 14 15:01ET	$50,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	529	49	$238.05
62638745	Nov 14 14:02ET	FTOPS Event #19		$200.00 + $16		1,348	–
68536484	Nov 14 14:01ET	$27,500 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,427	1,022	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1580

Today’s winnings/losses = +$6486.05

Today’s net profit/loss = +$4806.05

           Unfortunately, I didn’t knock out any FT pros today, had a lot of chances to but couldn’t get in the right situations with them.  Fortunately, I did make a final table in the $40k rebuy.  The final 6 was made up of four online non-name pros (including myself), one FT pro (PearlJammed), and one decent player.  The decent player ended up getting knocked out in a fair amount of time since he was shortstacked and wasn’t putting any moves trying to move up in the money.  Once it got down to 5-handed it took almost forever to get another player out because of the low blinds and top-level play.  I ended up waiting out one more person to get knocked out and got my chips in when I was slightly ahead of PearlJammed’s all-in preflop my A9o vs his QJo, he spikes a Jack on the turn.  Made a decent amount of money but probably just breaks me even for the losses earlier in the weak.  Tomorrow is a big day with FTOPS # 22 starting at 11 in the morning.  I’m going out tonight but will try not to drink too much so I’m in tip-top shape for the tournament.  Wish me luck!

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
68377474	Nov 13 22:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	69	49	–
67343946	Nov 13 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	991	906	–
67343125	Nov 13 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	163	293	–
68377431	Nov 13 19:46ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	61	27	–
67651353	Nov 13 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	171	11	$663.30	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
68442112	Nov 13 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	678	615	–
67639910	Nov 13 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	287	214	–
67632385	Nov 13 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	353	22	$194.15	You collected $100.00 for 5 Knockouts.
64966560	Nov 13 16:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	160	12	$748.50	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
68377664	Nov 13 15:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	66	5	$1,260
68413179	Nov 13 15:01ET	$13,500 KO Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	941	389	–
66427694	Nov 13 15:01ET	$50,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	422	121	–
62638552	Nov 13 14:01ET	FTOPS Event #17		$200.00 + $16	1,094	784	–
68407081	Nov 13 14:01ET	$27,500 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,393	331	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $2653

Today’s winnings/losses = +$3065.95 (+ $100 for Eddy Scharf KO)

Today’s net profit/loss = +$412.95

           Another ”peanut” win but in all actuality I ran deep in a lot of my tournaments.  The theme for today was play good and go deep but make fatal mistakes in the final or final two tables of all my tournaments.  This is a big leak in my game that I need to fix as soon as possible.  It seperates me from all the other non-name pros I see take down tournaments on a daily basis.  It’s almost as if I lose ambition to win when it matters most and donk off all my hard earned chips in one or two simple mistakes.  Definately going to work on this and make sure it is obsolete from my game before the end of this year.  On the brighter side, I did knock out another FT pro named Eddy Scharf, which I have KO’ed before.  This is the 3rd consecutive day this week I’ve knocked out an FT pro and seems like it’s becoming a “One a Day” circumstance.  I’m not too sure if this is a common occurence for players at my level and that play as much as me.  It makes sense that I would sit at the same table with these pros more often since I am playing all the highest buy-in events offered on FT, but to be knocking them out so often, some of them more than once, I don’t think is very common.  Somebody told me today that I’m like the “Pro Magnet”, it’s going to be amusing to see if I can fill up a whole closet full of the bonus T-shirts they send.  It’s probably not a big deal to a lot of the regulars that have been playing professional online tournaments for a couple years but it still amuses and excites me, I’ll let you guys know when it gets old!  I promised I would post the hands of all the other pro KO’s I’ve made in the past if I found the hand history for them, so here they are, enjoy:

——————————–
Eddy Scharf KO # 1 & 2
——————————–

Full Tilt, 50/100 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

Eddy Scharf: 3,955 (39.6 bb)
UTG+1: 5,097 (51 bb)
UTG+2: 8,087 (80.9 bb)
MP1: 4,830 (48.3 bb)
MP2: 6,751 (67.5 bb)
MP3: 8,715 (87.2 bb)
4XTRADER (CO): 6,690 (66.9 bb)
BTN: 8,578 (85.8 bb)
SB: 4,452 (44.5 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is CO with
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 300, BTN calls 300, SB folds, Eddy Scharf calls 200

Flop: (950) (3 players)
Eddy Scharf checks, 4XTRADER bets 600, BTN raises to 2,200, Eddy Scharf raises to 3,655 and is all-in, 4XTRADER raises to 6,390 and is all-in, BTN calls 4,190

Turn: (17,385) (3 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (17,385) (3 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: 17,385 pot
4XTRADER showed (two pairs, Tens and Nines) and won 17,385 (10,695 net)
BTN showed (a pair of Sixes) and lost (-6,690 net)
Eddy Scharf showed (a pair of Sixes) and lost (-3,955 net)

Full Tilt, 120/240 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

BTN: 1,160 (4.8 bb)
SB: 7,348 (30.6 bb)
Eddy Scharf: 349 (1.5 bb)
UTG+1: 2,403 (10 bb)
UTG+2: 4,420 (18.4 bb)
4XTRADER (MP1): 3,166 (13.2 bb)
MP2: 10,425 (43.4 bb)
MP3: 1,900 (7.9 bb)
CO: 2,323 (9.7 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is MP1 with
UTG+1 raises to 2,378 and is all-in, UTG+2 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 3,141 and is all-in, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, BTN calls 1,135 and is all-in, SB folds, Eddy Scharf calls 84 and is all-in

Flop: (6,335) (4 players, 4 are all-in)
Turn: (6,335) (4 players, 4 are all-in)
River: (6,335) (4 players, 4 are all-in)

Results: 6,335 pot (4,694 rake)
4XTRADER showed (three of a kind, Aces) and won 1,641 (-737 net)
BTN showed (a pair of Jacks) and lost (-1,135 net)
Eddy Scharf showed (a pair of Fours) and lost (-324 net)
UTG+1 showed (a pair of Tens) and lost (-2,378 net)

————————–
Christian Kruel KO
————————–

Full Tilt, 800/1,600 blinds, 200 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

BB: 40,132 (25.1 bb)
UTG+1: 38,790 (24.2 bb)
4XTRADER (UTG+2): 31,479 (19.7 bb)
MP1: 43,009 (26.9 bb)
MP2: 62,648 (39.2 bb)
MP3: 44,944 (28.1 bb)
CO: 94,031 (58.8 bb)
Christian Kruel: 29,675 (18.5 bb)
SB: 55,176 (34.5 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is UTG+2 with
UTG+1 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 4,200, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Christian Kruel raises to 18,800, SB folds, BB folds, 4XTRADER raises to 31,279 and is all-in, Christian Kruel calls 10,675 and is all-in

Christian Kruel shows

Flop: (63,150) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (63,150) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (63,150) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: 63,150 pot
4XTRADER showed (three of a kind, Nines) and won 63,150 (33,475 net)
Christian Kruel showed (a pair of Tens) and lost (-29,675 net)

————————————
Stuart Paterson KO # 1 & 2
————————————

Full Tilt, 200/400 blinds, 50 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

BTN: 9,938 (24.8 bb)
SB: 15,965 (39.9 bb)
BB: 5,466 (13.7 bb)
UTG+1: 7,555 (18.9 bb)
UTG+2: 18,353 (45.9 bb)
MP1: 5,451 (13.6 bb)
4XTRADER (MP2): 21,295 (53.2 bb)
Stuart Paterson: 4,597 (11.5 bb)
CO: 24,679 (61.7 bb)

Pre-Flop: Ben Alcober is MP2 with
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 1,200, Stuart Paterson raises to 4,547 and is all-in, CO folds, BTN folds, SB folds, BB folds, 4XTRADER calls 3,347

Flop: (10,144) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (10,144) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (10,144) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: 10,144 pot
Stuart Paterson showed (high card Ace) and lost (-4,597 net)
4XTRADER showed (a pair of Kings) and won 10,144 (5,547 net)

    
Full Tilt, 30/60 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

CO: 2,372 (39.5 bb)
BTN: 2,920 (48.7 bb)
SB: 2,448 (40.8 bb)
4XTRADER (BB): 3,474 (57.9 bb)
UTG+1: 3,399 (56.7 bb)
UTG+2: 2,691 (44.9 bb)
Stuart Paterson: 1,904 (31.7 bb)
MP2: 3,556 (59.3 bb)
MP3: 4,666 (77.8 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is BB with
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, Stuart Paterson raises to 170, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, BTN folds, SB folds, 4XTRADER calls 110

Flop: (370) (2 players)
4XTRADER checks, Stuart Paterson bets 245, 4XTRADER raises to 900, Stuart Paterson raises to 1,734 and is all-in, 4XTRADER calls 834

Turn: (3,838) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (3,838) (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 3,838 pot
Stuart Paterson showed (a pair of Threes) and lost (-1,904 net)
4XTRADER showed (two pairs, Queens and Threes) and won 3,838 (1,934 net)

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
62638469	Nov 12 21:01ET	FTOPS Event #16		$300.00 + $22	1032	560	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $600.00 .
67343044	Nov 12 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	764	391	–
68377300	Nov 12 19:46ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	115	1	$5,200	Entry to tournament #62639179
67523634	Nov 12 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	269	24	$427.20	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
68311712	Nov 12 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	764	17	$263.58
68380892	Nov 12 18:31ET	The FTOPS Event #16 Warmup		$100.00 + $9	259	199	–
67512133	Nov 12 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	307	165	–
67504705	Nov 12 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	386	323	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $2245

Today’s winnings/losses = +$6090.78 (+ $200 for PearlJammer KO)

Today’s net profit/loss = +$3845.78

          Finally, won my expensive seat of $5200 buy-in to FTOPS #22 which is the last seat I needed to complete my list to all the FTOPS events I planned to play.  I successfully won my seat into all 14 FTOPS events I planned to play through smaller buy-in satellites.  Total cost if I were to buy-in direct to those FTOPS events would be an outstanding $9654 (not including rebuys/add-ons for rebuy tournaments).  Instead, I probably spent about $4k-$5k buying into all the satellites which saves me about 1/2 of what I would’ve spent buying in direct.  I plan to do this everytime the FTOPS rolls around because “Money saved is money won”, according to Mike Caro.  The best part about winning this seat is that the satellite cost $322 but since I KO’ed an FT Pro that goes by the name PearlJammed, I was credited $200 for the bounty and another T-shirt, so all it really cost me was $122 to win a $5200 seat.  That is +EV to the max if you ask me!  I also ran pretty hot in the $33k and $40k putting some pretty bad beats on people early on but all came back to bite me in the ass as it got closer to the final table.  Here are some hands I like to call “sweeties” and also the hand I KO’ed PearlJammed with:

——————–
Sweetie #1
——————–


Full Tilt, 100/200 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

MP2: 11,235 (56.2 bb)
MP3: 10,110 (50.6 bb)
CO: 12,363 (61.8 bb)
BTN: 10,203 (51 bb)
SB: 14,145 (70.7 bb)
BB: 5,755 (28.8 bb)
4XTRADER (UTG+1): 18,347 (91.7 bb)
UTG+2: 5,255 (26.3 bb)
MP1: 9,220 (46.1 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is UTG+1 with
4XTRADER raises to 400, UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls 400, MP2 folds, MP3 raises to 1,600, CO folds, BTN folds, SB folds, BB folds, 4XTRADER raises to 18,347 and is all-in, MP1 folds, MP3 calls 8,510 and is all-in

MP3 shows

Flop: (20,920) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (20,920) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (20,920) (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: 20,920 pot
4XTRADER showed (two pairs, Aces and Sixes) and won 20,920 (10,810 net)
MP3 showed (two pairs, Kings and Sixes) and lost (-10,110 net)

——————–
Sweetie #2
——————–

Full Tilt, 250/500 blinds, 50 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 8 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

UTG+1: 29,585 (59.2 bb)
UTG+2: 12,135 (24.3 bb)
MP1: 14,214 (28.4 bb)
MP2: 20,665 (41.3 bb)
SB: 13,375 (26.8 bb)
4XTRADER (BB): 10,554 (21.1 bb)
MP3: 19,058 (38.1 bb)
CO: 8,199 (16.4 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is BB with
MP3 folds, CO folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, SB completes, 4XTRADER raises to 1,700, SB calls 1,200

Flop: (3,800) (2 players)
SB checks, 4XTRADER bets 2,100, SB raises to 10,100, 4XTRADER calls 6,704 and is all-in

Turn: (21,408) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (21,408) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: 21,408 pot
SB showed (three of a kind, Jacks) and lost (-10,554 net)
4XTRADER showed (a full house, Tens full of Jacks) and won 21,408 (10,854 net)

——————–
Sweetie #3
——————–

Full Tilt, 50/100 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 6 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

4XTRADER (BB): 1,835 (18.4 bb)
UTG: 2,000 (20 bb)
MP: 3,645 (36.5 bb)
CO: 2,910 (29.1 bb)
BTN: 5,840 (58.4 bb)
SB: 3,390 (33.9 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is BB with
UTG folds, MP raises to 300, CO calls 300, BTN folds, SB folds, 4XTRADER raises to 1,835 and is all-in, MP calls 1,535, CO folds

Flop: (4,020) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (4,020) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (4,020) (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 4,020 pot
4XTRADER showed (a flush, King high) and won 4,020 (2,185 net)
MP showed (two pairs, Eights and Twos) and lost (-1,835 net)

——————–
Sweetie #4
——————–

Full Tilt, 25/50 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

BB: 2,230 (44.6 bb)
UTG+1: 3,290 (65.8 bb)
UTG+2: 5,047 (100.9 bb)
MP1: 2,790 (55.8 bb)
4XTRADER (MP2): 6,545 (130.9 bb)
MP3: 4,383 (87.7 bb)
CO: 2,020 (40.4 bb)
BTN: 5,173 (103.5 bb)
SB: 3,220 (64.4 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is MP2 with
UTG+1 calls 50, UTG+2 folds, MP1 raises to 225, 4XTRADER calls 225, MP3 folds, CO folds, BTN folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG+1 calls 175

Flop: (750) (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, 4XTRADER bets 425, UTG+1 raises to 1,200, MP1 folds, 4XTRADER calls 775

Turn: (3,150) (2 players)
UTG+1 bets 1,865 and is all-in, 4XTRADER calls 1,865

River: (6,880) (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 6,880 pot
UTG+1 showed (three of a kind, Sevens) and lost (-3,290 net)
4XTRADER showed (a straight, Five to Nine) and won 6,880 (3,590 net)


———————–
PearlJammed KO
———————–

Full Tilt, 600/1,200 blinds, 150 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 5 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

4XTRADER (SB): 25,516 (21.3 bb)
BB: 43,455 (36.2 bb)
MP: 35,952 (30 bb)
CO: 24,752 (20.6 bb)
PearlJammed: 15,438 (12.9 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is SB with
MP folds, CO folds, PearlJammed raises to 15,288 and is all-in, 4XTRADER raises to 25,366 and is all-in, BB folds

Flop: (32,526) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (32,526) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (32,526) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: 32,526 pot
4XTRADER showed (two pairs, Tens and Fives) and won 32,526 (17,088 net)
PearlJammed showed (a pair of Fives) and lost (-15,438 net)

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
62638253	Nov 11 21:01ET	FTOPS Event #14		$200.00 + $16	2583	2,292	–
67342964	Nov 11 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	695	530	–
68134643	Nov 11 19:46ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	71	64	–
67397650	Nov 11 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	220	71	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
68175559	Nov 11 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	793	265	–
67385738	Nov 11 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	273	37	–
68134701	Nov 11 17:51ET	Super Sat to FTOPS Event #22		$20.00 + $2	18	11	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $40.00 .
68134693	Nov 11 17:21ET	Super Sat to FTOPS Event #22		$24.00 + $2	18	14	–
68134678	Nov 11 17:06ET	Super Sat to FTOPS Event #22		$10.00 + $1	30	20	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $20.00 .
67378196	Nov 11 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	404	24	$202	You collected $80.00 for 4 Knockouts.
64966334	Nov 11 16:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	167	7	$2,025	You made 1 rebuys/add-ons for $100.00

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1542

Today’s winnings/losses = +$2407 (+ $100 for Jordan Morgan KO)

Today’s net profit/loss = +$865

          A year ago, making almost $900 in one day would be considered a really good day.  Now that I’m having huge $2k-$3k downswings daily and infinite possibilities in my upswings on any given day, wins or losses of $1k or less is not as detrimental as before.  It’s kind of confusing to understand and explain without making it sound like I’m some rich snob who doesn’t appreciate the value of money.  But if I were to have $900 in my hand, I would still consider it a lot of money but in my poker bankroll it’s just a couple buy-ins to some of my tournies the following day.  Winning and losing $1k or less is considered to me as what is known in the poker community as a “peanut”.  Every player has their own definition of what they consider a “peanut” win/loss, whether you’re a low limit grinder who considers $10-$20 win/loss a peanut, or a nosebleed stakes player who considers $5k-$10k win/loss a peanut.  Today is a peanut day for me and hopefully years from now my definition of a peanut is a couple hundred thousand.

     Today, I made one final table placing in 6th place in the $40k rebuy and one cash in the $30k KO.  I made one or two mistakes in the final two tables of the $40k that probably cost me a higher finish, but nothing to fret about, just simple mistakes I could learn to fix next time.  One thing that still excites me is when I knock out a FullTilt pro, not just cause they give you you’re buy-in back (up to $200) as a bounty and a gay looking t-shirt that states you knocked out a pro, but just for the simple pleasure that you knocked him out.  FullTilt claims that the players highlighted in red are really the pros that are playing, but no one really knows.  I like to be optimistic about it and believe that it is really them.  In the $40k I ended up KO’ing Jordan Morgan and will post the hand below.  So far I believe I KO’ed about five pros and if I can find the hand histories for them I’ll post them in a future blog.  If anybody would like one of these shirts just tell me what size and an address to send them to and I’ll have it shipped to you the next time I knock out another pro.  Here’s the hand I knocked out Jordan Morgan with:

——————–
HAND #1
——————–

Full Tilt, 170/340 blinds, 25 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 7 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

Player 1: 16,815 (49.5 bb)
Player 2: 3,840 (11.3 bb)
Player 3: 40,645 (119.5 bb)
Jordan Morgan: 4,565 (13.4 bb)
Player 5: 7,180 (21.1 bb)
Player 6: 9,916 (29.2 bb)
4XTRADER: 19,750 (58.1 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is BB with
Player 1 raises to 920, Player 2 folds, Player 3 calls 920, Jordan Morgan raises to 4,540 and is all-in, Player 5 folds, Player 6 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 19,725 and is all-in, Player 1 folds, Player 3 folds

Flop: (11,265) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (11,265) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (11,265) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: 11,265 pot
4XTRADER showed (three of a kind, Tens) and won 11,265 (6,700 net)
Jordan Morgan showed (a pair of Threes) and lost (-4,565 net)

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
68116312	Nov 10 22:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #22		$300.00 + $22	101	46	–
62637930	Nov 10 21:01ET	FTOPS Event #11		$1,000.00 + $60	1469	1,293	–
67342871	Nov 10 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	708	435	–
67267162	Nov 10 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	234	175	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
68115579	Nov 10 19:06ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$100.00 + $9	65	56	–
68048185	Nov 10 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	719	590	–
68116116	Nov 10 19:01ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$200.00 + $16	199	116	–
68116490	Nov 10 18:46ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$69.00 + $6	222	27	–
64806387	Nov 10 18:31ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$200.00 + $16	605	447	–
67255361	Nov 10 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	261	38	–
68115424	Nov 10 17:41ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$100.00 + $9	206	151	–
68116014	Nov 10 17:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$200.00 + $16	164	56	–
67247678	Nov 10 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	364	215	–
68115356	Nov 10 16:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #11		$100.00 + $9	203	79	–
64966237	Nov 10 16:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	173	123	–	You made 3 rebuys/add-ons for $300.00

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $3073

Today’s winnings/losses = -$3073

Today’s net profit/loss = -$3073

       After going on a hot streak and winning some big money there always seems to be a day like this where nothing goes right.  I didn’t even make one cash in any tournament I played, and I spent just as much money trying to win a satellite to FTOPS #11 for the same amount of T$ I would’ve got credited if I did win.  It could be possible FullTilt is trying to balance out big winning days with losing days, so that everyone gets a chance to win.  Or it could be a psychological thing where there is a lack of determination to win since I recently have won an obscene amount of money.  It’s possible that it could be a combination of both assumptions.  Today I will take the latter, because I wouldn’t rate my play the best I could of played but definately not bad.  This could be something I could definately work on because I think I do lack motivation after I win, but if I’m going to be professional then I should be completely focused and determined 99% of the time.  After getting knocked out of most of my tournies earlier in the day when I started playing FTOPS #11, I really had no motivation to win at all and my results proved it.   This is very unprofessional-like because if anything I should be focusing more intensely on this tournament since it is the 2nd highest buy-in event in FTOPS and 1st place prize is over +$300k.  I really need to work on this or it’s going to cost me tons of money.