Tournament #12

Tonight's tourney started off slow - lots of big pots from other players, but nothing from me. I was able to double up fairly early on when I flopped a set while the other guy continued to bet into me. He rivered 2-pair and lost a pile of money as a result. Big hand for me later, I raised early with 10/10, got re-raised all-in, a caller, and then a re-re-raise all-in. I thought long and hard about calling before laying down the pair. The other guys turned over A/2, A/3 and something else I forget. None of them paired anything - my 10s would have held up. Could have quadrupled. But who can call with 10s with that many raises in front of you? Doubled up later with about 15 players left when I drew JJ in the small blind. Raised all-in, got a caller with K/Q and my Js held up. Sitting in 7th with 11 left with $4200. Have hung around the $4000 mark and made the final table in 8th place. First hand of the final table I'm big blind with 7/4. Me and another guy heads up, flop comes 10/5/6. I river a 3 to make my straight and take down $3000 to move to $5300. Pocket 4s turn into a full house for me in a $7600 pot and I'm now at $9300, 3rd place out of 8. Maybe played too tight and got blinded off. Busted in 8th place when my A/9 suited ran into KK. Have no idea how two guys with less money than me managed to outlast me without winning a pot. Very irritated at my 3rd bubble boy finish in the last 6 tournaments. I've got 4 cashes in 12 tournaments overall, could EASILY be 7 out of 12.

FINISH: 8th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $58.30

Tournament #11

Went out so fast in the last tourney, I'm playing another. Things are going well, I flopped a nut flush and basically doubled up to get to $3500. Two hands later, I flopped another ace-high flush. Another guy was betting into me so I let him. He bet half his stack, I raised him all-in. He turns over two pair to my ace-high flush. Naturally he rivers an full house. Fortunately I had him well-covered and am only down to $2000. Still, that sucked. Can't blame the guy, he played the OK but my luck sure seems to suck tonight. Just drew KK and opened with a big raise - 4x BB. 3 callers! Flop came 10/5/J with 2 clubs so I pushed my remaining $1400 into the middle. 2 guys folded and got a call from the third. He turned over J/9. An 8 on the turn gave him a straight draw and set my nerves a-janglin'. But the KK held up and I more than doubled up to $5300, 6th place out of 15. Just paired my A/10 when Q/10/Q hit on the flop and was able to push the other guy out on the river. $2100 pot. Up to $5560, 5th place out of 12. Blinded off from there but have outlasted a sitter to make the $$$ (finally!) Catch 99 when really short-stacked, go all-in with no callers. Steal the blinds to go to $2700. A pair of Js and and uncalled all-in and I'm up to $5200, 5th place out of 7. Doubled up by avoiding a fourth diamond, allowing my AQ to hold up. Up to $8800 now. Big double up with A/K puts me up to nearly $20,000, good for 2nd place. River a straight to double up again, this time through the chip leader and I'm up to $46,000 for the chip lead! And now to heads up, me $55K, him $13K. First hand after the break and I've got 10/7 in the BB. Flop 7/5/Q with two diamonds. I bet $3600, other guy raises all-in for $5300 more. I call and he turns over A/6 of diamonds for a flush draw. My pair of 7s holds up - I actually river 2-pair - and I win my second tourney!

This one feels great. 5 straight non-cashes and 7 of my last 8. Down to less than 3x BB with 7 players left and I manage to come all the way back to win. Yeah, this takes a little bit of sting off the last tourney, getting busted in 27th.

FINISH: 1st Place
PAYOUT: $3.52
PROFIT: $3.27
BANKROLL: $58.55

Tournament #10

Not much to say about this one - another 45-player tourney. Spent the entire tournament folding, hand after hand after hand after hand. What can you do with 8/4 every single hand? Unbelievable run of cards. I finally catch QQ when I'm down to $1150 (blinds $25/50) and go all-in pre-flop. One caller, he turns over 88. Flop comes 10/6/9. Naturally he turns his gutshot straight and I'm busted. 27th place. Nothing to learn from this tournament at all other than sometimes you just don't catch any cards.

FINISH: 27th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $55.28

Tournament #9

Another 45-player, $.25 tourney tonight. Built a nice stack, up to $2500 early, before losing a big chunk of it to a ridiculous play. With blinds at $50/100, I raise to $400 with AA. Player to my left calls. Flop comes K/x/x and I go all-in. He calls and turns over K/6! Naturally, he rivers a 6 and my aces are busted. I drifted to the bottom of the standings after that, settling down around 20th out of 23. But then how to go from 20th to 3rd in just a couple hands? Had A/2 with a 2/3/4 flop, river came with an ace and I went all-in. Doubled up through a guy with A/J. Couple hands later I had AA again and this time was all-in pre-flop. Easily won that hand and am now 3rd out of 17. Just won another big pot to move into 2nd. Had 10/10, raised to 3x BB and got one caller. He hung around post-flop when a K came on the flop despite my 3x BB bet again and then called me on the river when I bet the same a third time. Must've thought I had a busted flush draw or something as my tens were good. $7400, now 2nd place. Down to $3700, 8th place, now - raised all-in over a guy who had re-raised me when I had QQ. He had A/K, and flopped a pair, then two pair to double-up. Now down to $1400 after a guy hit a gutshot straight draw on the river. And now busted in 15th place. Awesome. What a roller coaster. From 2nd place to busted out in 15th after one suckout after another. Very frustrating, 4 straight non-cashes.

FINISH: 15th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $55.53

Tournament #8

Another 45-player tourney tonight. Pretty solid effort, kinda just hung around until about 15 players left. Started moving up the ranks then and found myself in 5th place at the final table. I limped with 5/5 and the flop came 10/7/5 with 2 hearts. I bet, get raised, and re-raise all-in. Other guy calls and turns over K/10 hearts so he's got a pair and a flush draw. Naturally, he turns the flush and I'm busted. Bubble boy again, 8th place. Very irritated at this finish. Sometimes you make the right play, get your money in with the best of it and still lose. Could I have just called instead of re-raising all-in? Yeah, maybe. Would I have then folded the set on the turn with the potential flush on the board? I dunno. I just know I'm pissed right now.

FINISH: 8th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $55.78

Tournament #7

Hate to go to bed on such a sour night, so I've started another 45-player $.25 tournament. It's late but I'm wide awake, so why not?

Off to a much better start. Limp, then call an extra $30 with K/9 suited. Flop comes Q/10/J with 2 clubs so I've got a straight with an excellent flush draw. Bet of $120 with 2 callers in front of me, so I raise all-in. Get one caller who turns over A/Q off. He hits a Q on the turn to make me a bit nervous but a blank on the river more than doubles me to $3320. 5th out of 32 now. Raise to $200 ($25/$50 blinds) with QQ and get 2 all-in raises behind me. I call and they turn over K/J and 10/5. Hit a Q on the flop and bust 2 players. Up to $4700 now. An unbelievably bad run of cards sees me essentially fold my way to the final table where I can't catch anything to save my life. I get blinded off and end up going bust praying for a straight draw to hit. Bubble boy - 8th place, 7 places pay. Awesome.

FINISH: 8th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $56.03

Tournament #6

Card dead early on but finally catch A/Q off. I raise to 3x BB and another guys raises all-in to a little over 5x BB. A third guy raises all-in to nearly $900 after limping previously. I've got him covered but make a mistake and weakly fold. A fourth player is in as well. 10/6, 5/5, and something else I forget. Flop has an A in it and another on the turn. So I folded a set out of weakness. Awesome. Down to $800 with $25/50 blinds, I raise to $150 in early position with A/8 suited. One called. Flop comes 7/9/10. The caller bets $200 and I raise him all-in with my open-end straight draw. He calls and turns over A/3 with flush draw. An 8 on the turn and a blank on the river and I've doubled up to more than $2100, 14th place out of 27. A few hands later and I've now folded at least two flushes - woulda lost a lot of money on the second one (someone had an ace-high). Ouch - just lost 2/3 of my stack calling two all-ins with A/10 off. One guy had 10/5, the other had 7/7. Didn't pair anything, now down to $445 with $75/150 blinds. All-in with A/6 suited. 2 callers, don't hit anything, busted in 16th place. That sucked. Feel like I played poorly the entire tournament. Never topped $2200 in chips. Ugh.

FINISH: 16th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $56.28

Tournament #5

Too busy working last night to play but got a chance to play tonight. Good start as I call an all-in early in the tourney with a pretty obvious full house. Can't believe the other guy made the bet he did. I take the pot down, double up, and move to 2nd place. I stayed solidly in the top 5 for much of the action before dropping to 7/8 for the final table. Down to 5 players, I begin to get blinded off before catching a hand and tripling up to (briefly) become chip leader. That doesn't last long as I overplayed a weak ace and drop back to about $13,000. I manage to hang around for a few eliminations and we're down to 3 players. Blinds are $600/$1200 and I'm in the big blind with a little over $8000. I catch a suited A/3 and raise all-in. One caller - and he turns over A/2. Naturally, he hits a deuce on the flop and I'm done. A fourth club on the river to give him a flush only rubs salt in the wound. Still, 3rd place ain't bad.

FINISH: 3rd Place
PAYOUT: $1.85
PROFIT: $1.60
BANKROLL: $56.53

Mental note: I really need to learn how to play middle pairs. Stuff like 9/9 10/10 scares the bejeezus out of me.

Tournaments from 3/23/10

Two more tournaments tonight, pretty similar vibe to both. I managed to build up to about $4000 in each (starting with $1500) but can't catch any cards to save my life. I can tell I'm playing too conservatively but how much can you do with Q/3 hand after hand?

Tournament #3: Card dead the whole way, I finally get something decent with QQ. I'm all-in pre-flop and get one caller - AQ. Naturally, he hits an ace and I'm busted in 13th place. Well, that sucked.

FINISH: 13th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $55.18

Tournament #4: Another card dead tournament. Hand after hand after hand of 9/6 and Q/4. Ugh. I manage to hang around, though, and eventually double up to about $5100. I start getting blinded off and I'm down to $3100 ($200/400 blinds) when I get AA. One guy in front of me raises to $800 and I'm all-in pre-flop. Player to my left re-raises all-in to about $3700 and everyone else folds. We're heads-up and he turns over.......10/6 off-suit. What the hell? Flop comes 4/5/7 rainbow...can you see where this is headed? Yeah, he rivers an 8 for a straight and I'm done. Not happy with this one at all.

FINISH: 11th Place
PAYOUT: $0.00
PROFIT: -$0.25
BANKROLL: $54.93

I think I'm going to want to look into some books on tournament strategy. I have a pretty solid idea of what I want to do but it's clear I need to investigate ways to play more hands when I'm running card dead. When does it pay to play lesser hands based on blinds and # of players involved in a pot? These are the things I need to learn. That said, I doubt it's ever profitable to play Q/4 :)

First Two Tournaments

To start with getting my feet wet playing for real money, I've decided to play $.25 buy-in tournaments. Yeah, a quarter, you read that right. I will be strictly playing no-limit hold 'em - my favorite variation of poker by far. My goal is to try and build the $50 bankroll into $100 and then move up a level.

First tournament: Right away, I notice that the play is much-more realistic and sensible in these tournaments than even in the 10K play money tournaments. No 7-way pots, a lot fewer all-in idiots on the first hand, etc. The tournament goes well and I catch some cards as well. I make the final table and am in 4th place with 5 players left. The chip leader busts the other 3 players fairly quickly, leaving me heads-up - and him with a gigantic chip lead of 55K - 11K. First hand of heads-up, I get A/K suited, so I'm all-in pre-flop. He calls with JJ and the pair holds.

FINISH: 2nd Place
PAYOUT: $2.41
PROFIT: $2.16
BANKROLL: $52.16

Second tournament: Similar to the first, I'm playing well and hitting some nice big pairs. I make the final table in solid shape but get blinded off and have to struggle to hang on. I somehow make it to heads-up but am again a significant underdog, more than 7:1 in chips. With my stack at around $11,000, I get into a hand with about $8,000 in the pot. I've got nothing - 8/5 off - but bluff all-in on the river and my opponent folds. This pushes me up to around $15K or $16K and I'm on my way. A couple more double ups and suddenly *I* am the overwhelming chip leader, $58K - $8K. One more hand later and I win! First time in probably 5 years that I've won a real money tournament and only my second one ever. Payout that time was $400 - this one's just a bit smaller :)

FINISH: 1st Place
PAYOUT: $3.52
PROFIT: $3.27
BANKROLL: $55.43

What it's All About

I've been playing Texas Hold 'Em for about 6 years. Nothing serious, a few casino tournaments, a few tournaments at the Spokane Country Club, a friendly cash game with other couples, and trips to the casino. Oh yeah, and lots of time playing play money tournaments on Poker Stars. During all that time, I am a plus-money player. I have been told, and generally agree, that I'm a pretty decent player and good enough to make some actual money playing poker. I've finally decided to put (a little of) my money where my mouth is and begin playing poker online for real money.

And that's where this blog comes in. In here, I will document my attempts to turn my gigantic initial bankroll of $50 into $100K. I don't have a deadline for this nor do I necessarily think it's all that realistic. But I'm sure going to give it a shot!