In which I remember why I love the G....

£15 Turbo FO, G, Monday 13th Sept

So I played the G 'super steep, super deep' tournament on Monday night because I was bored after work. Nemesis had dropped me a text and, as usual, if he's playing, I'm playing. I get there pretty early and have some great banter with Emma Fullerton, a pal of hers who's name I always forget, Azbo, Nemesis and a couple of others.

When the seats are drawn, well, wp me, I'm in the one seat and one my table are Nemesis and Emma, as well as, and FML, Barry Smith. Brilliant. I definitely needed to be OOP to Emma (superlagggggggg, seat 3) and Ian (seat 5).

Within the first level my bluff frequency is huge, I'm playing mostly ATC. There's only a 15 minute clock, and stacking someone is always nice. Barry Smith limps UTG+1 (seat 7) and I follow (we're 7 handed) with 95cc. Folds to Nemesis OTB and he pumps it to 250 or so and we both call. I think one of the Blinds calls too.

Flop 56Thhc. Checks to Nemesis who bets 600 and is called by Barry Smith. I make it 2200 pretty quick (repping a set) and get called in both spots. Shit. I'm pretty sure Ian has a hand like 78/79/T9/etc and possibley with hearts too. I'm not that delighted by Barry's call caus he almost always has a ten. Iain bets 3200 from an 8000 stack when checked to on a 2c turn (so now I have one pair and a 9 high flush draw lol). On the flop, I checked to Iain mainly for pot control with my weak one pair hand (because he'd have raised with draws as well as real hands if I bet, and also to set up an elaborate three street bluff, which starts with checkraising repping a set on the flop. On the turn, I was planning to lead, until Barry called. Now I have to careful that he's silly enough to call off really light (like I say, the way he played the hand and his demeanour meant that he almost always has a Ten..and a Ten is pretty light given the range I'm repping..) so I check the turn and calculate that I can jam on Ian if he bets the right amount. The nice thing about Barry being in the hand is I can now use him to induce a bluffing range from Ian by checking behind.

Ian bets 3200 on the turn like I say and this is just never a value bet I don't think. With the board now extradrawy he would probably jam his value hands (8k into about 7k..), especially since Barry is in the hand and might stack off light. He knows *for sure* that I'm capable of stacking off really light to Ian too, so there's only one thing to do with his value hands here. 3200 looks like a draw. It could be a well disguised value hand, but, erm, my read was that it wasn't, shall we say. Barry sigh passes and I do the maths and jam 8k effective leaving myself about 7k behind if called. If Ian has a pair and a draw he probably has a decision here, and if he has a bare draw he just has to pass, I think. He tank passes and I show the 'bluff'.

Anyway, I now have about 24k from a 15k starting stack and I'm coasting.  Then this happens on the last hand of 25/50. Player (unknown) opens early and I threebet with KK in the cutoff to 800. I get two cold calls from moron (button) and Emma (SB) before the BB makes it 3000 to play. Original raiser passes and I just jam. Other two quickly pass before BB tanks (with about 16k behind) and talks about how he always loses with this hand, and I put him on AK obv, and then after about 5 minutes (seriously) he calls and flips QQ.

Q on the river. Just the 40k+ (1600BB+) pot lost there then. Sigh. This is not why I love the G lol.

The next hand I raise 10% of my remaining stack, someone makes it 5k (lol) and Emma jams. Thanks for the treble up opportunity with my pretty cards. I jam for 5650 and the guy who made it 5k sigh folds (lol - he passes AJ, but knowing he has three outs he now has the correct price to call off the extra because of his batshit raise....). I beat Emma's AQ with a 6 in the window for my 69s and I'm back to average.

I go on to crush and at one point 6 handed I have 90k, then I have to fold on supercoord flops that miss me and I'm on 45k (average 50k) and 4 handed when I 3bet jam over the eventual winner with K9s and he slowrolls with AQ. He had a healthy chiplead and had opened the last million pots. I miss, obv.

How does he win? He coolers the fuck out of Boris when Boris has him covered by 20k or so. Boris in SB, thinking of what he should raise to (although he hasn't announced raise yet) and the retard just jams. Boris asks to make sure he said 'all in' and then calls with KK. Retard flips 55. Flops quads. Boris makes a stand of it and gets it back to almost even, but he's unlucky again later.

Fortunately this kid has now won 2 tournaments this week (one at aspers, apparently) and will think he's a great player. He's not. Really. I'm licking my lips at the thought of all that money coming back to the poker economy.

Except, I'm not....

I'm taking a break from poker for a while. I'll defo play the £1k added first Tuesday and the NPF Champs is a cert, but other than that I prolly won't play much in October, I'm almost certainly done for September, with the exception of the until I've sorted out a new job and know what I'm doing. We'll see.

Oh, I should tell you why I love the G.....

I was chatting to Phil about why the G's new schedule, much maligned on the NPF, actually makes good business sense for them (it does...) and his enthusiasm to be better all the time was very impressive.  Good things will happen for the G, and if a couple of their games take off we'll have some big pots there pretty soon.

In which I do ok....

Short update for the week.

Played 5 sessions of NL50 live for a total profit of £280.

Played two tournaments also for a £60 loss.

I should have been up about £400 today but some quality hands like this:

Q7s in a limped pot I complete in SB.

Flop KQ7hh. I checkraise 3 players, one folds, two call.  Turn is an offsuit 2. With £60+ in the middle I jam for my remaining £45ish and get called in two spots. One has a straight draw, the other a flush draw with a blocker to the straight draw, I hold for a huge pot (~£180).

 I raise to £3.50 AA UTG+1

Called in 5 spots and flop is T45dd. SB leads £8 and I check (with 3 players to act behind) planning on 3betting when the aggro MP player raises (which he will). He makes it £20.50 and I'm ready to 3bet jam when I realise that he's put about half his stack in and he prolly commits the rest on the turn anyway when I can see it blank for free. Whilst I'm running over the options, the SB calls with £100+ behind. Now I can't really jam because the SB could be planning on jamming any non-diamond turn with a set/two pair. I call and the turn is a 2. It checks round, which is weird as fuck, was pretty sure now that SB had a hand like AT/KT/all other pairs and was trying to get to showdown as cheap as possible. Since the aggro MP player checks he now defo has a flush draw.

I river a wheel with the 3. I check-call a shove (once SB folds, I wanted to see what he did, just in case he played a set weird) and get shown J6dd for a bigger straight. Sigh. I should just jam on the flop with so much in the middle. Urgh.

I get most of that back later when....

 Well, only what I'd invested in the hand when MP player from before limps early, Scotty raises right behind, one caller and I threebet to £10.50 with AQs from the BB. Scotty asks how much I have behind and the limper jams for £35. Nobody has played KK like this since the mid-nineties. This is always midpairs and I'm always flipping. I make the obvious call and river an Ace. Scotty passed Jacks. MP limper had TT.

I get coolered when...

I call a small raise OTB with 78s, flop is K88. MP limper bets threestreets, I don't raise caus the board never gets drawy and I almost always have the best hand. MP almost always has like KJ from the way he plays and he ended up with A8. Sigh. I didn't even raise the river just in case. Pfffft. Guess I lost the minimum.

Later that evening, I make a straight and get max value when...

I call a small raise in LP with 89s, flop is 467, call a minbet on the flop, turn is the nut T and I make a thin value raise on the river when the board pairs the 6. Donk had flopped the straight and I take him for £40 or so. 

 4 hands later......


I open KK in EMP. Get 5 calls. Board is J62. I raise a donk from BB. He flats. Turn a 4 and we get it in. He has 43 for a pair and a gutshot. He gets there. Sigh. GG £120 pot.

Decent, but should have been so much better. Did have mint craic with Scotty all day though.