My fourteenth tournament ($2+.2) was in fact one big joke. This experience really showed me the aspects of low stakes poker and made clear once more how difficult it is to make profit by playing those tournaments.

It was already during the very first hand of the tournament that I noticed the particular ‘low stakes phenomenon’: there are a lot of loonatics in this tourneys (maybe just searching for some cheap tournament to steam at after a bad beat in a bigger tournament) who just push during the first hands. That makes my knock-out hand a little ironic, as some of my opponents really had a quality hand and it was just time for a little ‘jokerstars’. Watch:

Now WHAT THE F*CK IS HAPPENING HERE? OK, of course this AA vs KK vs QQ thing is a big joke already in the first place. And the fact that the Queens take this pot down is an extra joke. But above all, how bad do those morons play those hands?? Pocket fives minraises an early position raise and calls for whole his stack when it’s reraised two times, pocket Kings just call a reraise preflop and Pocket Queens (which makes a good play when just calling the 200 raise) thinks he’s not against Aces or Kings when three players go all-in preflop… I get so tired of these jokes, when my series are over I will definitely not play those $2 tourneys anymore.

I just had a pretty short, but nevertheless very exciting tournament. I played the $8+.8 deepstack sit ‘n go with 90 players but it didn’t really last as long as I prepared for.

So I sat down behind my screen with a bag of chips and a couple of drinks. The tournament started and I was on fire right from the beginning. I got some big hands like AK and AQ and was able to win some rather small pots with them. Then I got an even better hand, pocket cowboys:

So everything worked out perfect, with an opponent having JJ and the flop being covered with all low cards. Especially in a deepstack tournament like this, a double-up is enormous. But then I lost a big pot with those same Kings:

Now at first, I was very mad and screamed things about cold deck to myself but in fact I should have figured he can almost only have QQ or JJ in that spot, flatcalling a reraise preflop. I lost another big pot a few moments later, basically because of tilting a little after this pot (bad plan). Then I got eliminated in the following hand:

I’m quiete convinced that the player on the cut-off is making a move in late position but my stack has become too small to reraise without being committed on the flop, so I shove all-in. I indeed happen to be a  huge favorite but the King flops… So I finish in 76th place after an exciting start of the tournament.

I played my second $5+.5 tournament and I got eliminated in 70th place. However, not much I could do about it, just lost two important pots.

Not a lot of spectacular things happened early on in the tournament. I played some hands fairly aggressive in late position and I won some and I lost some. Because seeing some hands still is the most interesting, I converted an important one for you:

I think KJ is a good hand to open a pot with, but on the flop I sensed something was wrong in this hand, thanks to one of the scarce tells you have in online poker: the time someone takes to make a decision. So I also checked but when the SB checked the turn again I was kinda convinced he didn’t have a 6, because of the draw on the board. However, in the end he happened to have this draw along WITH the 6. It was this same guy who would eliminate me a few moments later ;). Kind of the same situation preflop:

I flop top two pair and obviously bet the flop as I can represent a lot of even stronger hands. When the turn comes a diamond, I realise my chips go in anyway, also having the nut flushdraw now. Too bad for me, my opponent already had the flush… I calculated my odds afterwards with the poker calculator and I (only) had 25% in that spot, so exactly a three to one dog.

Just like in my third tourney I finished 35th again in my sixth one, another sit ‘n go with 90 players with a $2+.2 buy-in. However, I can mention you some classic (deepstack) tournament situations.

For a start, I lose about a quarter of my stack relatively early in the tournament, during the first blind level. I think I play the hand rather correctly (if you disagree, let me know ), but lose the hand because I came short of one kicker notch, to use Vanessa Rousso’s words^^:

Just a little bad luck I guess. After I’ve been moved to another table, I win a pot by a play which I can only make in a deepstack game:

I really like those suited Aces and maybe I could have taken the pot by betting the flop, who knows. Anyway I take a cheap river card on the turn and my opponent (who has a lot of chips) bets weak again. On the river I realize I can perfectly represent AK in this spot and take the pot by raising. After this hand I was unlucky a couple of times when I flopped two pair two times against a flush and I became shortstacked. Then I got pocket cowboys and a classic showdown followed:

Kings versus Aces, what I’m gonna do? More luck hopefully next time, when I’ll play a $5 one again.

Another small deception in my third tournament ($2+.2). However, I had more fun playing this one than the previous one, where I was just carddead. This time I finished 35th.

I took a nice pot in the beginning with mediocre suited connectors:

This hand is just about representing everything: by minraising the flop I can represent a very strong hand like a queen as well as a flushdraw. Of course if you choose this tactic you better follow trough with it and it succeeded.

Subsequently I woke up with pocket sevens:

It’s important to know that the original raiser preflop just lost a big pot with a bad beat and I kinda expected him to steam so that’s why I just limp. So I wanted to be heads-up and I put in a big reraise, but the other player (who was playing fairly loose passive) calls anyway. We check towards the river and I know there’s no value in betting there.

What happens after this was really cruel: I went from deepstack to elimination in a rather short period. First I faced a bad beat with QQ against KT and then the following cold deck followed:

Now I should have figured he flopped a set after the minraise on the flop, it’s a standard move from most online players. So I guess my preflop raise was not bigh enough to get the deuces out of the way…After that it was pretty much over.