Published August 26, 2010The warming-up was already good last time during the $2 tourney, but the real match round, the $5 tournament was a big succes: I finished in fourth place, cashing $42.75. With this cash out, I can at least run break even in my series of sixteen tournaments on Poker Stars. My excellent result was mainly due to my super tight aggressive play.
I was happy to double up already very early in the tournament, after just a few hands:
I think I play this hand by the book. I flop top two and it’s immediately clear to me that my opponent also has a good hand, top pair, two pair or the nut flush draw and I extract the maximum value. Then I was carddead for a while and I observed a lot of retarded moves at the table (call an all-in preflop with Q8 off, pay somebody till the river with toppair on a board full of draws,…). Then it was my moment to receive my portion of donkament chips:
This guy doesn’t give me credit for a hand, during a period I hardly played a hand. I don’t get it anyway why people can call an all-in with KQ: what can you beat, really? Then I was carddead for a very long period and I was able to steal a few pots because of my tight image. However I was a few places below the bubble all the time. But then I received another donkament and was able to reach the money and even the final table. I didn’t receive a lot of quality hands, but there was a lot of action on the table, with people quickly disappearing. With six people left I won an important pot, knocking out an opponent:
I was a little scared when he picked up a flush draw on the turn, but everything turned out as it should be. Another one went home and then (when i was third in chips) I reraised someone all-in with KdQd but the other guy happened to have Aces which I couldn’t beat. Anyway, this cash out gave me confidence again.
Published April 19, 2010There were only four tourneys to go and I’m not running that good in my series of ‘deepstack’ tournaments. So from that point of view, I was happy to at least cash in tourney 15 ($2+.2), but my prize had to be much bigger, if it wasn’t for the joking PokerStars dealer. I finished 12th, winning $4.41 .
After all, I played a véry solid tournament. I won my first big pot with A8 suited, which I played reasonably good I think:
I really like these kinda hands so I decide to let my opponents pay some limper’s tax. They do and I hit the flop very well with the nut flushdraw and a gutshot straightdraw. But I don’t bet the flop because you can easily be reraised on such mediocre boards against some original limpers. My free card gives me the nuts and when laguna 856 reraises the 60 bet, I suspect him of also holding a flush and decide to keep slowplaying my hand. Board pairs, but I’m not really scared of this and place a value bet, not too big because he might suspect me of slowplaying JJ: excellent result. Then I missed some flops completely with premiums like TT and AK before the next important hand was played:
I flop a set in a limper’s pot and I bet because at least one player must have picked something up on this board. My only caller leads out on the river (which happens to be a great blocking bet) and I only call here for two reasons. First one is that my opponent can easily have TQ in this hand and I don’t want to make a very big pot against the other big stack of the table. Secundo, if he was as weak as he happened to be, he wouldn’t have called a bigger bet anyway.
In the period that followed I even became chipleader, but I lost a big pot with JJ which brought me at fifth place during the period towards the bubble. It took a VERY long time before the bubbleboy was eliminated and I’d become a shortstack. However, if everything would have gone normal, I would have doubled up in this hand:
Instead, I got eliminated…
Published July 10, 2009Well, the most important thing is that I finally reached the money again, in a $2+.2 tournament. I even sat down on the final table. For like five seconds. However, I made the magnificent $5,4 in ninth place.
I started the tournament with a long period of being carddead. Luckily, this isn’t lethal (at all) in the beginning of a (deepstack) tournament. I took a small pot with AJ, but THEN began my good run. First, I was sponsored by a delicious donkament:
Now as I wrote earlier , getting minraised on the flop is always suspicious and could be a sign of somebody having flopped a set. But this time I just felt my opponent didn’t and it wasn’t likely he would have flopped two pair on this board so I just shoved. One minute later:
Now I think I play this hand perfectly by the book. My small raise gets reraised with a small amount and most of the times this is a move made by AK: just create an heads-up situation (in position). That’s why I shove immediately with my kings: he will probably call here but he won’t if he doesn’t catch anything on the flop. So I deserve that great pot 
.
In the period towards the bubble I took some important pots with QQ (raised it preflop, represented a big hand on a AKx flop) and I finally reached the money again. We were down to ten players when I got the QQ again:
Of course I get called by a reasonably good ace in this phase. But while our showdown was proceeding, the table filled up with four other players: I had just reached the final table…
Published May 14, 2009I played my first $2+,2 multi-table sng with 90 players and I was able to finish in sixth place, which was rewarded with $9,45, so I’m happy with this start . I’m especially happy with the way the tournament was played: there is more room for plays than in regular sng’s.
What helped me a lot was an early double-up during the first blind level: as a result I was really deepstack now and was able to play some quality poker. This is how I doubled:
It’s always nice to receive such presents in a tournament 
. After that hand I took a small pot with AJ suited on the flop (raised it preflop, flopped nut flushdraw) and got a little frustrated because I would have flopped a set like four or five times with my folded rags… My stack expanded another time when I noticed a familiar online phenomenon: the player on the big blind was on sit-out and somebody was trying to steal his (precious) blind for like the third time. I reraised him with 78 offsuit and was not happy with his call but the board brought me a full house^^.
In the period towards the bubble I was carddead for a long time but I was able to reach the money and the final table. I was shortstack but survived a couple of other players before I moved with 74:
So by winning that pot I stayed a little bit longer but I was eliminated a few minutes later when I moved with A6 and was called by AK. However, I’m happy with my cash-out!
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