150€ NLHE freezout

66 players registered for the 150€ no-limit hold'em freezout. With a 5000 starting stack and 45 minutes levels, I was looking forward to play an interesting tournament and make my best.

Unfortunately, another destiny was waiting for me.

I played the first level and the half of the second level very tight. I entered only one pot and won it, which put me around 4200 chips when the following hand came. I raised UTG to 350 (blinds 50/100) with QQ. Player on my left smooth called, and button (very lose and not in the real mood to play) raised all in for around 2000 chips.
I knew the player on my left, and I was sure he would have raised with AK/KK/AA. However, I didn't want to give him odds to call with a pair such as TT/JJ, so I raised all in for isolation. To my horror, the other player called and showed KK. Button had AQ and flop went blank.
What happened is that player on my left saw something about the button which made him think he would raise. Therefore he just smooth called, wanting to trap the button. I got sandwiched and lost my stack on this huge cooler.

I was down to 900, and went all in on the button with 44 after 4 limpers. I got one caller and raced again KQs. He flopped two queens and I was out.

I don't think I could have avoided this horrendous situation, I guess I'm in a very low phase of luck, as it seems I'm getting cold decked a lot these last tournaments.

Tomorrow is the 150€ dealer's choice rebuy, a lottery where I hope to get lucky for once, and Friday the 1000€ main event. I usually always blow up the main events of Riga, let's see how it will be this time.

150€ PLO rebuy

Today was the 150€ pot limit Omaha rebuy. 40 players registered.

First 3 levels of rebuy went smoothly and I ended doing only one rebuy (at the very beginning). Total cost 450€ including add-on.

Level 4 - 50/100 - 6875 chips
40 players, 4200 average.
Button raises to 300. I call from my BB with JsQs7h2c. Flop 9TA rainbow. I bet 600, button calls. This was a mistake, I knew button would call with only one pair (very loose player). Turn 3. Check check. River J. Check Check. I lose to A388.
Button limps. I call SB with AhQd7c2s. Flop 8hThQh. I bet pot 300 with my dry Ah, button calls. Turn Qs. I bet 900 and button raises pot. I fold and he shows Q8 for the full house. This was another big mistake (my bet on the flop was ok, but on the turn I should have check/call at best).
I win a small pot with betting my top 2 on the flop.
One limper, I raise pot OTB with KKQJ and take the pot.
I limp with 5678 rainbow. Flop 25T, all check. Turn 8. I call a 400 bet with my 2 pairs and draw. River Q puts a flush possibility. I fold to a 1000 bet.

Level 5 - 75/150 - 4325 chips
35 players, 4800 average.
I call a 300 raise on my SB with AJ33 (4 players). Flop 4AK. All check. Turn 4. All check. River J. Initial raiser bets 450. I call, being quite sure to have the best hand and he mucks.
I raise pot in LP to 675 with AsKsQcJc. 2 callers. Flop comes 8T6 rainbow. Check check. I bet 1500 and SB (big stack) raises pot and puts me all in. I fold. My play was discutable: I was representing a big pair, and I thought the flop didn't help very much my opponents. SB showed a T so he had a set or two pairs, as he didn't get so much fold equity from me. I had only 4 outs so I had to fold. I should maybe have checked and see the turn, which could have give me many more outs.

Level 6 - 100/200 - 3150 chips
30 players, 5500 average.
I limp with KQJ6, cut off raises to 900 and I fold.
UTG limps, 2 other callers. I raises pot from my BB with AdKdAc5d. UTG goes all in (I have him covered) and other folds. I call and lose vs KTQ9 double suited.
I'm left with 600 chips and I go all in blind on the next hand (last hand of level, before a 45 min diner break). I lose vs AAxx.

I'm out in 25th position.

I made a few mistakes on this tournaments, but I was also massively card dead and lacked some luck when I lost with my AA on the end.

105€ NLHE rebuy

It's week of Olympic Casino Anniversary Tour in Riga. Today was the 105€ no limit hold'em rebuy event. 35 players registered.

The rebuy period went very bad for me: I lost KK vs A8 early and went on massive rebuy tilt. I ended doing 7 rebuys for a total of 945€ damage (including entry and add-on), and a final stack of 400 chips (I lost all-in on the last hand and made double rebuy + add-on).

30 minutes levels. Top 7 are paid.

Level 4 - 50/100 - 4000 chips
35 players, 4300 average.
2 limpers, I raise to 400 with 88. UTG calls. Flop comes A85 rainbow. UTG checks. I bet 600 hoping for a raise and it works: opponent raises 2000. I go all in and he calls. I win vs A7.
I raise UTG to 300 with AQo, solid player reraises 1100 and I fold (he shows KK).
I call a 300 raise in MP with AJo. 3 players on the flop 23Q. All check. Turn 5. Button bets 600. I make a loose call. Rivers is 6, putting a possible flush. I check, button bets 1000. I'm quite sure he is very strong, and I fold.

Level 5 - 75/150 - 6600 chips
31 players, 6600 average.
2 limpers. I raise 650 LP with AKs. 2 callers. Flop comes A62 rainbow. It's checked to me, and I bet 1500. UTG goes all in 1750, I call and lose to 66.

Level 6 - 100/200 - 4150 chips
27 players, 5550 average.
UTG min raises to 400, I call my BB with 89o. I miss the flop and fold to a bet.
I steal the blinds on the cut off with A9o.
I raise EP A7o (using my tight image, I haven't played many). 2 callers. Flop KK6. SB bets 500, I fold.
2 limpers, I raise my SB to 1000 with AQo and all fold.

Level 7 - 150/300 - 3650 chips
23 players, 6650 average.
I raise UTG to 1000 with AKs. Button calls. Flop T44. I go all in and he folds.
EP goes all in 3000, I call from my BB with QQ and win vs KQ.

Level 8 - 200/400 - 7600 chips
17 players, 9000 average.
I limp UTG with KQo, 1 caller. Flop K58 with 2 hearts, I bet 1200 and take the pot.
I raise MP to 1200 with JJ. Solid player reraises to 3000. I decide not to gamble (at best I'm 50/50) and fold (he had AKs).
SB calls, I raise my BB 1200 with A3o. SB goes all in. I know him as a very tight player, so I fold.

Level 9 - 300/600 - 5400 chips
15 players, 10200 average.
I raise MP tp 2100 with QQ, BB goes all in and I almost double vs A8.
We are now 5 handed.
I raise UTG wit AJo, one caller, SB raises to 10000. I know he is strong and I fold. He shows AK (caller folds too and shows 99).
I raise my SB to 3000 and BB folds.
I raise OTB with 33 and take the blinds.

Level 10 - 400/800 - 9900 chips
11 players, 13900 average.
I raise 2200 with 57s in LP, BB goes all in and I fold.

Final table - 6100 chips
9 players, 17000 average.
I take the blinds SB vs BB with JJ.
All in EP with 77 and I take the blinds.

Level 11 - 500/1000 - 6100 chips
9 players, 17000 average.
One player busts, we are now on the bubble.
One limper on LP. I go all in on my SB with ATo. BB calls and limper folds. I race vs 77 and lose.

I'm out in 8th position, bubble boy again.

I don't think I have done any big mistake on this tournaments. I was overall quite card dead and got a cooler (AK vs set). I could have been more aggressive while 5 handed but it was really difficult as some players were really getting great cards and always showing doing monsters. I just would have needed more luck on the last race to survive a little bit more and maybe get in the money.

So it was quite disappointing to finish on the bubble, but I can't blame myself too much. It wasn't just my day.

EPT Baden

8000€ Main Event

Well, I didn't do well. At all. I managed to survive only one level and half... I didn't have a specifically tough table, as I knew only two names: Dario Minieri, a young very agressive Italian player and Soren Kongsgaard, a very good Danish player.

I was directly on the right of Dario, which was good, but which also led to my demise. The play on the table was quite loose, with Dario limping, raising and calling a lot of raise preflop. I think I won only one pot in all my tournament: I raised to 200 with AQo in EP, two callers. Flop came JJ9, I bet 400 and they all fold.
A few hand later, Dario raises to 350, I reraise to 850 with JJ, but SB reraised to 2500 so I folded. I splashed in a few pots with marginal holdings (I shouldn't have) and at the beginning of level 2, I was down to around 7500 chips.
And the last hand came: Dario raises EP to 450. I smooth call with 88 (I have seen him with a lot of marginal holdings, so he could have almost anything, put I put on high cards). Two other callers. Flop comes 344 rainbow. Dario bets 1500. This could be a continuation bet (2000 in the pot) so I call. Other opponents fold. Turn comes T. Dario checks. I put him on AK/AQ and I bet 2000. He insta goes all in. I have 3500 chips left.
My reasoning: if he has KT/AT, why check raise me all in? The same if he has AA/KK, he would get a call only from TT/x4. I think he just try to buy the pot (he'll still have a few thousands left if he looses). Also, if I call and win I'mm be at 15000, and if I lose, at 3500. I'm really not sure of anthing, and of course in doubt I call (I'm a calling station). He shows QQ and the river is a 9.
Dario completely outplayed me, and he fully deserved to win. Congratulations to him for checking the turn, I fell in the trap.
My call on the flop wasn't too bad, I could have been in front. On the turn, why not checking? Why building a pot in which I would almost be committed with such a weak holding? Had I checked, I guess Dario woud have value bet the river, I would have called, but lost maybe 2000-3000 more and not my stack.
Big hands are for big pots, and small hand for small pots.

I should have played the first levels much more tight. Play was very LAG, best strategy would have been to tighten a lot and wait for the good opportunities.


Cash games

I played 4 hours in the 5-10€ no-limit hold'em. I didn't made real mistakes, had two small coolers (rivers giving me full house vs higher full, and giving me two pairs vs flopped flush), and ended the session with 700€ profit.


Next big tournament is MCOP in Amsterdam, early November. Maybe this time I'll be able to do better... Well, we'll see. One thing is sure: I need to elevate my play and my thinking pattern, otherwise I'll never be able to do any good.

10th in the 30€ rebuy

44 players gathered in the 30€ NLHE rebuy tournament in Olympic Casino Riga. I made 3 rebuys and one add-on for total investment of 150€. Rebuy period went well and I finished it with 6000 chips.

TOP 7 are paid, with a nice first prize of 1500€.

Level 4 - 50/100 - 6000 chips
43 players, 2500 average.
Tight player open raises to 350. I smooth call with AJo, cut off calls and blinds fold. Flop comes AJ7 rainbow. Raiser goes all in for 1000, I reraise 2500 for isolation and win against AK.

Level 5 - 75/150 - 8000 chips
36 players, 3000 average.
I raise UTG to 450 with 66 and fold after 2 all in reraises (AA wins the pots).
Button limps, I raise my SB to 475 with AKo, BB folds, button goes all in 4000 and I fold (he had AKs). I didn't want to gamble half of my stack at this stage.

Level 6 - 100/200 - 6800 chips
30 players, 3500 average.
MP raises 400, I call SB with QTs. BB calls. Flop 9TQ with 2 spades. Check check, raiser bets 700 (and he has 700 left). BB has 2000 so I go all in and all fold.
MP raises 400, I call with Ad-9d. Flop comes Ac-Kc-7h. Opponent bets 500, I call. Turn Th. Opponent bets 1000 and I put him on a strong ace, I fold.
I limp UTG with 8Ts. SB and BB call. Flop 355. Check, check. I C-bet 400, both blinds call! Turn is 7 and I fold to the BB 1000 bet.

Level 7 - 150/300 - 6200 chips
27 players, 3900 average.
MP goes all in 625, and it's folded to my BB. I call blind and lose.
Card dead for all level.

Level 8 - 200/400 - 5800 chips
22 players, 4800 average.
Card dead, manage to steal the blinds once with AJo. Table are redrawn and I avoid the blinds.

Level 9 - 300/600 - 5800 chips
19 players, 5500 average.
Card dead, until I get KK, raises to 1800 and take the blinds.

Level 10 - 400/800 - 5100 chips
14 players, 7500 average.
I raise MP 2200 with A7o and take the blinds (using my tight image).
I rais my SB with AA and BB folds.
I steal blinds 3 times in a row, as we are 6 handed.

Level 11 - 500/1000 - 7700 chips
12 players, 8800 average.
UTG goes all in 2000. It's folded to my SB. I have KTo and calls, thinking BB may do the same. BB goes all in for 4800 total. I see him as really tight and feel he really have a monster. I fold. UTG has A8, BB AK. It was a bad play, I should have either fold, or raise all in. And once BB went all in, I should have called anyway, the odds were too good to fold (had I called, I would have won as there was a ten on the flop).
So I'm at 4700 and we are 5 handed. It's folded to my OTB, I go all in with A3, SB insta call with AK and I'm out.

I'm out in 10th position.

I was very upset about my bad decisions on the three way hand. I know I'm result oriented since I know the outcome, but still, it was 2800 more in a 8800 pot, I had the odds. I would have been crippled to 1900 if I had lost, but anyway, 4700 or 1900 doesn't make a lot of difference.

Also, with my 4700 stack, I didn't have to go on a steal immediately. Everyone is short stacked, so maybe I should have waited a little bit more... Anyway, going close to the final table with average stack under 10 BB can't really be seen as poker.
I'm not sure these tournaments can teach me anything more... They are such a lottery that skills are only about seeing when to shove.

Sunday I will play in the EPT Baden, a 8000€ buy-in tournament. We'll see real poker there!