Donkey to Pro Blog

Tournament Dollar Freeroll (Full Tilt):

Overall I think I played this tournament very well even though I made a few mistakes and it ended in heartbreak. Early on I was much more aggressive than usual, stealing some pots and building a decent stack. I lucked into trip 10’s on a flop once and while I was probably a bit too aggressive, I still netted $1,250. I then doubled up against a guy who went all-in with ace rag. I only had K/10 suited but for $500 or so I thought it was worth it. I won and added to my pot. I then lost over half my stack when my pocket 10’s ran into two pair. I had more bad luck when my flush was beaten by one that was one card higher. At this point I was down to under 600 and in serious trouble.

I then stole a few pots to get over 1,000 again and doubled up against a guy who got way to aggressive with ace/8. My sixes were enough to beat him. This got me to 2,270 and I doubled up again soon after. I stupidly called an all-in with just pocket 9’s (my opponent had jacks). Luckily the board gave both of us a straight and we split the pot.

Soon after I milked $2,640 pot out of a player who wasn’t exactly playing well. I then doubled up against an asshole who complained about the player from the previous pot and me when I called his all-in. He did have my hand beat (pocket queens vs. my jacks) but I don’t think it was really a “donk” move (although it wasn’t the smartest move either). Luckily I picked up a straight and doubled up to $5,785. I doubled up again against a guy who raised my large bet to all-in when I had a pair of kings and he just had pocket 10’s. After pocket aces gave me a small pot, I had a nice $13,535 stack (78th out of 747 remaining players) after I thought for sure I was done earlier in the tournament.

Since I normally get passive in the middle and end of tournaments, I decided to be a bit more aggressive this time. I bet big against a player with just a pair of aces. Since he kept calling my bets I assumed he had me beat but I wound up winning and going over the $20k mark. I then doubled up yet again with a pair of aces. At this point I had $42,840 in chips and was ranked #9 of 246 players. I continued to play well, netting $8,625 with pocket queens and over $10k against a guy who was a little too all-in happy.

Unfortunately I completely blew the tournament when I went all-in against the tournament chip leader with two pair, kings and fours. I should have known he had something good when he raised my large bet by over $30,000. I did have two pair, kings and fours but he did too. My jack kicker wasn’t enough to beat his ace and I finished in 78th place (just 51 places away from a small monetary prize). I don’t regret playing the hand aggressively because there weren’t a ton of hands that would have beat mine. I probably should have realized he had something when he raised big but that is something I’ll learn as I become a better player.

National Heads-Up Round 2 (PokerStars):

This tournament was boring and I quickly busted out but it did have one very wacky hand (the one I busted out on). I turned over pocket kings. The guy before me raised to $150 and I obviously called. A few players folded then someone went all-in. Another player followed suit as did the guy who raised to $150 and of course I did as well. We all reveal our hands and my KK not only has to face AA but QQ and JJ as well. Nobody hits anything on the flop, turn, or river and the guy with AA wins. I bust out after only about 10 minutes worth of play.

I have no idea what the odds of a hand like that are but it was definitely the wackiest I’ve seen in the small time I’ve been playing poker.

Newton’s PL 5-Card Draw Freeroll (PokerStars):

Once again I played another 5-card draw freeroll really well before blowing it near the end. Early on I had to contend with a table that only had two players that weren’t sitting out. These tables do allow you to stick in the game for quite awhile and build a small stack but you eventually start to fall way behind the overall leaders. I did win about $500 with a two pair draw (8’s and 10’s). I had a lot of other great hands that aren’t even worth mentioning because they only netted me about $100. I did get a straight draw right off the bat that increased my stack to $2,920.

I also won a battle of full houses with my tens full of deuces beating fours full of jacks for a $2,805 pot. A nut flush built my pot to $6,545 and got me to #247 out of 3,143 players. After finally getting on some better tables, I continued to build in the middle of the tourney. I eventually got up to $10,125 and #221 out of 1,530 before losing a lot of it by being too aggressive after the break. I usually struggle staying aggressive after the hour mark so I wanted to change things but it didn’t work out. This caused me to fall back to about $5,000 in chips but I won it all back and more soon after. I continued to play pretty aggressive throughout the rest of the tourney and eventually busted out when my small straight ran into an ace-high straight. I finished in 574th place (out of 6,000).

Newton’s PL 5-Card Draw Freeroll (PokerStars):

I had the “wonderful” luck of having 4 of my opponents sit out for the first 50 or so hands. This did give me some much needed heads-up practice but when my largest pot was $180, it’s a bit hard to build up a solid stack. After over 2,000 players were eliminated I finally got onto a real table.  There I got a wheel straight flush draw which unfortunately only netted me $750. About ten hands later, I got a full house, threes full of queens for $1,950. I picked up another $1,950 pot with three queens.

Unfortunately, my inability to build a stack early thanks to my inactive opponents caused me to get behind the curve. I basically had to wait to take a shot at doubling up. I lucked into quad fives worth $1,895 but I couldn’t build my stack any further. I took a shot at the wrong time and busted out in 1,221st place (out of 6,000).

National Heads-Up Freeroll Round 2 (PokerStars):

I played in two of these before but was booted early both times. I definitely wanted to improve on those performances this time and I definitely did. The tourney didn’t start well for me though. I ran into a maniac early and had to fold a few decent hands (pocket 7’s the best). I’m never good at playing this type of player since I play very tight and don’t like to call large raises unless I have a hand. I also got the pleasure of being stuck with several players that would go all-in nearly every hand. I’m not exactly sure how they qualified for the second round but I met several of them throughout the tourney.

After having nothing early on at all I finally hit three eights on the flop. Unfortunately, I only had one opponent who didn’t call my bet. I continued to get junk hands as the blinds continued to rise. I eventually had to take a shot with K/10 suited and lucked out when I hit a king and ten on the flop (I had the weakest hand before the flop). I won $2,065 on this hand then doubled up on the very next one. I definitely shouldn’t have won since I ran into a pair of aces against my nines. Luckily, I turned my hand into a full house and doubled up to $5,570. Before this bout of good luck, I had won a whopping one pot (which didn’t even go to a showdown).

After another streak of bad hands, I was able to milk $1,950 out of a player even though it should have been pretty obvious what I had. I didn’t exactly hide the fact that I had a good hand but my opponent called all my bets. This built my stack to $6,500 and put me into the top 100.

Yet again I ran into a long streak of bad hands. I eventually doubled up with two pair, queens and jacks which put me up to $9,880 in chips. Soon after I thought I had a good hand when I flopped a flush. Unfortunately, a fourth hit the board and I had to lay down when the other players went all-in. It was a good thing I did since my 10 and 9 would have placed third to an ace and a king. Pocket kings then helped me double up to $23,460, which put me 14 out of 390. I had to sweat it out though as my opponent only needed one more spade for a flush.

Later on I blew over half my stack calling a guy with pocket jacks (I had top two pair after the flop). I then lucked out when I went all-in with an ace with a lower kicker than my opponent. Luckily the board paired and we split the pot. I lucked out again when I went all-in with ace/queen and my opponent had a pair of 7’s. Luckily, the river brought a queen and allowed me to double up to $28,268. At this point I was #38 out of 191 players.

Even though I was in a good position at this point, I still managed to find a way to blow it like I always do during the middle and end of tournaments. I didn’t play many hands at all and I got aggressive at all the wrong times. Eventually, I tried to double up with a open-ended straight draw but my luck finally came to an end. I finished in 147th place, just 91 places away from a ticket to the final round.

Unfortunately, the tournament didn’t end the way I wanted but I’m still proud of myself since I at least managed to play pretty well in the middle and late stages. Other than two or three hands, I had pretty much nothing to work with either. If it weren’t for a tremendous amount of luck, I wouldn’t have even made it into the top half. Overall, I think this is probably the best I’ve played in a tournament thus far.

National Heads-Up Round 1 (PokerStars):

Since I’m out of round two tickets I tried to win myself another one for next week and I was successful. I started really well getting my first pocket aces of the day early in the tourney. I bled a lot of money from my lone opponent to get up to $2,400 quickly. I then followed that up with a pair of tens which turned into a flush that another player ultimately won.

Other than that my only real loss came when my pocket eights lost out to jacks. Luckily, I got it all back and more when I got a flush while all-in. I then flopped a straight soon after but unfortunately only got one taker when I went all-in. Soon after I got another straight, netting me a $4,000 pot. I also somehow won $1,400 on a flush where four hearts hit the table. Three other players didn’t have a heart and I won it with a low heart. At this point I have $9,645 and am ranked 78th out of 2,357 players. I then doubled up to $17,490 with a pair of sixes that my opponent called with just an ace and a six. The luck continued when I got a full house, aces full of seven and took $10,400 from the stacks of my opponents.

The most boneheaded opponent of the day award goes to someone who kept calling my large bets with just a king/jack and no help until the river. My aces easily beat his pair and I took the $20,550 pot. At this point I have well over $30,000 and am #29 out of 472. I know I’m safe and promptly fold just about every hand until only 200 players remained. This is the fourth ticket I’ve won to the National Heads-Up Round 2.

Hubble’s No Limit Hold’em Freeroll (PokerStars):

Lucked into pocket aces with a lot of opponents on the third hand. Unfortunately two other players had straights and I was quickly eliminated.

Hubble’s No Limit Hold’em Freeroll (PokerStars) Attempt #2:

After countless bad hands, I doubled up to $2,545 with a pair of sevens which turned into a straight. I then managed to milk $1,895 out of three players when I flopped a straight draw. Only managed to get $170 out of pocket aces turned trip aces though. The only other interesting hands were when I doubled up to $5,230 with a whopping ace high then gave most of it right back to the exact same player. Other than that, nothing really happened and I quietly busted out in 1,334th place (out of 9,000).

Pot Limit 5-Card Draw Freeroll (PokerStars):

I know this really isn’t really a skill game but for some reason I’ve become addicted to 5-card draw. I’ve had a great deal of success with it as well. I started very hot on this freeroll hitting two pair (4’s and 7’s) on my second hand and promptly tripling up against two weak hands who had no business going all-in. My fourth hand was also a good one (pairs of Aces and 7’s) and I won another very large pot. At this point I had $7,660 after four hands and ranked #3 out of 5,636 players. I got another two pair right off the bat (this time aces and deuces) soon after. That time it isn’t enough against a straight but thankfully I only lost $170.

No matter how good those hands were my best one of the tournament was when I got a flush right off the bat and pushed my stack to $11,240. I then followed that off with a full house in my next hand. My luck didn’t end after that. A few hands later, I got three sixes right off the bat. Soon after, three eights which turned into a full house. Unfortunately, other than a hand where I had four sixes (I unfortunately could only build the pot to about $1,700 on this one) my luck fell apart in the middle of the tourney. Like I do on nearly all the hold’em tournaments I enter, I started shedding chips quickly in the middle game and had to take a huge risk (which didn’t pay off) near the end. I eventually busted out in 502nd place (out of 6000).

National Heads-Up Round 1 (PokerStars):

• Just before this tourney began I made my first final table. Sure it was just a 90-player Full Tilt Poker play money sit ‘n go tournament but I’ll take it.
• This tourney is off and on for me. I started off with a nice $800 pot then lost on an all-in. I then climbed back to my original $1,500 and eventually doubled up to $3,200. I then began shedding chips again, down to $2,500.
• I was all the way down to about $1,000 before winning two consecutive all-in hands. The first I won with three aces and the second was courtesy of a pair of queens.
• I once again got into trouble (only about 90 out of 600 players had less chips than me) but doubled up with another three aces.
• Lost a boatload of my cash when I bet rather stupidly with pocket twos.
• Finished 439 out of 4420, only 239 places from qualifying for round 2.