Playing a short stack

Every player who plays in a tournament will be playing with a short stack once in a while.
Too often I see other players going all in after a big loss. Don’t do that, poker is also all about patience.

Go all in when you think you can win, not when you’ll have to play 5 other players also. Chances that you win are very small pre-flop or you must be having a killer hand like AA or KK.

In the tournament yesterday where I finished on the 6th place out of 800 players, I played a short stack 3 times during the whole tournament.
Very early in the game I lost a game with two pair, aces and queens, against 3-of-a-kind 6. From my 1500 starting chips, only 210 were left. Because this happened a few minutes after we started, the blinds were still small, so I didn’t worry much about it. The immediate hand after this beat I got KJ suited. Not bad, but very dangerous to play. I was in late position and had a nice view at the table. 1st player called, 2nd player called, 3rd, 4th and 5th player also. When it was up to already 5 players joined the game, so I folded my KJ suited.
Why the hell should I fold King Jack suited in late position I hear you thinking?
Well, chances are very high that one of the 5 players has an ace or a queen. Or one of the 3 remaining kings or jacks are playing along also? If the flop turns an ace or a queen, I can pretty much throw my cards away. Even with a raise pre-flop Chances are great that 4 out 5 players call me, being short stacked. So in my eyes I made the best decision I could at that time. BTW, flop was 4 8 Q, turn was a J and river a 10. A good fold I made!

For the next seven or 8 plays I folded also until I got AK. 2 players in the game and I made raise to see the flop and will decide to go all in or not after the flop. Luckily for me only 1 player calls my raise. Flop paired my King which made me go all in on my turn. Other player called to see my pair and Ace kicker. After the river my stack doubled. I could play a few extra hands now and that made sure I went up in the rankings also.

True, luck is also in play, but if you lack the patience part, luck doesn’t always has a chance to reach you

For the next 2 hours I kept playing a lot of cards, even J4, 10 3 and cards like that. So I was very loose.
The thing is when you play lots of hands, your opponents don’t know if you’re bluffing or not. You’ll just have to make sure that at the time they call you, you aren’t.
Once I failed this and was a short stack again. With 50 players left in the tournament and 27 places paid, a money finish was far away.
This time the blinds where higher also and the ante’s made my stack smaller and smaller every game. Action was required. With everybody folding pre-flop I went all in with A4 suited. The big blind called me and it was a showdown. The flop gave me the advantage as I paired my Ace, but my opponent made a pair with his Jack. He didn’t hit a card on the turn or the river, so I doubled up again.
At this time I felt it was time to stop playing loose and start playing very tight. The money was a bit closer now, but not completely there. With KK just a few hands later I went all in pre-flop and luckily for me a player who lost a serious amount of chips the game before called me. He showed AQ. Paired his Ace on the flop and his Queen on the turn. Only a 3rd King could save me, but it showed a 4. Because he was very short stacked I got back almost 1/3rd of my chips and wasn’t out of the tournament.

But my luck changed into the good way now. The next 5 plays I received JJ, KQ, 46 (which I folded), AJ and QQ. The 4 games I played I won. With my pocket queens I won a monster pot. Nobody believed that I again received good cards in this short time, so almost everyone called my pre-flop raise. With a 3rd queen on the flop, I started slow-playing my trips. The player in front of me made a bet, I called and 1 player went all in. I and the initial raiser called. I won and was pretty sure to end up in the money now.

Whit some decent play the hands after, I even made it to the final table where I lost with my straight against a flush and ended up on the 6th place.

Like I said, be patience, play the cards you think you’ll have a decent chance of winning. If there are too many other players in the game, even fold good hands.  Good luck!!!

Bankroll management

One of the important things you need to do is make sure you create your own bankroll management scheme and FOLLOW it!!!

After earning some cash in the freeroll tournaments I searched for some tips about how to control your bankroll without going broke.
Time after time I ended up with the tips from Chris Ferguson, a Poker Pro from Full Tilt who made $10.000 out of $0.

His rules are pretty simple:

1. Never buy into a cash game or SnG with more than 5% of your bankroll.

So if your bankroll is $50, your max buy-in is $2,5. If you loose 10 times, you still have $25 left.

2. Never buy into a multi table tournament with more than 2% of your bankroll.

Tournaments are tricky and you should be very careful with them. The problem is that the most money is in the Top 3 to 5 places. Finishing in the money isn’t an option as it will only earn you back the money you’ve put into it.
So a top 5 finish every 4 to 5 times you play a tournament is needed to stay playing tournaments.

That’s why you better don’t join tournaments that have a buy in more than 2% of your bankroll. ($50 bankroll = $1 buy-in)

3. If at any time in a no-limit or pot-limit game the money on the table represents more than 10% of your bankroll, leave the game when the blinds come to you.

Another thing on how to protect your bankroll is leave when you’re up. If at any given time your money on the table is more than 10% of your bankroll, LEAVE the table and collect your winnings.

Which cash games to play?
Some pro players say that you should be able to at least bet x-times the big blind before moving up a level.

This is something you have to decide for yourself.

When you’re playing the micro tables, 500 big blinds is enough to use as a multiplier.

Level 1: $0,01/$0,02 > Minimum bankroll needed = $10 ($0,02 x 500)
Level 2: $0,02/$0,05 > Minimum bankroll needed = $25
Level 3: $0,05/$0,10 > Minimum bankroll needed = $50
Level 4: $0,10/$0,25 > Minimum bankroll needed = $125

At the low tables, you can increase this number to play a bit more safer and allowing you to play more hands.
For example 600

Level 5: $0,25/$0,5 > Minimum bankroll needed =  $300
Level 6: $0,5/$1 > Minimum bankroll needed = $600

Medium tables
Level 7: $1/$2 > Minimum bankroll needed = $1200
Level 8: $2/$4 > Minimum bankroll needed = $2400

...

Currently I’m playing in Level 2 at the moment and I am just a bit more than $1 away from starting in Level 3.

Whenever your bankroll goes under the minimum amount needed you have to GO BACK to a level lower an build up your bankroll again.

Following these rules will guarantee you could become the next Chris Ferguson.

In the money !!!

Almost 3 weeks back I started the challenge from $0 to $1.000.000 playing poker and after my first Top 100 finish in my 3rd tournament, I started thinking, hey it won’t be long before I actually end up in the money. But the thing is don’t overestimate yourself, as one bad call or bad raise can kill your tournament in an instance.

After that 94th place I managed to get better and better results and became a regular top 100 player with almost a place in the top 50.

In yesterday’s tournament I played my best poker so far. In the beginning I made the right raises and steadily went from 1500 to 4500 something. Then my chip count went downwards for the next few hands. Then I got pocket 6’s. I limped in together with the big and small blind. Flop turned A 3 3 giving me a Full House draw, but the possibility I’m playing against an Ace. The big blind made a raise to 240, I called (maybe I should have folded here) and we’re the only 2 left now, heads-up. The turn showed a 5. I took action to see what my opponent will do. He just called my 320 raise. With a Q on the river, I made a small raise and would have folded if he re-raised. He just called and it’s a showdown. I had 2 pairs 33 66, he had the Ace and the pot. Leaving me under the 2000 chips once again.
I had to start all over working my way up, damn. Why didn’t I fold after the flop?

The only way is up.

After that beating, I was glad I still had chips left, so the next 15 minutes I watched carefully what hand I should play or not. And it proved to be the winning tactic. In no time I doubled my chip count with JQ off suit. I made a bet of 300 taking control of the table. 2 Players called. Flop paired my Queen and I went all in. A higher stack called me with 8 A. Turn gave me trips and River paired the board with the 5’s, giving me an unbeatable Full House.  I’m back in business!

For the next hour I managed to play between the 50th and 100th position in the tournament. On the big blind I got AK off suit, everybody called or raised the big blind, so my turn to act. I made a bet 1/4th of my total chip count and got re-raised. With a strong hand I went all in, knowing my opponent had to call with only 388 chips left. He called and showed QQ. Flop turned 4 4 7 and gave him 2 pairs and a chance for a Full House. This wasn’t looking good! Turn showed a 2 and the river a 7, giving me two pairs also, but lower ones. Back to the 200th something place. I can’t say I played this hand wrong, so I have nothing to complain about, he made a good bet.
Again I started to make my way up in the leader board, but this time I would stay there. In 5 hands time I went from the 200th place to the 36th place.

In the last play before the 3rd break, I made my way into the Top 20 with pocket 7’s. Flop gave me trips (8h 5c 7s). One player made a significant raise, but I re-raised her with an all-in. She called with 10 Q suited. She needed runner-runner to win from me, so my odds were very good. River showed a 5 giving me the nuts with a Full House.

From this hand forward I climbed up to the 5th place and we I only had to wait for others making mistakes. Because the last 27 players get paid in this $100 freeroll, the play slowed down by every move. I sat on a table with a very low stack and with the high big blinds I quick played my hands to push him to the blinds as fast as possible. 2 other players on my table saw this and did exactly the same. In 2 full rounds time he had to go all in and lost.
I’m in the money!
But I didn’t want to stop playing. You could see that everybody was making stupid bets. Almost on every table there was one guy/girl going all in now.  In no time just 14 players were still left in the tournament.
I wanted to reach the final table, I still was in 5th place with almost 78000 chips. But I had to fold hand after hand and whenever I made a call or raise I got re-raised to fold once more. Everybody else seems to be winning now and with only 10 players left and high blinds I was on the last spot now. This means I had to have good cards to push somebody to call my all in.
So with Qs Kd and in late position, I went all in. A very high stack called me (I would do the same in this case) with 9d Ah. Flop paired his 9 with 9c 6s 8c. Turn showed 3c. Only the river could save me a seat on the final table. But instead of showing a Queen or King a 4 turned up.
But I was very happy with my 10th place, my highest finish so far, just missing the final table.
I was rewarded $2 for this finish, one place higher and I got an extra buck

Now I can start playing real money, but also still will be playing in these freeroll tournaments as you can learn a lot from this.

My challenge can begin!!!

First tournament results

Today I played my first tournament on Full Tilt Poker for winning some money.

Boy what a disappointment this was

In this freeroll event, with 961 participants, I finished on the 621st spot.

I’ve started out well, received a few good hands, won some, lose a bit. After 6 or 7 hands I won with trip eights. And won about 600 points, to take me up to the 56th place.
Than a few call’s later I went back to 1800 and made it very difficult for myself to get back up again.

My first tip I’m giving away here, don’t call another players all-in if you’re not sure about your cards.

In my case today, I had a Queen of Spades and Ace Diamonds to start with. I just called to see the flop.
Flop: Queen Hearths and 4,5 Diamonds, giving me the highest pair on the table. Raised 80, twice the big blind, 3 players left.
Turn: 6 Diamonds, 3rd diamond on the bord, 4th for me in total with ma Ace.
First player goes all-in 2nd player folds, my turn now. I was pretty sure he had a flush now, but I had top pair and highest diamond, but still needed 1 more diamond.
I was counting my outs to still win, and came out on max 7 outs, all the diamonds left in the game.
But I never calculated the diamonds that other players could have received. So if I was lucky I had 7 outs, but thinking afterwards I probably would have had only 3 outs at max.
So I’ve made a very bad call here, costing me almost 1400 in total. Leaving me just around 350 points to play with.

When you this low you only play with the best cards you can get. SO when I received my Queen and King of Spades I went all-in for my remaining 235 points. Everybody folds except 1 player, 4 and 9 of hearths. Flop wasn’t good, but neither I nor he paired. The turn paired my opponent with a 4. Only the river left. I had 6 outs to beat him but he also paired his 9 which left me behind with nothing. A bit unlucky, maybe a bad beat I received, but for him it was an easy call as he had enough money left, even iif he lost. I would have done the same.

Before the tournament started I’ve set myself a goal to end up with the last 500 players, too bad I didn’t make it that far.
But I’ve learned a valuable lesson today that I’ll be remembering in the next tournaments.

Better luck next time.

Google anno 2001, where are the probloggers from now back then?

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