Back to the online grind

Von nzvr4poker, 12.07.2009, 1503 Aufrufe, 2 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

Since I have been back in New Zealand, I have decided to play some pub poker locally. This has been loads of fun and I have met awesome people at both of the venues I play at. I have learnt lots about how amateur players think about the game and I believe this has been improving my online play. On Tuesday’s I play with an older crowd at a bar in Tauranga and have met some interesting people who I have talked some good poker strategy with. Wednesday nights are spent over the harbour in Mount Maunganui with a younger group of people who are enthusiastic about poker. This has breathed new life into poker and made it more interesting for me.

Going out at night coupled with playing more online has kept me very busy of late, as I attempt to get some practice in before my next live event. I will be making the journey to New Zealand’s south island to participate in the ANZPT (Australia New Zealand Poker Tour) Queenstown festival of poker starting from next weekend. As usual I will be bringing more frequent updates from the live tournaments but first I must update you all on how I have been doing online.

Last Sunday I bought in for $320 and took my place alongside 60 other hopefuls trying to gain a package to the ANZPT event due to run concurrently in Brisbane and the Gold Coast in early August. The top five finishers would win the $3,345 package including accommodation. Positions six to ten had the safety net of getting their money back.

I started well after calling a raise to 60 from my stack of 3,000 on the button with during the first level with the blinds at 10/20. On a flop of I bet 120 after the other players all checked. Both of the players in the blinds called me. The on the turn gave me a straight and I made it 350 to play and was promptly called by the small blind. The small blind bet 140 after the appeared on the river and I raised to 550 eliciting a fold and collecting a pot of 1,580. My next significant pot came later on with the blinds at 50/100. I had 4,000 chips to start the hand and raised from under the gun to 300. I had 2 callers before the small blind pushed all-in for 1,710. I quickly called and saw the good news as I was up against . My hand improved when I hit the on the flop and I held on to win a pot of 4,120 and increase my stack to 6,360.

The hand that really provided me with further impetus for my push towards the final table however, came with the blinds at 125/250 with an ante of 25. I was holding pocket aces in the small blind and after a middle position player had raised to 750 and was called by the button, I made it 2,250 to play. The button called and we saw a flop of . I bet 3,250 from my stack of 7,140 before the button folded. I collected the healthy pot of 5,700 and passed through the 13,000 chip mark.

With just 14 players remaining and the bubble fast approaching, I picked up a nice boost in chips when I flopped top pair out of the big blind with 8c in an unraised pot. After my opponent checked I bet 650 and was strangely min-raised to 1,300. I decided to call and see a turn card. The board now showed as the small blind made it only 400 to play. I called again as the three was unlikely to change anything. The river was the and I called another bet of 400 with my opponent turning over just . I raked in the pot of 5,350 to improve my stack to over 13,000.

Finally we got down to the last ten players and everyone was guaranteed their money back. If I was to make the top five and win a package I had to get busy though as I was running low on chips. I had 9,635 with the blinds now 300/600 and an ante of 50. On the button I picked up and pushed all-in only to run into the of the small blind who was the table chip leader. I couldn’t hit a nine, eventually succumbing to a flush and consequently being eliminated in tenth position, which was good enough to get my money back.

The following night I played in the $215 seat only qualifier to ANZPT Queenstown. After qualifying through an $8 rebuys tournament for the measly sum of $24, I embarked on my journey to win a second seat to the main event. The satellite was a last chance satellite to Queenstown and was worth $2,000 US. As I had already won a package, I would be eligible to win $725 cash plus $1,275 worth of W$ which was designated as the seat value.

28 players eventually registered and received $3,000 worth of chips with the blinds starting off at 10/20 and increasing every 20 minutes. The top two players would win a seat with players finishing third through ninth receiving their buy-in back. Like the Queensland tournament the night before, I got off to a great start winning a pot of 1,680 after I hit a flush on the turn with . However, I lost a big pot with pocket kings during the second level of the tournament with the blinds at 15/30. I raised the player in the button  to 250 after the initial raise was 90, and my opponent called. Both of us checked the flop of and then I bet 325 on the turn after the appeared on the screen. I checked the river which was   and called the bet of 750 from the villain who showed for a runner-runner backdoor flush. After losing the pot of 2,665 I dropped back to roughly 2,500 in chips.

With the blinds at 25/50, I was given a gift when a player shoved all-in for 2,675 with AKo after an initial raise from another player who was under-the-gun. I had pocket aces in the small blind and made the call but was at risk of elimination. However, I did win the hand and chipped up to 5,405. My next significant pot came with the blinds at 75/150 against the villain who hit the running flush against me earlier in the tournament. This time I had pocket jacks and re-raised my now familiar foe to 1,800 or about half my stack, after the initial raise was 450. I was promptly put all-in and made the call with my jacks in great shape up against a pair of sevens. After a quick check of my screen for a seven I realised that I had won the pot and had doubled up to 8,385.

Play progressed quickly towards the final table with frequent eliminations. After tenth place busted we were down to the final table and ninth place was eliminated soon after. With eight players remaining, I had the last laugh with my intense rival. The blinds were at 125/250 with an ante of 25. I had and re-raised my adversary by 1,500 chips to 2,250 total. I was quickly facing an all-in bet of 9,200 and made the call leaving myself with roughly 2,800 if I lost. I was up against which I thought was a strange play for my opponent to make as I had already shown strength in similar situations. The board ran out and I knocked out my arch rival and rocketed up the leaderboard into second position, sitting on 21,500 in chips with seven players left.

I continued on my rampage soon thereafter when I picked up pocket aces and faced off against pocket queens. I had my opponent well covered and added approximately 14,000 to my growing stack. With four players left I was sitting on 36,000 and was 10,000 clear of second place. After losing another player we were on the bubble for the seat with the chips shared evenly around the table between the three of us remaining. After some aggressive play on my behalf, I managed to whittle down the other stacks to 21,000 and 9,000 respectively, while increasing my stack to over 50,000. Something had to give as I was taking advantage of my enviable position by raising most hands. In one instance I was dealt pocket aces with the blinds at 300/600 and an ante of 50. I raised to 1,600 on the short stack’s big blind and was quickly raised all-in much to my delight! I made the call and was up against . The flop of was safe enough. After the came down on the turn, my opponent was drawing dead as the meaningless fell on the river.

I was delighted at winning my second seat to ANZPT Queenstown. Here’s hoping that I have some more good news to bring you all before I get down to Queenstown in about a week’s time.

In my next entry I will outline how I got on in the Aruba Classic and ANZPT Queensland qualifiers along with my final preparations for my trip to Queenstown.