It was in Manila and it was a charity event. I just won a seat to the main on the satellite just the day before. I thought I would chill and enjoy some cash games before the main. Honestly I only remembered bits and pieces of it. It was during this trip I put in a 30+ hour session non stop. It was a pretty good week if I remembered correctly. Firstly I won a satellite I did not intend on joining, I won a tournament I did not intend on joining, I was chip lead in the main for about 9 hours, I went on playing non-stop, only going back to my hotel room to get changed and played in a another tournament where I finished 10th with JJ (one player had QQ and the other had KK)....
My friend from Malaysia wanted to play in the event and asked me to join him. I was reluctant because there was a juicy cash game going on but somehow he coaxed me into joining. I forgot how I ran but I just remembered one guy commented that I played to win, and deserved to win. Top 5 got paid and I remember having 6 people left. I remember I had Norbert Koh (Singapore pro), Sparrow Cheung (HK pro) and Christian Faering (Thai based pro) on my left. I was one of the shorter stacks and blinds were pretty high. A lot of shoving. One key hand I had 33 and was 3 bet by Sparrow and I 4bet shove. He called with AT but he won. At least I got it in good.
We were 6 handed for a long time. Christian Faering at the time was holding the unofficial records of bubbling. I think a ridiculous 7 times or something like that. He was chip lead and we joked if he was going to bubble. I offered what about the winner gives the bubble the buy in money. Since we couldn't burst it for quite a while. They all agreed. Christian ended up bubbling. Sorry man, but you did get your buy in back.
Heads up was against Norbert Koh. Somehow this guy doesn't like me, or just has an attitude, or his default face is just fierce. I remember one key pot I went all in with Q rag and he had Ace high but I won. Final hand I had QJ and won. Okay, I guess he took revenge when he knocked me out of the main.
My first title, first trophy. I don't know when am I going to get another one. I have since come close a few times. I seem to either finish 4th or 7th for some reason. Anyway you can bet I will keep on trying.
Wednesday 27 January 2016
Tuesday 26 January 2016
Hand Ranges vs Combinatorics Part 1 - What are hand ranges?
I've been doing some poker reading lately and I am still learning as I go, but I like to write down what I learned as it makes it easier for me to understand it when I am trying to explain it to someone else.
In the past I have been making my decisions based on opponents' hand range. What can he possibly have? What hand can he raise preflop with, check flop and bet turn? That is kind of what goes on in my head, especially when I bluff catch. Let me give you an example. Last week I was playing a $2/5 game and there was a live triple straddle $40. (yes we are crazy) All folded to me and I was on the big blind and looked down at KQo. I made it $105 (or something like that, my memory is not as good as it used to be) and triple straddler defended.
First of all he is a pretty aggro player and a good one at that. He will defend with a pretty wide range of hands but I think he recognizes me as a decent player so he won't go too crazy. I may be wrong but flop was like J75 rainbow. We were both pretty deep and I didn't want to get raised out of the hand and he is capable of doing that with air, so I checked. Surprisingly he checked back. Turn was a 6. I am thinking if he has a 4, 8, 9 or hit the 6 he will likely call my bet here or even raise as a semi-bluff. I checked to pot control and he checked as well! River was another J. I check, he bets $140.
What possible hand can he have to bet for value? What could he have defended with, checked back all streets and bet the river? Any Jack I would have heard of it by the turn. Any under pairs would have showdown value. Any pair on the board beats me but what value can get extract from me? Ace high has showdown value. So I determined that either he played it really tricky, otherwise my King high is good. And it was good.
This first part of my study I will discuss about hand ranges and how it can help our game.
1. Know your own hand range:
What hands do you open raise? What hands do you 3bet multiway? What hands do you 3bet heads up? What hands do you raise OOP? What hands do you raise late position? What hands do you call multiway? What hands do you defend your blinds with? The thing is, sometimes we rely too much on gut feeling and we don't even know our own ranges. And if there is a good player on the table, he may know your range better than you know yours.
2. Know your opponents' hand range:
When I sit down on an unfamiliar table, I try to pick up as much info as I can about my opponents. But if all 9 of them are unfamiliar to you, who do you look at? Usually I go with those that are more aggressive (more likely you will play hands with them). Then those with lots of chips (you can profit more from them). Pay attention. When they flip over their cards. What do they play with? In what position? What kind of action?
3. Mix it up:
You ever hear this comment? Alex will never raise with AK in that spot! or he would definitely call with his flush draw on the turn. As much as we want to be unpredictable, overtime we will form a pattern and good players will pick up on that. Know your hand range, then mix it up. Limp AK once in a while. 3 bet with small pockets. Squeeze with suited connectors. Advertise, show people your rags, but don't overdo it.
So how do you put someone on a range? This is roughly my thought process.
In the past I have been making my decisions based on opponents' hand range. What can he possibly have? What hand can he raise preflop with, check flop and bet turn? That is kind of what goes on in my head, especially when I bluff catch. Let me give you an example. Last week I was playing a $2/5 game and there was a live triple straddle $40. (yes we are crazy) All folded to me and I was on the big blind and looked down at KQo. I made it $105 (or something like that, my memory is not as good as it used to be) and triple straddler defended.
First of all he is a pretty aggro player and a good one at that. He will defend with a pretty wide range of hands but I think he recognizes me as a decent player so he won't go too crazy. I may be wrong but flop was like J75 rainbow. We were both pretty deep and I didn't want to get raised out of the hand and he is capable of doing that with air, so I checked. Surprisingly he checked back. Turn was a 6. I am thinking if he has a 4, 8, 9 or hit the 6 he will likely call my bet here or even raise as a semi-bluff. I checked to pot control and he checked as well! River was another J. I check, he bets $140.
What possible hand can he have to bet for value? What could he have defended with, checked back all streets and bet the river? Any Jack I would have heard of it by the turn. Any under pairs would have showdown value. Any pair on the board beats me but what value can get extract from me? Ace high has showdown value. So I determined that either he played it really tricky, otherwise my King high is good. And it was good.
This first part of my study I will discuss about hand ranges and how it can help our game.
1. Know your own hand range:
What hands do you open raise? What hands do you 3bet multiway? What hands do you 3bet heads up? What hands do you raise OOP? What hands do you raise late position? What hands do you call multiway? What hands do you defend your blinds with? The thing is, sometimes we rely too much on gut feeling and we don't even know our own ranges. And if there is a good player on the table, he may know your range better than you know yours.
2. Know your opponents' hand range:
When I sit down on an unfamiliar table, I try to pick up as much info as I can about my opponents. But if all 9 of them are unfamiliar to you, who do you look at? Usually I go with those that are more aggressive (more likely you will play hands with them). Then those with lots of chips (you can profit more from them). Pay attention. When they flip over their cards. What do they play with? In what position? What kind of action?
3. Mix it up:
You ever hear this comment? Alex will never raise with AK in that spot! or he would definitely call with his flush draw on the turn. As much as we want to be unpredictable, overtime we will form a pattern and good players will pick up on that. Know your hand range, then mix it up. Limp AK once in a while. 3 bet with small pockets. Squeeze with suited connectors. Advertise, show people your rags, but don't overdo it.
So how do you put someone on a range? This is roughly my thought process.
- What type of player is he/she? TAG? LAG? TP? LP?
- What is his position? Now we may make the mistake of just thinking of the seat location, sb/bb/co/hj/bu etc. but we need to think of position as relative to the preflop action. For example he may be early position, but he was the last to act to the preflop raise.
- What was his preflop action? Open raise? Limp? Limping multiway? Limp on last to act? 3bet last to act?
- Who else was in the hand? The image of the other players does affect hand selections. For example in an article I posted before, playing against tight players, I prefer not to play KT, QJ type of hands but rather love 64, 75 type of hands. Playing against loose players KT & QJ are monsters.
- Post flop action. C-bet? Donk bet? Check raise? Check back? Check call? Call in position? and also sizing.
- Board texture. Draw heavy? Dry? Paired board?
- Don't forget about yourself! What kind of image are you projecting? What kind of player are you perceived to be? What was your action? What can you possibly have?
After the analysis, usually my conclusion will be:
He may have this, this, this, or this
Out of the possible hands, I can beat 3, but lose to 2
That means a 60% chance of winning and if the price is right I call. If not, I reevaluate and most likely fold.
In my example above:
Ace high beats me (one hand) but I determined he is unlikely to bet here. small pockets beat me (one hand) and he may turn his deuces or threes into a bluff, I can beat K high (one hand), I can beat air (one hand) that means a 2:1 situation. I need to call 140 for a 385 pot so I did. Later when we discuss combinatorics the calculation would be vastly different.
Wednesday 20 January 2016
I am in this APT video (sick hand)
Wow, didn't know I was on the APT video. Those who know me will know which one I am. Anyway, the ending part of the video where there was a lot of screaming, where Maria Carmen "Menchu" Esdaile (Sam Razavi's wife) was screaming "no heart" and "no pair", Simba (Korean pro) was screaming "heart", I was there screaming "pair the board" in a 5 way all in hand. (details about the hand below.
At this point I was the chip leader with about 30k chips, the closest stack to me on the table was like 10k. Blinds were 300/600, 75 ante. I was under the gun with KK, made it 1500 to call. Shortish stack next to me just called, black guy from Okinawa calls, Menchu calls on the button, Simba thought about jamming I think but just calls on the big blind.
Flop was 789 two hearts, pot was about 8k. Simba first to act had 6k+ left and he jammed. I was thinking yeah maybe some one had JT but I was still ahead of many possible ranges. Flush draw, T9, T8 kind of hands, AT possible and I didn't know what was going to happen behind me. I had everyone covered and biggest stack was probably around 7k. So I shoved too.
Short stack next to me tanked and called. Black dude called and Menchu was like what the heck is going on and then calls. Simba shows Ace high flush draw, I don't mind that. I forgot what the short stack had, black dude had KQ of hearts, so far so good but Menchu had the dreaded JTo. Damn, so close. I still had 24k in chips (400 bbs or so, so I wasn't too disheartened).
At this point I was the chip leader with about 30k chips, the closest stack to me on the table was like 10k. Blinds were 300/600, 75 ante. I was under the gun with KK, made it 1500 to call. Shortish stack next to me just called, black guy from Okinawa calls, Menchu calls on the button, Simba thought about jamming I think but just calls on the big blind.
Flop was 789 two hearts, pot was about 8k. Simba first to act had 6k+ left and he jammed. I was thinking yeah maybe some one had JT but I was still ahead of many possible ranges. Flush draw, T9, T8 kind of hands, AT possible and I didn't know what was going to happen behind me. I had everyone covered and biggest stack was probably around 7k. So I shoved too.
Short stack next to me tanked and called. Black dude called and Menchu was like what the heck is going on and then calls. Simba shows Ace high flush draw, I don't mind that. I forgot what the short stack had, black dude had KQ of hearts, so far so good but Menchu had the dreaded JTo. Damn, so close. I still had 24k in chips (400 bbs or so, so I wasn't too disheartened).
Then turn came the case King! My goodness I suddenly have outs! I screamed "pair the board" one time! River came the 9 of spades and I made my runner runner full house. Sorry Menchu. I felt I was good against Simba's jam. I didn't think anyone behind would have me dominated. ;P
Tuesday 19 January 2016
Manila Pavilion Poker Room REVIEW
On my first ever trip to Manila, I stayed at a hotel near the Manila Pavilion. I would walk there for poker games at night. After that, they closed it and it was reopened a while back by the APT. Recently I played there a few times because the APT was held there.
The hotel itself is dated and so is the casino. You feel like you've walked into the 1970s, like the set for Boogie Nights, patterned carpets, disco balls hanging from the ceiling, styrofoam cutouts for promos... most kids don't even know what is styrofoam. The crowd is also on the older side, a big portion of the players in their 50s and up. No electrical boards on their roulette tables, at least that is what I noticed. They allow smoking as well so it feels like an old Vegas casino waiting to be demolished.
The poker room is on the 1st floor back corner. They did do up the area in stylish black walls and ceilings, the tables are nice, decent chairs but a bit crowded. Games don't start until 2pm and even then it is one or two tables at best. Stakes run from 25/50 peso (US$0.50/$1 approx) to 200/400 maybe during tournament days. Players are fishy but usually don't play deep. Minimum buy in is only 40 bbs but maximum can go to 1000 bbs if I am not mistaken.
The chips are too lightweight for my liking. You can't stack them properly. Rake is at a whopping 10% so another no-no for me. Free drinks include water, coffee and that's about it. Don't think they have free food. Staff are reasonably courteous but so are those in the other poker rooms.
Overall I wouldn't go unless the APT is there.
The hotel itself is dated and so is the casino. You feel like you've walked into the 1970s, like the set for Boogie Nights, patterned carpets, disco balls hanging from the ceiling, styrofoam cutouts for promos... most kids don't even know what is styrofoam. The crowd is also on the older side, a big portion of the players in their 50s and up. No electrical boards on their roulette tables, at least that is what I noticed. They allow smoking as well so it feels like an old Vegas casino waiting to be demolished.
The poker room is on the 1st floor back corner. They did do up the area in stylish black walls and ceilings, the tables are nice, decent chairs but a bit crowded. Games don't start until 2pm and even then it is one or two tables at best. Stakes run from 25/50 peso (US$0.50/$1 approx) to 200/400 maybe during tournament days. Players are fishy but usually don't play deep. Minimum buy in is only 40 bbs but maximum can go to 1000 bbs if I am not mistaken.
The chips are too lightweight for my liking. You can't stack them properly. Rake is at a whopping 10% so another no-no for me. Free drinks include water, coffee and that's about it. Don't think they have free food. Staff are reasonably courteous but so are those in the other poker rooms.
Overall I wouldn't go unless the APT is there.
Monday 18 January 2016
I'm back!
Hey guys, sorry for the long hiatus, I am back!
For a while I was so sick of poker, after being tossed in jail, getting a string of bad beats and bad results, I almost gave up on the game. I used to play every single night, to a point I went weeks without poker and didn't feel any thing. Then I started to play again.
2016 results so far:
Tournaments;
- Joined two, first one I finished 11th (9 places paid)
- Second one I finished 4th (was chip leader until 9 players left then got card dead all the way, best hand I had on the final table was AQ but there was a 3 bet from a tight player so I folded. He said he had queens)
2 tourneys, 1 FT, 1 cash (not a bad start)
Cash games:
6 sessions played, 5 sessions won, 1 session lost.
Seems like 2016 has a new start for me. Watch this space, might be more to come.
For a while I was so sick of poker, after being tossed in jail, getting a string of bad beats and bad results, I almost gave up on the game. I used to play every single night, to a point I went weeks without poker and didn't feel any thing. Then I started to play again.
2016 results so far:
Tournaments;
- Joined two, first one I finished 11th (9 places paid)
- Second one I finished 4th (was chip leader until 9 players left then got card dead all the way, best hand I had on the final table was AQ but there was a 3 bet from a tight player so I folded. He said he had queens)
2 tourneys, 1 FT, 1 cash (not a bad start)
Cash games:
6 sessions played, 5 sessions won, 1 session lost.
Seems like 2016 has a new start for me. Watch this space, might be more to come.
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