Update

I know I put a ban on myself playing online poker but I really didn't expect to go a week without blogging so apologies for that.

Its now been a week without playing online and I'm itching to get back in to it but likely won't until Thursday night at the earliest.

Since I haven't been playing, I got stuck in to those DVD's I mentioned in the last post. I know it didn't get good reviews but I enjoyed "Angels & Demons". I think they did well considering the limited access to the Vatican that they were allowed. "Notorious" was ok too. I'm not a fan of Biggie, especially not compared to Tupac but it was an interesting story all the same. With P-Diddy as the producer, I take the "reality" of the movie with a grain of salt especially when it came to the east coast - west coast rivalry. The final movie was "Little Miss Sunshine" which was recommended to me by a friend and I've been meaning to see for a while. I think I was hesitant to see it until now because it didn't seem like my type of humour. After watching it this turned out to be the case, sure it was funny in parts but essentially not my style but still worth a look.

Friday night was my league's NBA Fantasy Draft ... now known as the GREATEST night of the year. There are 7 of that grab dinner and drinks and then come back here for the draft. Due to some players in the league living in Perth, the draft itself doesn't kick off until 12:15am so there is plenty of time for talking shit and catching up.

This weekend I went up to Maroochydore to hang out with some friends that were playing in the APL State Finals. Having not played APL for months I wasn't eligible to play in the main event but could play in the freeroll. The freeroll was madness to say the least. Players were allowed unlimited spend cards for re-buys and by 5pm when it kicked off plenty of players were pissed after busting out of the main event or just pissed (due to alcohol). I had been at my brother's place in the afternoon so didn't fill out a spend card which meant I was up against it from the get go. My starting table was very loose and a number of people were playing any 2 cards no matter the pre-flop raise. I won a small pot early, lost another with 9's against someone trapping with top pair and from there it was shove or fold due to the blinds. I shoved with ace queen only to get called by king 6 suited and thankfully turned two pair to take the pot. I later went all-in with ace king off and survived against two players. I got moved tables and the blinds were already 500/1000 and I only had around 3000. It folded to me in the cutoff so I shoved with ace 8 off and unfortunately got called blind by a short-stack in the big blind. He turned over jack 9 off and caught a jack on the flop to win. My stack was crippled and I was out shortly after.

Last night I decided to play a regular APL game at the Broadway Hotel. I used to play this venue in the past but they lost it for a while and its only just returned. There were some terrible players on my table but I was card dead early (which has often been the case at this venue for me) so couldn't take advantage of it. After being extremely patient for the first 2 hours, I had 5 7 of hearts in the big blind against a big stack in midposition and a completed small blind. Flop came 3 4 6 with two diamonds ... SWEET! Small blind checked, I decided to check also figuring the big stack would bet and he didn't let me down. Surprisingly tho the small blind re-raised and I pushed all-in which was just less than her re-raise ... and the big stack still called. The small blind continued to bet on the turn and river and get called so I assumed at least one of them had a flush draw which thankfully didn't come. Small blind turned over the bottom straight with 2 5 of diamonds and the big stack mucked so I took down the main pot and was finally chipped up. I then had kings in midposition and with one limper and the blinds at 500/1000 decided to just shove and see if the under-the-gun limper called and he didn't. Shoved with ace king off late but didn't get called and then the bubble burst and I was on the final table.

I drew the under-the-gun spot on the final table and with the blinds at 2000/4000 I had just 10,000. I got pocket 6's first hand but with a number of smallish stacks I decided to just fold and move up the rankings. It turned out to be a good decision as someone with 9's caught a set on the turn to take down the pot. A few players got knocked out and then I got queens and called with my final 4K when the blinds were at 6. I thankfully got isolated by someone with ace rag and my hand held up. I pushed next hand with ace jack suited and then held up against a caller with ace 8 suited. We were down to just 6 players and it folded to me with king jack off in the hijack. I wanted to be aggressive so pushed all-in but got called by the big stack in the small blind and the big blind decided to play as well so he didn't get blinded out. Big stack turns over ace ten which catches two aces to knock us both out and I finish in 5th. The shove wasn't a play I normally make but I was going for the win and don't hate the move at that stage of the game. So a good result for my first game back and I'll likely play that venue from now on.

Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queensland

Probably the most exciting poker thing that happened over the last two weeks is that I stumbled across this announcement (below). Its great Queensland and more specifically Brisbane and the Gold Coast are taking part in the new ANZPT.

Thanks to the current economic climate, I won't be rocking up on the day with the $2,500 buy-in but I have been playing in a few of the online freeroll qualifiers. There's usually about 3000 or so players in these events and most of the time I get to in to the top 200. Top 20 qualify for the next round where the seats are up for grabs so its a tough ask to get in to the event this way.

Even if I don't qualify, I'm keen to check out the action of the first few days at Conrad Treasury Brisbane. For more information about the event, click on the title below to go to the official website.

Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queensland - ANZPT Sponsored by PokerStars.net

Conrad Jupiters and Conrad Treasury Casinos will be joining the inaugural season of the PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour as the new final event. The unique format will incorporate the event being held at two venues concurrently and the opportunity to firmly place Queensland as a new and exciting addition on the Australian poker tournament map.

What makes this event even better is that there is no admin fee for ANZPT Queensland. The entire $2,500 buy-in per player goes back into the prizepool!

ANZPT Queensland will be a five day event held from August 5-9, 2009 at both Treasury Casino in the State’s capital of Brisbane and Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast. The event has a cap of 280 players plus 20 alternates. All players qualifying through to Day 3 will play at Jupiters Casino. Those players who commenced play at Brisbane and make the final table will receive a complimentary night’s accommodation at Jupiters Casino Hotel.

For more information on the format for this event go to http://www.anzpt.com/tournaments/queensland/faq/

Annette Obrestad's blind win tourney

I was looking for some good poker blogs yesterday afternoon (yes, it was a quiet afternoon at work) and stumbled across young female poker pro, Annette Obrestad's blog. I remember watching her win the WSOP event in Europe a year or two back. I was in Sydney at the time on business and had some time before I flew out so I was watching it in the club lounge of the hotel. She was only 19 at the time and from my perspective she was very aggressive and seemed to getting extremely lucky with some of her showdown situations (going in well behind but sucking out).

I read a few of her blog posts yesterday and actually like her story. She started from nothing when she was 15 by winning money from an online freeroll and built her way up playing tournaments to become one of the top rated online poker players. Impressive!

One story that I found about her is how she won a 180 player tournament without looking at her hole cards (except for maybe one hand she said). I play a lot of 90 and 180 tournaments and that is quite a feat. Click on the title below to read the full story and see her in action!

Betfair | A look at Annette's blind win tourney

A forum poster recently asked how Annette could have won a 180-player online tournament without looking at her cards.

'With a Post-it Note', came the amusing and only response.

It was probably not the answer the poster was looking for and they were just marvelling in the fact Annette could win a tourney without looking at her hand in her hole cards.

She has since explained that it was an exercise in the importance of playing in position and the videos below shows how she demonstrated this as she folds KK in the first few hands.

Speaking about why she did 180-player tournament blind challenge she said. 'To show just how important it is to play position and to pay attention to the players at the table. Like, if you knew that someone was weak you'd attack them.'

Another Hubble ... another bubble

As mentioned in the last post, I was playing a LOT online a few weeks ago. I've eased off but dropped in to the office last night in time to play the hubble freeroll on PokerStars. I'm determined to make it through to the next round when there's cash/credit up for grabs. I've bubbled before and and I've made it in to the top 250 numerous times.

Last night I waited patiently for a decent hand, watching people push all-in early with nothing and getting called by not much more. I eventually start seeing hands and begin to chip right up. I get aces, raise considerably, get a few callers, they hit top pair (a ten) on the flop and then can't lay their hand down when I continue to bet strongly. I hit a few sets and full-houses and move in to the top 50 or so chip-leaders.

I probably only make a couple of mistakes all tournament. Firstly, a guy slow-plays aces and no one raises pre-flop. He hits a set on the flop and checks it down despite a possible straight already being on the board (and I have a straight-draw). I hit my king on the turn, he bets before me not too much, I call. The last card is a blank and he bets reasonably strong and I call a little too quickly. He shows his trip aces, I muck my pair of kings (one on the board).

The other was a semi-bluff that I tried to continue on with on the river. I had two diamonds and bet softly (probably too softly) on the turn when the 2nd diamond came out and everyone else had checked (I also had a straight draw). I miss on the river, he checks, I bet ... he thinks and calls ... with a pair of 4's with 4 overcards on the board. I guess I didn't disguise my bet on the draw well enough and he had enough chips to take the chance.

I fought back but ended up getting knocked out when I had ace-ten suited and the blinds were about $2500/$5000 I think. I probably should've raised or pushed all-in but I just called and there were 2 other callers I think. The board comes 10, 8, 2 ... big blind checks, I bet 3/4 of the pot and then the other player raises me. I call, he turns over queen-jack, next card out is the 9 giving him the straight and I'm knocked out 129th out of 10,173 players. Again ... so close yet so far.

Hubble freeroll

Poker players play for many different reasons and have different motivations (especially in online poker). Its even more diverse when its a freeroll. I've heard some people say that "its a freeroll, no one cares", me tho, I play as well as I can for practice and to qualify for the next round where there's cash involved.

I was in doing some work last night and thought that I'd play the hubble freeroll on PokerStars before I went home. I figured I'd play for the usual hour and a half or so, finish in in the top 500 and be home before midnight. That didn't quite happen ...

I tend to do quite well in the hubble's but am yet to crack the second round when the cash is up for grabs. My best finish so far is on the bubble, 100th with 99 qualifying for the next round ... to get that close but miss out, shattered to say the least.

Last night I had another very good shot of making it through. I chipped up massively early and at one point was in the top 20 chip counts, so was cruising. I had people walking in to (my) massive hands, guys pushing all-in with their two pair when I'd already hit the flush, guys thinking their ace was good when it came on the board when I had trips ... things were definitely going my way. When I got to about 70K in chips tho I stupidly took my foot off the pedal and tightened up. I folded to small raises that deserved little respect and the flop came out what would've been a dream for me. I folded king-7 (not a good poker hand, but fine when you're chipped up) to a relatively small raise when I was small blind and the flop comes 3, 7, 7 ... OUCH. Later in the tournament I was small blind getting ridiculously good odds and I folded king-5 pre-flop ... the flop comes 5, 7, 5 ... ugggh.

My stack started to dwindle as the blinds went up as did the opposing chip stacks. I was pushed around by the bigger stacks raising with nothing just to put pressure on the small stacks. I took a stand with ace-king suited and doubled-up through a call with ace-queen off. I pushed with pocket-8's and it held up against ace-queen off. But my luck eventually ran out with ace-9 suited against pocket jacks. I raised, hoping to steal the blinds ... got called by the jacks. The flop had two hearts in it with the high card being a queen so I pushed all-in, got called by the jacks, I caught a 9 on the turn but no ace and no more hearts. So I ended up finishing 161st out of 12,000 starters.

Its a good performance but I learnt that getting to 70K isn't enough for you to cruise through to the top 99 so you can't stop pushing and building your stack. And I played for 2.5 hours getting home just after 1 (I think) ... tired today.

Poker credentials

So when all the poker books recommend that you play a strong, aggressive game ... how does a tight, conservative player fair in the world of free poker? Well, my game seems to be best suited to deep stack tournaments rather than small stack, quick blinds.

Your normal APL game is small stack, quick blinds, loose players, etc ... so I don't win too many actual games (I've won twice so far, both in the last few months). I do well, I regularly get on final tables and have a strong average (points) but I tend to place rather than take out the win.

Online free events are TOUGH. The play is erratic to say the least and you come up against all types of players and all different skill (or lack there of) levels.

My best performances in APL have been:

1. In a joint regional tournament (a few months ago) of about 150 players, I made final table with not too many chips and finished 8th.

2. I finished top two in a Lucky 13 regional tournament of about 65 players. I was just about out half-way through the tournament but rode a HOT streak of cards that chipped me up massively. In the space of 30 minutes I saw pocket 7's, pocket queens, pocket jacks, pocket aces and pocket kings and won with them all. Finishing top 2 won me a trip to Sydney including flights, accommodation and buy-in to play in an APL Pro Open (cash tournament).

3. Two quarters ago I won the Shafston venue which meant I had the most points over a 3 month period. I won a trophy and qualified for my first State tournament.

4. Yesterday I played in my second State tournament and out of 500 players finished 15th which won me $500. More about this in my next post.

Now, in online freeroll tournaments (on PokerStars), my best performances so far are:

1. I finished top 50 in a qualifying event (out of around 5000 players) that put me through to a World Series of Poker satellite. Competing against 14,000 other players I was very unlucky to get knocked out around 650th (the other guy was way behind when he called a second re-raise on the turn and he hit one of only 3 outs on the river).

2. I finished top 50 in a qualifying event (out of around 3000 players) which put me through to a satellite for an APPT event in Macau. There were more than 2500 players in the satellite and the top 100 would be paid (only $5 it turns out) ... I finished 70th.