APL - Broadway Hotel

Its been a few weeks since I've blogged and its a mixture of tilt, busy being and falling out of the habit. I'll start getting back in the rhythm with an APL update from the Broadway Hotel venue.

Last Monday I got a text from a friend who was having dinner with the TD and said that it was the last night of the venue for the quarter because the Broadway had functions for the weeks leading up to Christmas. I checked the leaderboard and after a few weeks of not getting deep I was still clinging on to 3rd place which meant if I could make it through the night without getting passed I would be off to the State Finals. There were 3 or 4 people who were within reach so I knew who I needed to worry about.

The night started off well for me with an early chip-up but after that it all went downhill. The key hand for me was when I limped from the hijack with ace 3 suited (spades) and it folded round to the big blind who just checked. The flop came 9 spades, 8 spades, rag so I had the nut flush draw. The big blind led overbet the pot so I was either all-in or fold and needing to double-up I pushed. He was committed to the pot and ashamedly turned over jack ten off and was chasing the straight but liked that I was chasing too. Unfortunately for me an 8 came on the turn to give him the straight and my hand didn't improve. I was out shortly after when my ace king didn't hold up in a multiway pot.

I had a second chance on the turbo table but didn't win that either. When I left the turbo table I scoured the room to find out that just one player who was a chance to knock me off was left in the tournament. It was one of my friends so he was well aware of the situation that he and I was in and he needed to make final table to knock me off. After sweating his table for another hour or so he almost limped on to final table with just one 100 chip left (the blinds were 4K by this time) but he ended up bubbling. I felt bad for him because he was so close to making it through, but obviously relieved that I had secured 3rd and would again be off to States having just watched and played the freeroll last time.

APL - Broadway Hotel

After missing out on the final table last week, I was keen to get back on track at the Broadway and move back up the venue leaderboard.

As per usual, I got NO cards early. Actually, I did get ace king in the small blind first hand but out of position and that early on I was happy just to see a flop as I didn't think I could get either limper to fold. I hit a king on the river but someone was slow-playing a flopped set but bet weak on the river so it didn't cost me much to see what he was doing.

I was patient after the break and when the blinds were too much of my stack I pushed all-in vs 2 limpers with ace jack off. I got called by a limp under-the-gun with ace 4 off and by pocket 2's. Thankfully I caught a jack on the turn and took down a sizable pot that got me back in the game. From there I started to see some hands and continued to build my stack.

Close to the bubble I raise-folded with ace jack short-handed when I got re-raised by an older woman in the big blind. I decided to lay it down as I didn't think it was a good spot but because of that I went to the final table short-stacked.

I drew the big blind spot on the final table which wasn't great with my stack but took down the first hand which gave me some time. I later called all-in with ace ten off on the button and my ace high won. Next hand I got kings, shoved, got isolated and took it down. I later defended my big-blind vs a small-blind shove with ace 2 off, was ahead pre-flop and again it held. I ended up getting knocked out when my big blind was 3/4 of my stack and I had to call a small blind push. He turned over ace king off so my cards were live ... flopped a 3, he flopped the nut flush draw, turned an ace and then rivered the flush.

I finished in 4th place which I thought would give me the venue lead but unfortunately the woman who won the final table was also in contention and now has a 29 point lead on me. I'm 19 ahead of a friend of mine who is in 3rd and another friend of mine is in 5th. Its a tight contest still so I need another couple of final tables or a win to put a gap on the field and then head to States.

Poker update

I really haven't been playing as much as previous months, mainly because I've been too busy doing other things. The spin-off from that is I'm sleeping better and getting to the gym regularly.

I played online last Tuesday and had a tough night. I felt I played really well but it was a night of suck-outs and I managed to only make 2 final tables and got no deeper than 5th. I also played in the PCA freeroll, 10,000 starters and only 9 got through to the next round. I had some luck midway through, took advantage of it and went very deep. I played a hand a little too passively and ended up folding on the river to a stone cold bluff ... had I shoved all-in pre-flop which was the right move, I would've won the hand and taken some large blinds. I ended up getting knocked out in 30th, just short of the qualification. Pleased to get through so many players, frustrating to fall just short.

The plan last night was to go to the Broadway Hotel to defend my APL venue lead. I decided to be good and get to the gym straight after work so after some cardio I got home but a massive storm was rolling in. I had my car cleaned and polished on Sunday and the lightning and thunder were pretty fierce so I didn't think it was too wise to drive in, so I just stayed here and played a little on PokerStars. I played just 6 games, cashed two with a 5th (in a $1.10 90 man) and a 6th (in a $3.25 45 man).

I put off doing some work tonight and instead fired up some tournaments online. I final tabled early and despite playing a little too passively at times had a good run near the end. I again cashed in one of the Sunday 1/4 Million qualifiers as well as final tabling a $3.25 45 man and a $2.20 $180 man. I had a good stack late in the 180 man and was hoping to go really deep on the final table. Small blind shoved all-in and they were also a short-stack, I had ace 6 off figured I was ahead and called hoping to double up and gain some momentum. I was right to call as the small blind had shoved with jack 4 suited. Unfortunately he flopped a 4 and got another one on the river and I was out in 6th place, just short of the good cash.

I really feel like I'm playing well but I'm not finishing tournaments off. I know I'm not playing that much but I'd still like to be winning a few more of the games I'm playing in.

APL - Broadway Hotel

My second week in a row of live poker was on Monday night at the Broadway Hotel. As mentioned last week, I hadn't played APL in ages but after a good showing last week I was keen to do it again and its also a good social activity as a few of my friends play that venue.

Much like last week I was card dead for the first half of the game. I had an entertaining table with a few of my friends on it as well as some active/interesting players to mix it up. There was an older lady next to me that was being aggressive and no one really knew how she was playing because she was getting away with it and not having to show down too many hands. After the break this came to an end when she got busted in a few raised pots betting strong with marginal hands when first to act. Thankfully I got to take advantage of it as she limped the small blind when it was folded around to her and I checked the big blind with king 9 off. One of my friends gave me shit for not being aggressive pre-flop but I was fine with the play since I knew she'd call with most hands. Luckily for me the flop came 4, 7, 9 and she lead out with a bet. Not going to muck around with my hand I re-raised all-in and she ended up calling with jack ten off on the gutshot straight draw. Thankfully she missed and I doubled up knocking her out.

I then started to get some cards and took down a few blinds with them. A little while later I had kings under the gun and took my time deciding how much to raise. Once I decided with 2.5 times I got instantly re-raised all-in by the player next to me and there was a caller from a shorter stack on the other side of the table. I wasn't about to fold and had them both covered so called, turned over my kings much to the pain of the guy next to me who had queens and the other person had jacks. Cold deck for them as the king was the second card out and I took down a massive pot with my set and took out two players at the same time.

Our table was then broken and we were down to 2 or 3 tables left. I got a bit more aggressive on the other table, stole a few blinds and cruised on to the final table with a decent stack. The blinds were quite large by this stage but I drew a good seat starting as the small blind. I took out a shorter stack with queens in the small blind, flopped top set and then rivered a boat. The action on the final table was fast and furious and before I knew it we were down to 4 players. One of my friends took out the other two players who were the shorter stacks by that time and he had a strong chip lead when we got to heads-up.

I took down a couple of the opening pots and since the blinds were so high I had clawed my way back in to the match. With the blinds at 10K/20K I limped from the small blind with 4 5 suited and the big blind checked. The flop came queen, 8, 2 with two diamonds and with the big blind first to act he overbet the pot putting me virtually all-in. I decided it was now or never and called much to his disappointment as he thought he was busted when he turned over 2 6 off for bottom pair no kicker. Unfortunately he dodged another diamond and knocked me out to take the win.

The second place finish after my fifth the previous week actually puts in me in to the lead for the venue, admittedly after only 3 weeks in to the season. So with that in mind I'll definitely be back on Monday to hopefully put in another good performance and attempt to qualify for States.

My friend Paul who beat me heads-up with 2 6 off ... ouch ...