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.

Greg Raymer profile

While playing the Hubble freeroll last night I accidentally stumbled across their PokerStars Pro profiles. One of the ones I liked was this (below) one of Greg Raymer, "Fossilman". The video at the bottom is quite interesting as he talks about how he got started as well as how you move up the "levels" in the poker world. Click on the title below to read the full story and scroll down to the video interview.

PokerStars - Greg Raymer - 2004 World Series Champion

Originally from North Dakota, Greg Raymer worked as a patent lawyer before giving it up to play poker full time. In the early days of his career, he would add to his bankroll by buying fossil card protectors and selling them at the table. It was this that led to him being called ‘FossilMan’, a nickname that has stuck to this day. Greg would soon find that he didn’t have to worry about the size of his bankroll for much longer.

After finding success in tournaments across the country, Greg played at the World Series for the first time in 2001. He almost made the final table of the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split event, finishing 12th for a small cash of $5,345. He returned to Las Vegas every year and in 2004 won a far bigger amount of cash. Ever since fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker had won the previous year, the World Series had seen huge growth, and the 2004 Main Event attracted a massive 2,576 players. Greg played a solid game and emerged as the winner, earning prize money of $5,000,000.

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.