Cambodia Trip Day 3

Day 3 began as another beautiful day in Phnom Penh. The weather was great again and we had plans that morning for a 2 hour Khmer massage. Rob had recommended a place called Champei to us telling us we HAD to get the 2 hour massage because 1 hour wasn't enough...so a 2 hour massage it is. The massage place wasn't too far from our hotel so instead of boarding a tuk tuk we decided to walk. I always enjoy a good walk, especially in a new place. Once we reached Champei we ordered our 2 hour Khmer massage then we were escorted to our rooms.

The massage routine was different from what I have been used to. There was a set of clothes to change into on the massage bed. A very large pair of pants and a shirt. It took me a minute to figure out how to situate myself in the past due to them being a size 50 in the waste...at least LOL. The Khmer massage is done on top of the clothing or she moves it out of the way during the massage. No oils or lotions were used but this was one of the best massages I have received. The massage being 2 hours long didn't hurt either. The massage also involved a lot of stretching which I needed because I definitely was feeling tight from our travels so far. She capped off the massage with rubbing my head which was AMAZING then silently said she was done and left the room. "WOW"... is what as running through my head and I will be getting another one or a few of these before we leave. Oh...did I mention that it only cost $14. Not too shabby! I'll be sure to describe my massage as well as the cost to my masseuse in Tampa. Although, I'm sure I'll still have to pay the $50 per hour there...

After some complementary tee and fruit we were off to lunch. We chose a Khmer cuisine place not too far from Champei and it was another good meal in Cambodia. The sticky rice for desert was EXCELLENT! It still amazing how good the food here is for the cost. I'll gladly give them $4-6 dollars a meal...I may have to have seconds LOL.

Next stop was the central market and the local mall. The central market was similar to the Russian market that we had visited the day before and the mall was pretty much the market except in doors. They were both nice to see but I didn't buy anything yet. I plan on picking up a few souvenirs from one of them before we leave.

After visiting the markets we decided to check out one of the Wats in Phnom Penh. We have past a few of them while we've been here but have yet to enter one to walk around. Wat Phnom was only a short walk from the central market and was a very nice place to visit. Along the outside of the Wat there are vendors, children playing, and people relaxing. Inside the Wat, or up the stairs, there were tourist, like us, but also there were people praying and lighting inscence. It was a calming experience to have. The atmosphere of the Wat was very peaceful and calming, which was a nice break from the organized chaos of the streets of Phnom Penh.

Once we left the Wat we headed back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner with the Cody's again. Tomorrow we would be off to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and some other temples in that area.

Almost forgot...we hit up the casino to see how we would do in the local no limit game. All I will say is we both left with a nice profit! Hoping we have to time to stop there again once we return back to Phnom Penh the last night before we leave...maybe the entire trip could be a freeroll LOL!

Another great day in Cambodia!

Fred

Cambodia Trip Day 2

On to day 2...I had been anticipating how the first morning in Phnom Penh would feel and it didn't disappoint. We woke up quite early and I was feeling very refreshed after a full nights sleep in a bed as appose to the sleep we had on the airplanes seats en route. I sat on the balcony for a few while enjoying the cool morning weather and listened to the city speak to me for a while.

The plan for the day was to tour the killing fields, the genocide museum, and then the Russian market. After a quick bite to eat we boarded our tuk tuk and we were en route to the killing fields. It was quite a long ride via the tuk tuk and dusty also. Luckily I had my buff headband and could over my nose and mouth during the ride. We were constantly being passed my motos (motorcycles), cars, trucks, and the occasional garbage truck. Yes it was foul. Again I was amazed by the organized chaos of driving in Phnom Penh, but our driver Sam seemed to navigate the streets with ease. We were shocked when we reach an intersection with a stop light...but Sam decided he didn't want to stop and just cut through the gas station on the corner. During our ride to we past rice paddy fields, many small stores, and many people along the road selling goods trying to make a living. This would hit me harder during our ride back from the killing fields.

Once we reached our destination Sam dropped us off out front and he would wait for us until we were ready to leave. As we approached the gate we were greeted by older men missing limbs asking for money. This was the beginning of the sadness that I would feel for the next few hours. We entered the gates and paid our $5 admission fee. I couldn't help but feel a sense of something in the air. Its very hard to describe, but everyone was very quiet as they walked around touring the fields listening to the virtual tour guides. We made our way from point to point as instructed by our virtual guides and learned of the terrible genocide of 3 million Khmer people (Cambodians). About 17,000 were killed at this location during a 4 year period by the Khmer Rouge regime and I will not go into detail as to how the deaths were described to me. All I will say is that I was very nauseous after our tour. The sadness that came over me while I learned how almost a third of the population was killed is indescribable and the fact that this occurred somewhat recently saddened me more. I guess it affected me more because of knowing that some of the people whom committed these acts are still alive and that the families that were affected by this are alive also. Its not as if the story has been told from 2 or 3 generations before. The generation whom this affected is still alive today. Its crazy to see so few older people around the city due to this genocide. I can count on both of my hands how many people over 60 or 70 I've seen in our short stay here so far and I can't help but wonder the things they may have experience during this tragedy. Maybe the pictures I shot during this tour can provide a better look into the atmosphere of the killing fields...I will post them once we return.

Once we were done with the tour both of us were hungry so we asked Sam to take us somewhere to eat on the way to our next destination. I have to admit it was hard to think about eating due to the nausea from the tour. During our ride back into the heart on Phnom Penh I couldn't help but have a greater respect for the Khmer people as we past their shops and stores on the tuk tuk. These people had endured so much and now are moving on in an attempt to improve their country. Its hard for me to imagine the feeling I would have if my entire family was killed. I'm not sure I would be able to function let alone move on with my life. The trip to lunch was quiet as I am sure we both were absorbing the magnitude of the event that we had learned about. But after a short ride we reached our lunch destination and it was time for some good food.

We were not disappointed by lunch and so far every meal we have had has been a good one. Its still amazing to me that these places can serve such inexpensive food yet be so tasty. I am learning that in Cambodia cheap does not necessarily mean not good...matter of fact one of our best meals was probably one of the cheapest we have had. After our meal we were off to the Russian markets which was conveniently a few blocks up the road. Sam offered to drop us off closer since we had hired him for the day.

The Russian market is essentially a flea market where people sell goods and food. The setup reminds me of a maze and after making are way through the walls of clothes, shoes, carvings, jewelry, etc. we found that we didn't know which way we had entered. Again, the people were kind as they asked you to buy something from their shop. I didn't feel hounded in any way as I have in other places I have visited. This felt good. We approached the food area and I could a see the arrangements of dried fish hanging, which smelled quite bad, meats hanging, fruits , veggies, and vendors cooking food fresh as people ordered it. We both have been tempted to try food in the market or some of the street food but I am nervous about the potential of having any stomach problems. Some of the food looks and smells fantastic and I'm sure I will try some street food before our trip is over. We found our way back to the road then called Sam and gave him our location so he could pick us up. We both were worn down from the tour and walking around the market so we decided not to visit the genocide museum and we headed back to our hotel to relax by the pool and unwind. We paid Sam his fee of $20 and thanked him for his services for the day.

It was nice to relax, write, and balance myself after that mornings activities. We had plans later to have dinner with the Cody's again then after we were going to walk around the riverfront area then maybe hit up the casino.

After relaxing for a while it was dinner time and we boarded another tuk tuk and were en route to meet the Cody's for dinner. Tonight dinner was at the Chinese Noodle Restaurant and it was another great meal. The noodles, which are made fresh and pulled by hand, were some of the best that I have had and the dumpling were tasty also. The meal again was very inexpensive. Grand total for all 6 of us was $21 and I was stuffed. I can already imagine how hard it may be going out to eat once we get back home and seeing the prices...I'm getting spoiled here.

After dinner we were picked up by another tuk tuk and headed to the river front area of Phnom Penh. There was happy hours, children playing in the park along the river, a night market with goods and food, and a many other things going on along the river. We walked around to get a feel for the night scene then we decided to head to the casino and see how the poker tables looked.

Nagaworld casino was nice. Not too busy and a few poker tables going that evening. We didn't end up playing but decided that we would come back the next day and see if we could put in a good session at the tables. The players didn't seem that good and we both feel like we could do well if we sat down and played. So we'll see how it goes tomorrow...

It was a long day and I was feeling emotionally and physically tired so it was time to head back and rest for tomorrows activities. Another great day in Phnom Penh...

Fred

WSOP in West Palm Beach

Yes it has been a while since I’ve blogged and I won’t provide any excuses as to why I have not. Many things as always race through my mind and sometimes I feel like I should share them yet I don’t…anyway on to poker

I have a feeling that I will blog more if I write about poker and analysis of my play…so I guess I will try this next. Although I’m sure other topics will sneak especially with my upcoming trip to Southeast Asia!

Cashed in my 1^st WSOP event this past weekend! I definitely am excited about that and it has given me a sense of accomplishment per se in my young poker adventure. I had been playing very inconsistent and running bad during the weeks leading into the WSOP circuit event in West Palm Beach. I hadn’t had many deep runs until the night before we left. I specifically played that night in an attempt to have a deep run and boost my confidence a little, which it did. I final tabled the Wednesday night event at Silks and played solid the whole night. I played smart and focused the entire night while focusing on playing position and being selectively aggressive. This was the strategy that I was going to follow in West Palm. Play my game and not to let myself be force or get out of my comfort zone. I was excited but also nervous leading into the event. I hadn’t played in a field of this size before and I didn’t know what to expect as far as the level of play for the field and how many “professionals” I would have to play against. Although, my nervousness was delayed after not knowing for sure that we would get a chance to purchase entry tickets due to the tournament selling out. Whoops! In a strange way this calmed me. Not sure why, but maybe it distracted me from focusing on how I would play and instead on actually getting a ticket. But we were able to get tickets and it was time to grind my first event…

I decided that I wasn’t going to get carried away early and I wanted to get a good feel for the players at my table. Guy to my left was watching shows on Hulu on his iPad, older guy to my right liked to make big bets PF with speculative hands that could miss on the flop, southern guy two to my left was solid and seemed to have a similar strategy to mine, guys three and four to my left were nitty and waiting for big hands to play back at people, no one that I was too worried about. We also had two dead stacks at the table which changed to one when a super LAG player showed up, him and I would tango later. After I got comfortable with the table, which didn’t take too long, I was focused on gradually building my stack. I didn’t want to force myself to play big pots unless I had a huge hand because I didn’t want to put my stack at risk unless it was worth it. I picked up a few hands here and there, c-bet a few pots, and was able to build my stack slowly. The slow blind structure was VERY nice because it allowed me to be patient and not play many speculative hands if I wasn’t first in. A few hands…hand 6 is the one I’m guessing I’ll get the most feedback on if you want to skip ahead.

1^st hand

I think we were at the 150/300/25 level. Older guy on my right opens for like 1200. He always opens larger than anyone at the table. The standard was 2-2.5BB opening bet. I look down on the button or cutoff at QJcc and call. Our stack sizes were similar to start the hand maybe 15-20K range. The flop comes K high with two clubs. The King of clubs also. He bets large again into the pot like 2-3k I think. So put him on a King and call to see if I can spike gold on the turn. Turn comes club. BOOM! He bets again about the same amount and I snap raise 3-4 times his bet leaving about 8-10K behind. He thinks about it for a while and proceeds to look at my stack while thinking then calls. Uh oh! is what I am thinking. River is a blank. Doesn’t pair the board and isn’t another club. He tanks again looking at my stack counting his then proceeds to check and I flip over my flush for the winner. I didn’t bet the river because I felt like I wasn’t going to get called by a worse hand and I would only get checked raise by a better hand or bluff. I didn’t want to be force to make a hard decision for my tournament life in this hand. Glad it worked out.

2^nd hand

I’m in the small blind and the southern guy two to my left opens UTG 3 x BB I think we were at the 300/600/75 level. Folds to me and I have AQcc. I call. BB folds. Flop comes AQ5sss. Uh oh. Good flop but all spades damn. I make an almost pot sized bet hoping to end the hand here. He tanks, ask me if I have a big hand, I shake my head yes, and he calls. Once he calls I decide I’m shoving the turn unless it’s a spade. I have behind a little more than is in the pot. I see a red number card and instantly shove. He tank folds. He either had KK or JJ with K or J of spade.

3^rd hand

Southern guy opens again UTG to 1800 (300/600/75 level) and it’s folded around to me and I have 10 10. I think about raising because I’m almost certain he has AK, AQ, AJ, or similar. But decide to call. The BB raises to 6500. Uh oh! Southern guy tank folds and I’m force to a tough decision. I have about 30K behind at this point and I’m certain he has AA, AK, or KK here. With more weight on AA or KK. What’s crazy is the hand right before this one he was AIPF with AA against the hyper lag that had KK. AA held up. So I ask him “another big hand” and he is stone cold stiff. Almost deer in the headlights look. So I fold my 10s face up and he shows AA again…WOW what are the odds! Great fold me!

4^th hand

Approaching the dinner break we get a few new players at the table with similar stacks to mine. I’m UTG+1 and look down at 88 and open to 1800 level 400/800/100. New guy at the table calls everyone else folds. He just lost a big pot a few hands ago and I think he may be slightly on tilt. Flop comes 10 high with two hearts. Not bad but not great for my hand. I have the 8h btw (blocker). I bet 2.5K and he insta shoves for about 10K. I tank and reconstruct the hand, calculate the pot, etc…decide to call. He shows AK only one heart and misses. I drag the pot. YESSIR! Dinner break 50K stack.

Plan as of this point is hopefully avoid a cooler and continue to build my stack. Average stack for Day 2 will be about 100K.

5^th hand

Hyper lag has been crushing flops and taking out people with mediocre holdings PF. He has a smaller stack than me so I’m hoping to catch his hand in the cookie jar with a big hand. Hyper lag opens for 3k two to the right of the button I believe. I’m in the BB with KK. The hand I’ve been waiting for (at least that is what I thought). I raise 13 or 14K and he almost instantly raises to 28K leaving about 8-10K behind. Anybody else at the table I actually consider folding here. But he has 3 and 4 bet light quite a few times just to get lucky on the flop flopping two pair ect…so I shove and he insta calls with AA. WTF!!! I miss and double up the LAG. I have about 12K now. BOOOOOOO.

I’m a little deflated at this point. But I collect myself and decide I’m not going to let myself go on tilt due to the cooler. I proceed to double up…I can’t remember the hand other than I know I had to fade a big draw in order to win. Then our table breaks. Get to my new table and look at quite a few big stacks at the table over 100K and we are approaching the break point for day 2. About 3 hours left to play until break for Day 2. Second hand at the table I get AA (first time for the tourney). I hollywood a bit making it seem like I don’t want to shove then “All IN”. It folds around to one of the big stacks at the table who calls. AA holds up. Sweet! Up to about 40k.

I proceed to fold hand after hand. Can’t pick up a decent hand or be first to open. Then I get 66 UTG +1 and open for 3xBB get two or three callers. Flop comes 6sAdKd. I don’t want to mess around so I shove and get one caller with QJdd. Uh oh! So I start saying “Pair the board”…K on the turn. Yes! Wait please don’t put the 10d out there….river blank. Sweet. Double up!

After that I pick my spots wisely. My table was tough. A lot of 3 betting PF and raising bets on the flop. I pick up blinds and antes a few times. But my stack gets smaller due to missing flops when I’m in hands. I pick up a decent pot before the break for Day 2. Small stack goes all in gets one caller. I look down at AJ and shove ALL IN. I had the caller covered or close too. He folds and I catch an Ace for the winner. He later said he folded AQ. Whoops dodge a bullet there…my stack was short though and I was shoving any ace at that point. He should have shoved before me…then I would have folded.

End of Day 1 and I have 75.5K with the average being slightly over 100K.

Wow didn’t expect this at all. Although I knew I wasn’t a bad player I honestly can say that I was humbled to make day 2. Looking back at the day…I played smart, was able to hit flops/boards here and there, and survived one cooler. I felt good knowing those things alone. I was very confident in my game going into Day 2 and I felt like as long as I was able to pick up a few hands early I would have a good shot at going deep into the money.

Day 2

309 left and 279 are in the money. First few hands the dealer makes it easy for me and guys are shoving at my table every hand getting zero callers.

6^th hand

This hand was borderline to me…We weren’t in the money yet and I look down at AQdd UTG and open for 11 or 12K blinds were 2k/4k/500. I have about 60K behind. Guy to my left shoves for about 52K total. It folds to me and I tank call. He shows AK and I lose. Looking back at this hand I feel as though it is a marginal call. Looking at the numbers…there was 11K from blinds and antes, 12k from my bet, and his 50K in the pot. About 73k total. So I have to call about 40K in order to win 73K which puts the pot odds at 1.5:1. So would need to be at least 40% to win the hand to justify the call. I felt that he would shove AK, AQ, AJ, and any pair AA-88 or 77. From my quick conversation with him he didn’t seem like he was just going to fold his way into the money. So I’m flipping with a lot of his range here, a favorite to one hand, and quite a bit behind against 3 hands. So looking at his range here I felt like I was in that 40% range and could call since I would be flipping against most of his range. I was willing to flip at this point because I decided I wasn’t going to just fold my way to the money. My goal at this point wasn’t a min cash I was shooting for at least top 30. Also if he had more chips than me I would have folded. Having a little over 20K behind factored into my decision as I would still have a shot to build a stack.

After this hand I fold to the money. Really didn’t have a choice due to the hands I was getting and I’m in the money. WHOOP! First WSOP event and I cashed. Yes LAWD! LOL…It is a great feeling and gives me more confidence in my game. They give us a break to cash out the players who busted on the bubble and I hope that I can pick up a decent hand early when we get back to double up with.

Standard hand…I’m in the BB hoping I have a hand with some sort of chance winning after a flop and I look down at 67dd. Cool…raiser from mid position calls my All In and I double up against A9cc. Yes! On the right track.

Few hands later UTG raises 3xBB and I look down at 10 10 in late position and shove. He calls with AQ…Ace in the window. Boooooo! 214^th place for me!

Hindsight is 20/20…yes I could have folded the AQ vs AK hand and had more chips once we were in the money. Maybe I would have been able to chip up. I don’t know. But I felt like at the time that wasn’t a bad play. Great no…marginal yes. I’m sure some will disagree which is fine with me. I’m still learning this game but I feel as though I have the tools necessary to make deep runs in tournaments like these. I will continue to do the things necessary to improve my game and hopefully I’ll make another deep run in Vegas during the WSOP this year!

Fred

Oops...played that hand terrible!

It has been tough these last few outings at the poker table. I’ve played in a few tournaments this week (two with 300-400 entries and one with 70 entries) and haven’t made a deep run or cashed in any of them. It has been kind of frustrating but I keep reminding myself that this is not going to be an overnight process and it takes time to improve my level of play at the poker table. Today I entered the $245 buy in WPT event at Derby and I was determined to build a good stack early by playing smarter hopefully aided by catching some decent hands. Lately I haven’t been able to build my stack early and had been forced into push or fold mode due to blinds and antes creeping up on me. We started with 15K in chips and I started out slow early due to not getting many playable hands in position. I maintained my patience and focused on developing my reads and learning the players around me.

A few hands before the first break I picked up KK in early position. I raised about 2.5 times the BB and got 3 callers which was not what I was hoping for. The flop came 334 which seemed to be a great flop for me as long as no one called with A3, 33, 44. Those were the only hands I was worried about at that point because I was pretty sure someone would have re-raised me with AA. So I bet the flop into the 3 callers. I think I bet about 1/3 the pot or so. One player calls then the next player to act raises to a little over 2K I think and gets called by the player to his right. I’m still pretty sure my hand is good and I want to isolate or win the hand now. I had about 13K behind and I thought a shove would only get called by hands that have me beat but a re-raise to about 6K should isolate one player or get both players to fold. Just in case one player was hanging around with one Ace in their hand hoping to hit it. The raiser folds but then the other player called. I have to say I was surprised by his call and decided that I had to shove no matter what card came next. Hmmmmm…a J pealed off on the turn and I shoved it all in. The guy thought for a few then called and tabled 88…WOW! He must have put me on top pair (a four) or a straight bluff. River was an Ace and I busted him. One player said he folded QQ (good fold by him). At the first break I was at about 36K which was a nice step up from the starting stack of 15K and comfortably above average. I caught a few more good hands by hitting some flops and build my stack up to somewhere in the 50K range. Now I am the chip leader at the table. This game is easy LOL. I wanted to avoid the other big stacks at the table. A lady was just seated to my left with about 70K, one guy had about 40-45K, and there was quite a few players with around 20K. The lady was playing a lot of hands and calling all ins with VERY marginal hands but she was getting lucky. She was the one player who could bust me at the table so I didn’t want to play a big hand with her unless it was a VERY good hand.

Then this hand happened…I’m in the small blind with K10 off and it limps around to me (3 or 4 limpers), so I limp also and the BB checks. Flop comes KJ10 rainbow. I check and the lady to my left bets 1600 and is re-raised by a guy to 3500. I think my 2 pair may be good here so re-raise to 8K. The lady (BB) folds and the raiser calls. Uh oh is what I am thinking at this point. Yet the siren in my head did not go off that he HAS to be calling me with an extremely good hand. I should have shut it down once he called my re-raise because not many players are calling that bet with less than 2 pair not to mention he had only about 40K starting the hand so he might have been saying to me that he was going all the way with this pot unless it blatantly got ugly from his perspective. I should have paused here and thought to myself about what hands a player would limp with in middle position. If I hand of done this I could have got away from the hand early or played it differently. The turn brings a 7 and I decide to bet again thinking that (or more hoping LOL) that he unlikely floated my bet and would fold here. He insta-called my bet. Needless to say all kinds of confused thoughts are going through my head and I know that I am in trouble, yet I don’t raise the red flag or turn on the siren in my head signaling me to give up. HE HAS A GOOD IF NOT GREAT HAND FREDDIE!!! The river brings another 7. Well this didn’t make my hand better, but I manage to convince myself to bet AGAIN SMH!!! I bet 12K and he shoves for 24K and change. Now the pot is huge, something I didn’t want to do with less than a great hand against another big stack, and I am in a very bad position. I tank for a few since we are now on break there is no rush for me to call and manage to dig the hole even deeper and call. Player shows 10 10 for a boat. What was I thinking!!! There were so many hints in this hand where I should have came to the conclusion that he had a monster. Many players limp with 10 10 in middle position instead of raising then potentially getting re-raised and facing a tough expensive call. His re-raise on the flop should have signal at least 2 pair if not a set, KJ, 10 10, or K10 (same as what I have) since I’m sure he would have raised originally with AQ so it was unlikely that he had a straight. I could have called his re-raised on the flop to see If I would improve, but I could have also folded and waiting for a better spot to play a pot against him. Even though laying down 2 pair sucks, I know that in some situations, when taking everything into account, it is the higher value play. I could have lost only 800 or 3500 that hand instead of almost 40K and waited for a better spot to chip up. Yet I decided to continue to dig a hole deeper and deeper for me to get out of and getting out of that hole would not be easy. Needless to say, we come back after break and I pick up AK on the cutoff and shove for 14K after a few limpers (blinds were 500/1K/100). I get called by 10 10 (again LOL) and whiff! Busto!

It is amazing how quickly I went from 2^nd in chips at the table to busted in a few hands. I wouldn’t feel as bad if it was a cooler or If I got sucked out on, but the situation could have been avoided by slowing down, rethinking the action in the hand, and making a better or well thought out decision as far as my course of action in the above hand. Sometimes I move to fast at the table, for whatever reason, and I need to learn to slow down and take my time thinking about my course of action or line I’m going to take. I’ve learned a lot while playing more consistently over the last 6-7 months. I’ve played more poker during this time period than I have played previously combined. My game has gotten better but as I know it isn’t anything that you ever perfect. It is a game that is ever changing and it requires non-stop learning and evolving with it. I’m in my toddler stages of learning, as far as I’m concerned, so I have a lot more work to put in at the table. But, I have shown myself flashes of good play that have motivated me to continue my learning process in this game. I know that I will continue to learn and play better by more consistently making better decisions and slowing down my actions during play. I understand that I will continue to make some mistakes, but as long as I keep those mistakes small or to a minimum, I know I will be on the winning side overall.

Poker is a tough game, but I’m determined to improve!

Fred

Reflecting On My First "Big" Tourney

Reflecting on my weekend of poker I can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment and disappointment simultaneously. On one hand I feel disappointed by not making the final table of nine, finishing higher in the money, and maybe playing a little nitty on Sunday (that’s too tight for my non-poker readers). But on the other hand I feel encouraged because I outlasted 90% of the field in this tournament and was able to put myself in a position to have my biggest cash so far. That being said I guess I will lean towards being encouraged and having a sense of accomplishment for my play this weekend. Playing for about 12 hours on Saturday was harder than I thought it would be. I was definitely tired both physically and mentally by the end of the night. Yet I was still able to make solid decisions through the whole night. On Sunday, coming back for day 2, I was a little tired and less comfortable than I was on Saturday which I believe was a combination of nervousness, tiredness, and maybe a few other feelings.

While playing on Saturday I didn’t have expectations of making it to the money or winning. I was focused on playing the best poker I could play and making the best decisions in each hand taking into account all the circumstances involved. I didn’t even pay attention to the “players remaining” number until it broke 100 (started with 257 in day 1B). Once it did, I remember thinking to myself, “wow I’ve made it far and outlasted all but one other guy I play with”. I knew that I needed to be in the top 26 to advance to day 2, but my stack size was somewhere around average and I knew I would have to pick up more chips. I continued solid play and avoided bad spots and was able to pick up big hands in good spots to get an above average stack size. Although, I did ride the roller coaster up and down a few times in route to being 15^th in chips heading into day 2. SWEET!!! This includes being all-in on the bubble twice. That was not a good feeling but I know that I made the optimal play in those situations taking into account my stack size, position, opponents not wanting to give away chips before day 2, etc.

On Sunday I couldn’t help but have those thoughts of winning the tournament and making the final table, yet also being surprised that I was able to make the top 51 out of 505 in combination with being as high up on the leader board as I was. I was really hoping that I could pick up some big hands early and be able to coast to the final table, but that wasn’t the case. During the entire time I played, which was about 2 hours, I picked up two pocket pairs JJ and QQ, and an Ace two or three times but with WEAK kickers and only suited once. So I didn’t have many spots to chip up and it was difficult picking up when/when not too steal due to the small stacks pushing a good amount of the hands I was in. In hindsight I believe I played too tight and wasn’t focused enough on observing other players to pick up the best steal opportunities and stop the bleeding of my chips. For whatever reason, I feel as if I wanted the tournament to be handed to me and I wasn’t going to have to work for it or earn it. There were many spots where I could have made bets, raises, calls or even folds that were more optimal plays than what I did and this could have bought me more time to chip up when I did pick up a big hand. But, I wasn’t focused enough in these spots and I was unable to get lucky when I needed too on the hand that I was put out on.

I know now that I am better prepared for tournaments that I will play in the future and I have a better understanding of what to expect from myself as far as how I may feel physically and mentally during certain times during play. This was a great learning experience which has motivated me to continue to improve my game and my observation skills at the poker table. I started playing poker as a teenager with my family then a little during college. After college I played in homes games once every few months up until 5 months ago when I decided to really focus on improving my game and playing more often. Since May I have cashed in slightly over 30% of tournaments that I have played in with a good majority of those tournaments being MTT (multi-table tournaments). Some were home games with only two or three tables. My game has improved dramatically over the past 6 months and I am looking forward to improving my game even more over the next 6 months just in time for the 2012 WSOP!

Fred

Another Fiscal Year In The Dust

Ahhhhh…fiscal year 2011 is in the books and for once I finished early. YES!!! It was nice to be able to relax for a week and not have to worry about getting any work done. I spent all week relaxing, working out, catching up on reading and playing just a little poker (OK maybe more than a little LOL). After grinding out work for 12 months a week off (at least) is needed in order to recover from the grind and mentally prepare for the next fiscal year.

On another note, I finished another book this week. The book was Read ‘Em and Reap by Joe Navarro. The book explains poker tells and observing people in poker and in life. I consider myself a keen observer of people and my observation skills were tested many times this week playing poker. I made great observations a few times and it felt GREAT! But I also lost focus a few times and missed information (tells) on people during a few hands and it cost me. But the lessons are learned and I do feel as if my observation skills in life and at the poker table have improved after reading this book.

This week it’s back to work and the day to day grind. But, definitely looking forward to next weekends get away to Orlando for my birthday. Should be a lot of fun!

Fred