Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
Of course I should have written more from the WSOP, the poker happening of the year but since none of us knows what is happening with Full Tilt Poker I chose not to write. However, for the patient readers of this occasional blog, and for myself, I decided to write a summary.
Bo Sehlstedt found a nice flight with Norwegian Air to London and from there we went straight to Vegas with Virgin Atlantic. To make a stopover in the United States can be strenuous due to the awful airport security checks. You have to have enough time between flights to not run the risk of be left behind. Besides, in Vegas it’s a lot more relaxed since they are aware of the fact that some people bring a lot of money and they don’t ask as many questions.
The trip went well. It wasn’t cheap but I got the hotel room for 12 nights at the Mandarin Oriental and a rental car for $2,300 as a package deal. The Mandarin is one of the top five star hotels in the world so even though the it cost me $2,300 it was worth it.
July 4
I thought I would do some partying but in the end it was a quiet evening with friends. Dinner, tepan-yaki at Ceasars.
July 5
A peaceful day with Per Deshayes, one of the owners of the former poker site Multipoker. He is a good friend living here in Vegas. Some designer childrens clothes shopping and some clothes for me too. In the evening I played a $2,080 satellite for the main event. I came in 37th place, 28 seat.
July 6
I still felt jet lagged and decided to put off the main event and play day 1D. Then I also had time to play more satellites. I played another $2,080 satellite and busted half-time with AQ against JJ. I played another satellite, a one-table satellite this time, for $540. I managed to split a last longer bet of $200 that involved 7 out of the 10 players. I got $700 which almost evened it up. Good shot, when the blinds were huge I was all-in with A2 against KQ for half the chips of the tournament, but no.
July 7
Strolled around the CityCenter, where all the nice shops are located. I wanted to buy something nice but the prices were ridiculous so I decided not to. At least if I didn’t win big during this trip. Spent a lot of time at the hotel room watching episodes of Sons of Anarchy – recommendable.
July 8
A $1,080 satellite which I lost. A rebuy after busting. Expensive for me this year playing all these satellites. Once again I went out on a coinflip, this time rather fast.
July 9
I hanged out with Kristian Svensson, a Bwin guy. Half the day we played backgammon. Well, I slaughtered him actually so Kristian has to practise before next time. Buy hey, I was rolling like a God and Kristian made some moves that he shouldn’t have when he was on tilt. I won $1,000 which came in handy since I had lost almost everything so far.
I paid for the main event and had dinner at Texas de Brazil, a really good steakhouse.
July 10
Day 1D of the main event. My table was really nice and I should have gotten the opportunity to triple up. Unfortunitely I wasn’t very lucky and then I lost a lot of chips bluffing and getting called both on the turn and on the river by a weak ace on the AT33Q board. I ended the day with 35,000 in chips (30,000 from the start) which I have to pleased with after being down to 13,000.
July 11
A day off. Went to Charleston Mountain and shopped at a designer outlet. My son will be getting a lot of nice clothes when I get home. The prices here was one third of the Swedish shops.
July 12
Day 2B. Two pots could have made all the difference. First QQ and a short stack went all-in for 5,400. I called and another guy went all-in for 19,500. I called. The first player had K9 and the other one had AK. 57 % chance of winning a pot for 48k. Unfortunately I lost but I still had 47k left. Later I lost a 84k pot with KK against TT when a ten hit the board on the river. That hurt! QQ survived against JJ and I ended the day with 39,600.
July 13
Another day off. I hang out with Per Deshayes and later we met Dan Glimne and Oskar Silow. That evening we were invited to a barbeque that I wanted to stick around for a long time. But we had already bought tickets to “The Rat Pack is Back” at the Rio Hotel & Casino. A show with artists making jokes and imitating Frank Sinatra, James Dean and Sammy Davis Jr. I thought that could be fun although for me Frank Sinatra is mostly associated with Christmas songs. The other ones I basically only know by name. Unfortunately the show was a big disappointment for me. I could have left but stayed to be polite. The other guys thought the show was good.
July 14
Day 3. I felt a bit short when we started out but when I saw the other players attacking the blinds and antes I was in great mood. I “knew” I would get my chips in at the right time. Unfortunately I was moved, but my new table was OK and the first thing that happened was a player raising from early position with K7. Just a few hands later the same guy raised from the button and I went all-in from the small blind with AT. Unfortunately he had AJ and when he called I went out. More shopping and hanging by the pool.
July 15
Right now I think I will stay by the pool. The pool area here at the Mandarin Oriental is fantastic.
July 16
Tomorrow me and Bo fly home via London.
July 17
Back in Sweden for my 40th birthday.
Regards,
Johan
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
I feel a bit irritated or at least disappointed about the bad luck. OK, it’s easy to forget about the key pots where you were lucky, which is almost always the case if you survive until the end of a tournament.
In the main event I played a big pot with AK of spades against two queens and won. Then I lost a huge pot with KT of clubs with a T52 flop with two clubs against two red aces. That’s two coinflips. Anyway, I don’t chase coinflips and with a little luck with KK against JJ I would have won big in another pot. You can always dwell on bad luck. Making the right decisions or sticking to a good plan is what’s important in the long run.
I’m not going to analyze the details of my 7 Card game in this blog since I know it’s not my strongest discipline and I probably make a lot of mistakes. In Finland that doesn’t really matter because there are a lot worse players. It’ll be tough on the final table, but hey…
Eventually I ended up in 11th place. I was in really bad shape a couple of times though. In the last hand I went all-in with 94429 against ATT42. At that stage the stakes were huge and the game very chancy. I lost the hand and I only had about four times the ante left. If I had won I would have been top 3.
Apart from that hand there are two other hands I have been thinking about. One of them is a marginal call. The other one I may have played rather catastrophic: Everybody folded to me and I had the highest card, a king (J6 in the hole). Behind me there was a jack and the 4 of clubs which was the lowest card. I called, the jack folded and the 4 (Juha Helppi) called. My next card was an ace, I bet again and the 4, now accompanied by the queen of clubs, reraised. I didn’t think Juha has a very strong hand here. So wrong, but my feeling (that you should pay much attention to (o; ) was that he had the flushdraw or maybe AQ from the start. Of course it did cross my mind that he could have held Q4 in the hole, but I kept on playing and got a T. He got some unessential card and now I feel I have too many winning cards to lay it down, aces, kings and queens. The sixth card is blank, for the both of us, and in the last card I hit a Q for the straight. Juha showed 444 and I realized how far behind I had been. QQ44 would have been aproximately equally bad, and after six cards even worse… I might as well admit I have a lot to learn about 7 Card Stud and I’m not going to play more than some tournament every now and then when competition is weak.
I wrote earlier that I would keep writing about the cheating incident. Unfortunately I still don’t know much about it. Christian Engblom has been banned for a year at the Grand Casino Helsinki for marking cards. That basically means he can never come back since noone would ever play against him.
Today I’m going home, with Silja Line.
Regards,
Johan Storakers
FullTilt Pro
Popularity: 6% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
Canadian Stud is in my opinion one of the best games to learn poker from. With “only” one hole card the game isn’t that complicated which of course gives a great advantage against weaker players.
As usual I was amazed by the fact that so many players “butcher” the game by making really bad bluffs in bad situations.
Of course the constitution of the table determines the way you play and which opponents you should try to bluff. You have a lot of information since you know one of their cards from the start. Therefore there will be lots of opportunities. If you are lucky enough to get a big pair you could be in position to know you are ahead all the way. During the rebuy period when you only get the starting stack for a buy-in you shouldn’t gamble too much. Since the add-on is twice as big for the same amount of money you could say the rebuys only get you half a stack. On the other hand, with lots of bad players you get the opportunity to accumulate chips from the start so for that reason you have to abandon this strategy. A bit contradictory but I think you understand the logic.
”As usual” I got a nice stack during the three rebuy periods and after the add-on I had about 8,500 in chips. This time everything went according to plan for a while but then I ran into a tricky situation. I was moved from my original table and got to meet an opponent who had been playing tough in a few pots.
I got two sixes and he showed a king. Another player also showed a king and when the loose player (I’m still not sure he was loose since I only had seen his cards once, but he had been playing a lot of hands so I have a hunch) raised I decided to make a stand if he would get a bad third card. He got a 5 off suit and I got a king. Now I was hoping he either would play very badly or that he would have an ace in the hole if he decided to stay in the hand. Unfortunately he had the fourth king and instead of winning a big pot I was out. Disappointed…
Now there is only one tournament left, the 7 Card Stud.
Regards,
Johan Storakers
FullTilt Pro
*) Canadian Stud rules: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-card_stud
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
This was a sleepy day. First of all, I didn’t prepare properly since I came home rather late the night before.
When I went out of the main event I ran into a nice Finland-Swedish guy who had busted in a side event at the same time. Our plan was to go out for dinner and a few drinks. Now this became interesting. We went by an outdoor restaurant and didn’t find an entrance. But there was a gap in the fence so we decided to make our own entrance. A while later we realized that the (only) entrance was around the corner with a guard and his guest list. Fredrik and I had “crushed” an opening feast for Vapiano, with a nice concept of mostly pasta and pizza dishes. At first we thought we’d better leave but then Fredrik ran into a friend and we decided to stay. Perfect, everything for free! Wine, champagne or whatever… Of course we drank a lot of wine and when I finally went back to my hotel it was really late.
The tournament didn’t start until 5 p.m. Finnish time, so I got the morning off. The tourney was a sleeping pill. I didn’t get any good opportunies but I struggled to stay alive. At the 200/400 level I came in wrong in three pots and that was enough to be “dismissed”.
First I reraised after a small bet from a loose guy and a call behind. I had AKJT with one suit. The other two players went all-in so I had to let it go preflop. Good call, I was up against Aaxx and KKxx. Then I bet with QQ64 double suited. Two players called and I tried a little bluff at the A96 flop. One player reraised and I had to fold again. At this point I only had 4,800 left. I called a 900 bet on the big blind with T887 double suited. When the flop came 69Q I took a shot and bet pot, 2,900. Oddly enough the first guy called with AAQ8. The other player folded and I didn’t hit anything.
Tomorrow it’s time for Canadian Stud. That’ll be fun! Right now I’m actually the Finish (!) champion. We start playing at 3 p.m. I’ll be back after that.
Regards,
Johan Storakers
FullTilt Pro
Popularity: 5% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
Bad ending. It started just fine after I called an all-in from a Swede, Dennis, with AQ. I was up against KJ and after winning that hand I had about 106,000.
Unfortunately sometimes you can lose all your chips in poker. First I lost a hand when I raised from utg with AK. One caller. The flop was K55 with two spades. Of course that was a good flop. Basically, AA and KK are the only hands I’m scared of. More likely I’m up against AK with the ace of spades. Especially after betting the flop, getting called and turn was the 10 of spades. We both checked. The river, a red 7, didn’t change anything. I made a value bet and got reraised. I started to get a bad feeling about this hand and felt beaten. After thinking for a while I said just that, that I was hoping for a split but feared I was beaten. I called and he showed TTT. The only good thing was that he didn’t bet the turn. I could have lost a lot more chips.
A while later I bet out from middle position with 87. I don’t usually do that but big blind is tight and I hadn’t been playing for quite some time. Juha Helppi called from the small blind. That was bad but with the position and my tight image I thought I could be able to win the pot on the flop. If I fail, I had to give it up. The flop was nothing special – 346. I had two overcards and a gutshot but when I was reraised after betting big I gave up the pot.
The last pot I played was a big one. The blinds were 800/1,600, ante 200. Utg played 3,600. One player called and I called the extra 2,000 from the big blind with KT of clubs. The flop was T52 with 52 of clubs. Utg bet 6,300 and the player behind him called. Perfect, I thought, and wanted to pick it up right there. Maybe a bit dull but I chose to go all-in. Before this hand I had about 60,000 so if I was to be called the pot would be BIG. Unfortunately I got called by two red aces. The third player folded. I have a 49.8 % chance but I didn’t get any of the cards I needed so I went out in 34th place.
Today there is a new tournament, €1,050, half Omaha and half Texas. Maybe this time…
I poked around to find out about the cheating incident but I’m still not sure of what happend. But I’m not quitting.
Regards,
Johan Storakers
FullTilt Pro
Popularity: 6% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
After playing the Swedish Championships in Stockholm I went to Finland to play the annual tournaments at the Grand Casino, Midnight Sun 2011.
The week in Stockholm went fine. After playing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday I had won a satellite to the main event (buy-in SEK10,600 = $1,655) and came in 4th out of 102 participants in the Swedish Championship of Pot Limit Omaha (buy-in SEK5,500 = $860), SEK61,000 = $9,500.
Actually I wanted to play the Finnish Championship of Pot Limit Omaha this Tuesday, but after the turbulence due to the “Black Friday” it’s bin difficult finding a meeting opportunity with David Nelsen, the Scandinavian boss of Full Tilt Poker, so I wanted to see him first.
I met David this Tuesday and from that meeting I took a cab to the free port and Silja Line. As usual I took the ferry to Helsinki. Unfortunately it can be a bit expensive, especially when you’re late, since I’ m in kind of a catch-22 situation. As a silver member I don’t get the same amount of bonus points as the gold members. I’m close though. I find it relaxing going by boat so I chose that alternative this time anyway. Sauna, a nice dinner and lots of sleep.
The main event started yesterday, June 8. €2,100 ($3,100) Texas No Limit. 128 participants. After a disastrous start I caught some hands after two hours and begun to build a stack. After some bad timing in a few pots I was down to average after five hours. The last two hours went fine again and a few minutes before the end of day 1 I was all-in with AK of spades against two red queens. After hitting two kings I collected a pot of 96,000, which is a good stack. I guess I’m in about 10th place out of the 47 players left. Average is 54,500.
Today we play day 2 and tomorrow is the final day. I’ll be back after today´s game.
Full Tilt Pro
Johan Storakers
P.S. Here in Finland there has been quite a fuss after a cheating incident at the casino. I will try to get more details. There was something about marked cards and a magician…
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
The speed event didn’t go too well. With 3,000 in chips and levels of 20 minutes you need good timing and good luck. I made a bad decision on the 150/300 level when an active, and quite good, player just called me in the cut-off position. I got the impulse that I could bluff him. Fooled… He had AA and my plan was so bad.
With high expectations and all good results in the past (especially here in Amsterdam where I came in second place in 2002 and won the main event in 2003) it feels tough to lose seven tournaments and two satellites in a row in nine days. Sure, as long as the chips go in while I’m in the lead I will do fine in the long run. When I say fine I don’t mean ”cashgame fine” where a little bit more than 50 % is good poker. Tournaments are all about surviving and getting chips from the incautious. For example, would you call an all-in bet from AK suited with QQ during the first period of the WSOP? To clarify the question, we assume that you accidently have seen his hand. A lot of people would say: ”Sure, the odds are on my side so I have to call.” I definitely don’t want to make that call that early in a tournament since I would risk going out and not get the chips from the players capable of making big mistakes.
Why do I bring this subject up now? Because I ”know” I usually get the chips in the pot with better odds. To lose seven tournaments and two satellites is tough but it happens. As a tournament player sometimes you have to wait for a long time before you reach the money. It’s kind of when you are chasing a set on the flop. The odds to flop three of a kind is 1 to 7.8-8.5 depending on the how you look at it (*). Hitting a set twice in a row would be fantastic but when you miss it 25 times in a row you get frustrated. An average player have to wait ten times to reach the money if 10 % of the players get rewarded. That is tough, but with a little bit of bad luck you could be forced to wait 25 times. This is a bit speculative since you don’t know exactly how many players in the field that are better than you but it’s a hint of what you could expect.
On Tuesday I will be hosting a $216 Texas Pot limit tournament on Full Tilt Poker. Look for my user name ”Johan Storakers” and you will find the tourney. I will be answering questions in the pro chat and also chat at my table.
Regards,
Johan
*) Close to 8.5 (0.96×0.9592×0.9583=0.8824 100/11.76=8.50) if you don’t know the cards of the other players. If we instead assume that we ”know” that the opponent holds two high cards and that we have a low pair the odds are 1 to 8.2 (0.9583×0.9574×0.9565=0.8776 100/12.24=8.17). If we are up against two players with high cards the odds are 1 to 7.8 (0.9565×0.9556×0.9545=0.8724 100/12.76=7.84).
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
Although I only had 4,100 on the 200/400 level I felt I definitely wasn’t dead yet. With no antes and a lot of calling when you sit in the blinds there are lots of nice opportunities. And besides, three players at our table was late and it wasn’t until 20 minutes after start that everybody had shown up.
It didn’t help me much that the players were gone because I didn’t pick up playable cards until after a round and a half, but then I got AA97, double suited, clubs and spades. I had 3,500 in chips and bet pot since I’m probably all-in on the flop anyway.
I don’t understand why people don’t pay attention to what’s happening at the table! A guy behind me bet 1,200 when I already had bet 1,400. Of course he had to pay another 200 and since I only had 2,100 left and the pot was 3,400 I figured I was going to go all-in on almost every flop. The flop came QJ5 with two spades and the chips went in. The guy behind me called with JT96. A lot of outs but my flushdraw blocked a lot. Turn was an 8, river a 9, no spades and I was out. I think I ended up in 32th place.
The €750+75 Texas tournament was already running. I had sold my ticket but now I wanted to play it anyway. I signed up as an alternate. From start there were 250 participants but pretty soon they started another two tables. That took 20 alternates off the list so although I was number 37 I got a seat fifteen minutes before closing time. In the end 48 alternates got to play so in total we were 298 participants.
This tournament had a nice blinds structure too but since the MCOP ends today the structure had to be a little bit steeper. 4,000 in chips, 40 minutes per level starting at 25/25, 25/50 and the ”extra” level 50/75 – I liked it.
The tournament was working smoothly for me and a lot of players went out. After 3.5 hours we were 163 players, I had 5,750 and the average was 7,312. After two hands with AA and AK I had 13,700 and all of a sudden I felt very strong and a good result felt doable.
After the dinner break were 130 players left. I picked up AA for the third time and made a bet after two limpers. The last guy who called reraised and I chose to just call. The flop was J63, he checked and I checked too hoping that he would bluff on the turn. Just as I thought, a 9 on the turn made him lose another bet. Afterwards I have been thinking that if I had called again I could have gotten it all if the river would have been an ace or a king. And besides, if I had bet the river he probably would have called or perhaps tried bluffing once more.
I was still very pleased with 24,400 (blinds 200/400, ante 50), but I lost a tough one when I tried to bluff against a player raising under the gun. He bet 1,025 and I put him all-in for another 5,000. I wonder if he saw my cards because he called with A4 of spades. I only had 87 of diamonds. Unfortunately I lost that 45 % situation. If I had won that one I would definitely have been a strong contestant.
Then for a long period of time I didn’t get any playable hands and at last I was down to 13,500. On the 400/800-50 level I lost another key pot. I bet with 77 and a shortstack went all-in for a little bit more. I called and lost to AJ of spades. After that pot of around 12,000 I was down to 15,900.
Sad… with 11-12 k I went all-in from the button with 56 of hearts when then blinds were 500/1,000, ante 100. Big blind thought for a long while and eventually he called with KJ of hearts, and that was it.
Today I will be playing my last tournament here in Amsterdam – Texas NL Speed €330.
/ Johan
Popularity: 7% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
Before this Omaha tournament I was satisfied with the way I have played here in Amsterdam. Not perfect, but winning in the long run. When I get the chips in the pot with the best hand I’m okay with losing.That’s poker, you can’t win them all.
Finally I managed to survive day 1 but I mixed good play with really, really bad.
One of the bad ones went like this: First position made a bet. He did that a lot so now I decided to bluff him. My hand was irrelevant, I made a raise with QTT7. He called. The pot was quite large at this point. The flop came KQ2 and he checked. There are no flushdraws so I should be able to take this down with a small bet. That is if he didn’t hit the board. If he missed the board completely with for example a wrap like 6789 he would fold. Without thinking it through I said ”pot”, he went all-in and I was ”caught with my pants down”. The pot was huge and I started to wonder about if I had to call despite the fact that I didn’t have much. I told the others I had a crappy hand but wanted to calculate the odds for my backdoor draws. I had a backdoor flush and a backdoor straight and perhaps I would win with a set if I hit a 10. He told me he could show me his hand and I realized that a set wouldn’t be enough so finally I folded. He showed me a set of kings.
Luckily I got a chance for free a while later. One guy put in 1,100 by mistake on the 100/200 level. He meant to call but now he had to make a pot bet of 700. I picked up QQ82, double suited. I raised pot and decided to go all the way with this hand. Everybody folded to the guy who raised by mistake and oddly enough he called. Since he was in the pot by mistake I decided to go all-in even with a king or an ace on the flop. The flop was actually queen high, I went all-in and was called by JJ. He was almost drawing dead and I was back in the game.
If I had played good poker after this hand it would have been okay but for some reason, perhaps lack of confidence after all the bad-beats earlier this week, I missed a good bluffing opportunity and all of a sudden I was short-stacked again.
We started out with 6,000 in chips. I am now down to 4,100 and the blinds were 200/400 so I need to win one or more pots rather quickly. We were 123 players from start and now we are 36 left, so average is 20,500.
Today is a new day!
Regards,
Johan
Popularity: 3% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by johanstorakers | Filed under Uncategorized
This satellite was good too. 104 participants, 126 rebuys and just 74 add-ons. I was surprised that so few players did the add-on since you got 50 % extra chips for free. Eventually there were 27 seats at stake.
The buy-in for the satellite was €110. For that you got 2,000 in chips. This time the blinds began at 25/50. My plan was to play it like a freezeout. Since the maximum win was €1,080 I didn’t want to invest more than the buy-in and the add-on.
Despite the fact that this was a satellite there was a good chance to play poker since every level went on for 40 minutes. After the first level I had 2,500 without rebuys so my plan worked out okay. For the €100 add-on you received another 3,000 in chips. Once again they used the 50/75 level which made it less stressful.
Unfortunately my tournament ended too soon – again. On the 100/200 level I had about 4,000 in chips left and got a really nice opportunity. Three players limped, so did the small blind and I picked up AAK8 with A8 of spades. To reraise 2,000 and then go all-in for another 1,600 regardless of the flop is both easy and correct. I was called by one player and we both decided preflop to go all-in on the flop. He showed KQQT with QT of diamonds. The pot was big, a little bit more than 9,000. In the end average should be about 25,000.
Amsterdam this year feels kind of impossible… The flop came three diamonds so all I got was a backdoor full house that didn’t happen.
Coming up next: PLO.
Regards,
Johan
Popularity: 3% [?]
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