Dipping My Toe Back Into Cash Games

I have played almost no cash games post neteller. The games just felt tougher after neteller. I figured it would be more work to obtain the same level of profitability, and I was not willing to go there with all the time I would be spending on Fantasy Sports Live. So I transformed myself to just about my opposite self pre-neteller. I stopped played with $/hr as my primary driver, and switched to playing for pure enjoyment. I dropped cash games and switched to MTTs and S&Gs when I found the time to play. Today, I play primarily at Bodog in the beginner Sit and Goes that remain easily crushable to this day.

There is a big problem with Bodog though. They only let you play three tables at once. I could easily start 6 of the beginners around the same time, because the early play is so tight. If I only have an hour or so to play, when I get knocked out of the first beginner of the three, I can't start another one. So I always bleed down to just two and then just one table open when I could be playing 4 to 6. This is like throwing money away, and I hate that. The obvious answer is cash games. The play early in the beginners is so close to ideal cash game strategy, that you don't need to be to worried about any adjustments. So I have given it a try by filling in with .50/1 NL at Fulltilt. I only did this a couple times, and both times got slapped around. I just did not have the stomach I guess for online NL.

I am heading to Vegas this weekend, and in preparation I figured I should get some NL Cash practice. Some how I luck-boxed into a starter $100 online poker bankroll at Lock Poker. No way I would drop down to a roll safe level with just $100 so I opened up two tables of $.25/.50 NL. It was a nice change of pace and I felt comfortable playing NL cash again. I did make a ballzy feel preflop push with TT early that I probably should not have done, but it was not called. After settling down, I realized what I missed about cash games. When you are playing S&Gs and MTTs, you see some pretty strange and questionable plays, but a good portion of the time when you think it through it may not have been that horrible based on limited stack sizes or table dynamics. In cash games against poor players you get more strange and questionable plays that really have no justification whatsoever. When the player you are against does this, you grab some free cash, that you really did not even need to earn, but it still feels nice to the bankroll. A couple hands from my first session at lock poker are good examples of WTF type plays that padded my roll.

Hand #1

.25/.50 NL

I'm in the SB with KK and there are three limps, and I pop it up to $2.50. One Caller.

Flop 456 rainbow.

I bet $4.00 and get a call. Caller has another $20 behind.

Turn 9. I bet $10, other guy shoves, I call.

77 vs KK

River Q

I collect $52.25 pot.

So you can justify the preflop and flop calls by 77. On the turn I fire out $10 first and there is no way I am folding to a $10 raise. So he jams on a draw with one card to come when I can't fold and obviously have him currently beat.

Hand #2

I limp from late with 88, both blinds and the button for a 4-way flop.

Flop J86 rainbow

Checks to me. I bet $1, and the SB calls

Turn 3

SB bets $2, I raise to $5, SB calls

River 3

SB bets $7, I raise to $18 putting the SB all-in, he calls.

88 vs. J7o

I collect a $45.55 pot

So you can justify taking a peak with J7o in a 4-way pot, and justify the call with top pair 7 kicker on the flop. When you fire into the better on the blank turn, you better be ready to fold to a reraise. If you don't, your just going to let yourself get stacked on the river by overplaying the weak hand once again.

Hand #3

Well this hand speaks for itself.

Kev Wins BFFB Week 12 & Moves Into 2nd Overall

Kev has been tearing up the Blogger Fantasy Football Battle with big points in 8 out of the last 9 weeks. This week he won outright (for the second time) against a field of 20 and has moved into second place overall. Remember to provide your blog link in the comments if you want to be eligible for the $500 in added bonus cash. I cashed once again pumping up the TOC prize pool further. Get in the game at Fantasy Sports Live and compete for added cash in the Blogger Battle. Complete results are shown below.

Week 12 Results

Qualified for Tournament of Champions ($150 Min. Added)

Rtrizzle, AlCan'tHang, bonds, Kaiseroll13, Randy, pokernut0826, Kev, Resino, Carmine316

Top Scores of the Season ($100/$50/$25 Added)

Randy 147.3 (Week 5), bonds 142.3 (Week 6), RTrizzle 142.3 (Week 1), Kev 141.5 (Week 12), Kaiseroll13 140.0 (Week 12), AlCantHang 139.7 (Week 2)

Blinders Dead Money in TOC Pool

$150 so far.

Points Leaders ($100/$50/$25 Added)

bonds 518.10
Kev 504.06
Buffalo66 480.30
Kaiseroll13 423.22
RTrizzle 350.94
Resino 348.17
Blinders 341.73
I Am Legion 271.80
AlCantHang 261.04
bayne_s 243.42
Schaubs 208.87
Joe Speaker 206.80
Randy 202.90
pokernut0826 198.12
Big Pirate 190.79
carmine316 190.17
Miami Don 162.97
ebk03001 154.25
Johnny Sixx 126.95
HermWarfare 105.44
love_elf 89.28
Capybara Carnival 86.70
Canable 82.90
Family Guy 82.07
BobbyBracelet 72.50
D-Train 71.56
SHaMRoCKeD 65.60
V-man 63.32
kinnehboo 61.97
JIMBO52N 59.19
Zeem 56.87
Madden 48.42
lexx575 47.16
only1calvary 46.85
Acefilleddreams 44.96
cyandle 44.31
DARTHraider 44.21
Turf Toes 43.82
PachucaSunrise 41.32
$mokkee 38.50
JayP 37.37
beantowngiantsfan 35.65
Toddlers 35.47
tw 35.35
etoppsfan 34.18
jbvolfan 33.99
Stop Sign 32.65
Bobby262626 32.52
23skidoo 32.42
Humperdink 31.44
jek187 30.03
jcm 29.82
Muffins 29.22
scramp 28.44
lakewoods 28.44

Top Poker Bloggers at Fantasy Sports

Today I thought I would put down my unofficial rankings of poker bloggers at fantasy sports. I don’t play in any of the season long poker blogger fantasy leagues so my observations will be based only on play at Fantasy Sports Live. If you think you are one of the best poker bloggers at fantasy sports, and you are not already playing at fantasy sports live, not only were you not considered here, you are clearly leaving money on the table. You might want to put your money where your mouth is.

#1 Buffalo66

Buffalo66 is number two on the FSL leaderboard with about 1,700 cash wins in fantasy leagues at Fantasy Sports Live. This is pretty impressive considering he has only been playing at FSL for about a year. Buffalo66’s top fantasy sports are fantasy football, fantasy hockey, & fantasy NASCAR. He is an expert at table selection and as a result is one of the most profitable players on the site. He was also key in providing feedback that shaped our Fantasy Hockey, and Fantasy NASCAR offerings into something we can be very proud of at FSL. Currently, in his first try at the Blogger Fantasy Football Battle, he is locked in a tight race for the points lead with fellow poker blogger bonds.

#2 bonds

bonds while not a huge player yet on FSL, has done very well against the poker bloggers. Last year he finished in third in the blogger Fantasy Football Battle. This year he is leading it with the top score in three of the weeks this season. He is starting to catch on to the fact that top players can profit nicely at FSL, and that he has the ability to be a top player at fantasy football, and possibly other sports. He even started a blog dedicated to winning at fantasy sports live. As of today he has booked 54 cashes on the site.

#3 HermWarfare

Brother of Dr. Pauly & long time player at FSL, HermWarfare has amassed an impressive 187 fantasy wins at Fantasy Sports Live as of today. He likes to play the lower limits, but has been successful in all 5 fantasy sports we offer which only a few players can claim.

Tier 2 Top Players

Schaubs

Earns his living in Fantasy Hockey, and then gives it back at Fantasy Football. Can you blame a Canadian? If we offered Fantasy Canadian Football Leagues at FSL, he could quit his day job. Has nailed down an impressive 67 fantasy wins at FSL through very part time play.

Miami Don

With this guy’s passion and sports knowledge, you need to watch out. He tore up the Blogger Battle Leagues last year winning his first three ten-player leagues outright. The only negative is all the hookers and blow he has to deal with on Saturday nights in Vegas. Come Sunday morning, he was not always there to get his picks in, and the missed opportunities have cost him a bit in last years, and again in this year’s Blogger Fantasy Football Battle.

bayne_s

Bayne is a smart guy who knows his fantasy sports. He has claimed that he can find exploitable edges in any fantasy sport scoring system. He plays fantasy football exclusively, and earned a nice profit last year at FSL. This year his results have been more mixed, but my guess it is more due to lack of effort, than lack of ability.

Zeem

Another profitable part time player at FSL. When he studies up for his fantasy picks, he is pretty tough to beat.

AlCantHang

I have to give Al some credit for his Fantasy Football skillz here. Al has done very well this season, winning a week of the Blogger Fantasy Football Battle, and earning a seat into what may end up a Heads-Up TOC. He also would win the third place cash prize over all in the BFFB, and also a prize for a top individual score if the season ended today. Keep up the good work Al, and don't tell us your secret is SoCo.

Mattazuma

Another tough opponent, who is starting to play a bit more this year, and is doing well at fantasy football.

L.A.G.

Lifesagrind was last year’s Blogger Fantasy Football Battle TOC winner, and a nicely profitable player on the site. I have not seen him around this fantasy football season, but he is probably busy with his new website pokertechreviews.

I am going to stop right here. If I left you off the list, make a case for yourself in the comments, or get down to FSL and start working on your fantasy sports resume.

WSOP ME Final Hand Thought

I finally watched the TV coverage of the delayed WSOP ME FT. I thought the coverage was pretty good this year, yet you still do not really get a good sense of the table with the limited amount of hands shown. Peter Eastgate who was supposedly aggressive, was really just catching cards and setting up sick traps during the bulk of the coverage. If those were all the hands that were played, you could classify him as weak/luck-sac, but that is not really how he plays. Its just not great TV showing a raise preflop taking the pot down.

The final hand was pretty interesting to me, and I think there is a very good situational lesson that can be learned here. I am going to forget about the preflop/flop action as it is not that important. We are heads up for the championship and the hands are 42 vs. A5 with A5 in position. Going into the turn, 42 was drawing to 2-pair or runner straight on the flop, and was already paired in a heads-up situation. A5 was drawing to an over and a gutshot, and held an Ace in a heads-up situation. Both can obviously get to the turn card on this hand, and in this case it completes the straight for A5 and the two-pair for 42. So the hidden two-pair checks to trap from out of position, and the made straight bets a smallish 2 million. All standard plays. 42 then drops the check-raise to 6 million, committing a good portion of his stack. So Eastgate is in position on the check-raiser, on the turn, with a very strong hand heads-up. This is the key situation. He either can push or call, and I would say a bunch of people push here figuring the Russian is pot committed and can't fold. I really like the smooth call here, and that's what Eastgate did. Being in position, all you need to worry about is an obvious scare card for your opponent. After the river drops, 42 is either going to check or open push. A smaller bet would be awkward based on stack sizes. An open push and you make the easy call. If 42 checks, you think/push and 42 will pretty much have to call if they have anything, because the open/call the check raise on the turn with the push over a check on the river looks a lot like a big stack bluff. So 42 is pretty doomed there, but lets think more about his range than the specific hand. When he check raises for close to 1/2 of his stack on the turn, he pretty much must have something made with the lack of draws out there. It might not be super strong though. He might figure he has a good enough hand here to make a major move, but not enough to end the tournament. Let them get to the river in a situation like this so they can properly hang themselves.

Carmine316 Wins The Blogger Battle This Week.

Carmine316 put up a score of 124.9 which was best among 26 competitors this week in the Blogger Fantasy Football Battle at Fantasy Sports Live. Buffalo66 gained a little bit of ground on bonds with his 11th straight in the points performance. The TOC if held tomorrow would be heads-up between bonds and Al-Can't Hang. If you are a blogger who has not played yet, get in the game and win one of the last weeks to get a seat in a small TOC with big payouts. If you are a blogger who has played, but I do not have you linked up yet, drop an email to support or drop a comment here, so we can get you eligible for the added prizes. Complete results and updated season standings are shown below.

Week 11 Blogger Battle Results

Qualified for Tournament of Champions ($150 Min. Added)
Rtrizzle, AlCan'tHang, bonds, Kaiseroll13, Randy, pokernut0826, Kev, Resino, Carmine316

Top Scores of the Season ($100/$50/$25 Added)
Randy 147.3 (Week 5)bonds 142.3 (Week 6)RTrizzle 142.3 (Week 1)AlCantHang 139.7 (Week 2)

Blinders Dead Money in TOC Pool
$130 so far.

Points Leaders ($100/$50/$25 Added)
bonds 486.31
Buffalo66 480.30
Kev 414.14
Kaiseroll13 359.64
RTrizzle 350.94
Resino 314.19
Blinders 305.01
AlCantHang 261.04
I Am Legion 219.88
bayne_s 214.98
Schaubs 208.87
Joe Speaker 206.80
Randy 202.90
pokernut0826 198.12
Big Pirate 190.79
carmine316 190.17
Miami Don 162.97
ebk03001 154.25
Johnny Sixx 126.95
HermWarfare 105.44
love_elf 89.28
Capybara Carnival 86.70
Canable 82.90
BobbyBracelet 72.50
D-Train 71.56
SHaMRoCKeD 65.60
kinnehboo 61.97
JIMBO52N 59.19
Zeem 56.87
Madden 48.42
lexx575 47.16
only1calvary 46.85
cyandle 44.31
DARTHraider 44.21
Turf Toes 43.82
Family Guy 41.86
PachucaSunrise 41.32
$mokkee 38.50
JayP 37.37
beantowngiantsfan 35.65
Toddlers 35.47
tw 35.35
etoppsfan 34.18
jbvolfan 33.99
V-man 33.34
Stop Sign 32.65
Bobby262626 32.52
23skidoo 32.42
Humperdink 31.44
jek187 30.03
jcm 29.82
Muffins 29.22
scramp 28.44
lakewoods 28.44

AK Sooted Revisited, Plus Some Game Theory

Sorry about the lack of poker posts lately. Things have been real busy over at fantasysportslive.com, and I simply have not played much poker in the last few weeks. I did want to go over a couple hands at the latest Orange County Poker Tour event last weekend. One hand will delve a bit into game theory, while on the other I will go back and revisit the AK Sooted hand I posted about a few months ago.

So the situation is we are at the end of the rebuy period, and I have less than a double stack. I take the T200 add-on and have about T420 in chips. Things have not really been going my way to this point, and I made one pretty big mistake earlier by exposing my hand when I could have picked up an additional T150. Even without that mistake, I would still be pretty short with the blinds at 10/20.

AK Hand #1

So about 15 minute in after the break, I pick up AKo on the button. There are a bunch of limpers, and I pop it up to T100 to take it down right there, or get heads-up. A bunch of folds, but a call from the big stack at the table. The flop drops all low and there is a check to me. With about T300 in the pot, and T300 behind, I am in a pretty tough spot here. Any reasonable C-Bet pot commits me. I decide to check behind and see what happens on the turn. The turn is another low blank, and it is checked to me again. I decide to go for a small delayed C-bet and bet out T100. I figure, I will take it down right there or fold to a reraise. Big stack just calls. The river drops yet another blank, and this time big stack bets $100 into me, and I fold giving up 1/2 of my stack on the hand. So the question is, should I have pushed the flop instead? Can the delayed C-bet work in that case? Game theory tells me the delayed c-bet is OK there. The key is that your delayed c-bets need to be a mix of made hands and bluffs. Now lets say that I have AA or KK in the same situation. Flop comes low, and I have T300 behind and T300 in the pot. I really need to maximize what I win on this hand. Since I am against the big stack, and in position it is not a bad idea to show weakness on the flop when you are in fact strong. The second check on the river tells me that I am ahead or against a sophisticated trap. I tend to discount sophisticated plays in a live tourney like this, so I figured I was ahead. I was actually called by bottom pair there, and bottom pair bet into me on the river. So my opponent was pretty convinced that I was bluffing there, or at least very weak. So it does not work out on this hand, but you can see how the same betting sequence with AA, KK or a set would have been paid off by bottom pair. The betting sequence appears weak, so that's why it works when you are strong. If you can show that betting sequence when you are strong, you can delayed c-bet bluff later and it will get respected. The big key is playing wildly different hands in exactly the same way so that you give up no information.

AK Hand #2

So now I am down to T200 in chips, and the blinds are 15/30. Even Harrington is desperate here, and I try to emulate Harrington as best possible. I wake up in the SB with the mighty AKo. There are a bunch of limpers before the button pops it up the T90. I insta jam, and it folds back to the initial raiser who insta calls and flips up AA. IGHN. So in the previous AKs hand I learned that it it usually incorrect to fold AKs preflop in the middle to late stages of a MTT. In the previous case, I was deeper stacked, which gives you the possibility of folding, and the raiser was on the button, which should push you towards calling. This time I am short and you just have to push AK there. So the previous hand I fold, and it was a mistake in my thought process, and a mistake based on the actual holdings. This time the thought process was good, but the result bad. I think I am still going to always play AK aggressive late. AK is ahead of all hands but pairs. As long as you can expand your opponents range to include some non-pair hands you should be good to go to war. If they are stealing from the button or an aggressive preflop player that is probably all the info you need to go to war. Alternatively, all you need to know is that your stack is short which was the case last weekend.

Bonds Wins Another Week on the BFFB2

Bonds scored a 137.5, and won another week of the BFFB2. With bonds winning so often, and the lack of actual bloggers winning on a weekly basis, the TOC could end up being heads-up between bonds and AlCantHang. Get in the game, and give yourself a chance at a fat and easy TOC payday at FantasySportsLive. I won another $20 this week, putting $130 into the growing (heads-up?) TOC prize pool. Results and season standings are listed below:

Week 10 BFFB results

Qualified for Tournament of Champions ($150 Min. Added)

Rtrizzle, AlCan'tHang, bonds, Kaiseroll13, Randy, pokernut0826, Kev, Resino

Top Scores of the Season ($100/$50/$25 Added)

Randy 147.3 (Week 5)bonds 142.3 (Week 6)RTrizzle 142.3 (Week 1)AlCantHang 139.7 (Week 2)

Blinders Dead Money in TOC Pool

$130 so far.

Points Leaders ($100/$50/$25 Added)
bonds 486.31
Buffalo66 429.04
Kev 377.89
RTrizzle 350.94
Resino 314.19
Kaiseroll13 308.38
Blinders 275.42
AlCantHang 261.04
Schaubs 208.87
Joe Speaker 206.80
Randy 202.90
pokernut0826 198.12
Big Pirate 190.79
I Am Legion 188.97
bayne_s 176.23
Miami Don 162.97
ebk03001 154.25
Johnny Sixx 126.95
HermWarfare 105.44
love_elf 89.28
carmine316 87.65
Capybara Carnival 86.70
Canable 82.90
D-Train 71.56
SHaMRoCKeD 65.60
kinnehboo 61.97
Zeem 56.87

Resino wins Week 9 of the Blogger Fantasy Football Battle

In a tough week for scoring, Resino put up a 108.6 which was enough for first overall against a field of 22. I put up a stellar 105, added some more cash to the TOC pool, and moved on up the leader board to near that rarefied air that is bonds and Buffalo66. Complete results are shown below:

Week 9 BFFB Results

Qualified for Tournament of Champions ($150 Min. Added)
Rtrizzle, AlCan'tHang, bonds, Kaiseroll13, Randy, pokernut0826, Kev, Resino

Top Scores of the Season ($100/$50/$25 Added)
Randy 147.3 (Week 5)
bonds 142.3 (Week 6)
RTrizzle 142.3 (Week 1)
AlCantHang 139.7 (Week 2)

Blinders Dead Money in TOC Pool
$110 so far.

Points Leaders ($100/$50/$25 Added)

bonds 392.00
Buffalo66 381.88
Kev 323.44
RTrizzle 319.50
Resino 314.19
Blinders 275.42
Kaiseroll13 266.20
AlCantHang 261.04
Schaubs 208.87
Joe Speaker 206.80
Randy 202.90
Big Pirate 190.79
bayne_s 176.23
pokernut0826 169.68
Miami Don 162.97
ebk03001 154.25
I Am Legion 150.46
Johnny Sixx 126.95
love_elf 89.28
carmine316 87.65
Capybara Carnival 86.70
Canable 82.90
D-Train 71.56
SHaMRoCKeD 65.60
kinnehboo 61.97
Zeem 56.87
Madden 48.42
lexx575 47.16
only1calvary 46.85
cyandle 44.31
DARTHraider 44.21
Turf Toes 43.82
PachucaSunrise 41.32
HermWarfare 38.75