As I mentioned before I am now into the meat of my tournament golf season. So far it hasn't been very good. In one of my previous posts, I described the MD Stroke Play tournament in which I opened with 69 then regressed the rest of the weekend.
Well 2 weeks later I did the exact opposite at our club's stroke play championship. First round was on the West Course and I opened with 80 in very windy conditions. The greens were super quick and rough was thick. This coupled with the wind made the course play as difficult as I have played it and I just was positively awful. I bogeyed the first four holes, followed with pars on 5-12 and then limped in from there with a few more bogeys. On Sunday we played the much longer, much more difficult East Course and I played rock solid for a 72. Strange game. Hit a lot of greens, lot of fairways and was pretty good on and around the greens. Not what I had hoped for the weekend but at least I cam back pretty solid.
Then yesterday I played the US Am Qualifier. The local qualifier was played at my former club, Hayfields CC, so I was looking forward to using my local knowledge. Out of nowhere this weekend I completely lost my driver and started hitting these ugly pull hooks. Not out of control duck hooks but just hard to control balls to the left. Well it showed up yesterday. I opened with birdie on 1, then followed with 3 putt bogeys on 2 and 5 and "normal" bogeys on 3 and the difficult 6th. I made another birdie on 7 before teh pulls showed up on 10,12,13,and 15 with bogeys on each. By then I was toast and posted my pitiful 78. At that point there was no shot of getting one of the 3 spots and they were taking "volunteers" to not play the afternoon 18 (speed up play). So I bailed. I hate to do that but I had no clue off the tee and it was 90+ degrees so I just said F-it.
Gonna take a little golf break and see my teacher next week and see if we can't str8en this shit out before the next several events.
On the poker front all is good. I actually was down to abt $300 in my Full Tilt account and made a decision that I would play with that and if I lost it move all of my play over to PokerStars. FullTilt has kind of screwed me on a rakeback deal and thus I am not putting any more money on that site. The Stars rewards program is so much better than Full Tilt's so I will stick with Stars. Well that $300 is now worth a bit over $3k in about the last 10 days. I am only playing SNG and have been running and playing really well. I am actually about to unlock a ~$500 bonus from Full Tilt at which point I will take a sizable portion of this bankroll offline. SNG are really the easiest most "formulaic" way to make cash and for the most part the play at the low-middle SNGs is atrocious. Mostly I am playing $24 and $36 SNG with the occasional $75 satellite thrown in. Think I will stick to this strategy and buy-in level for some time. Playing much higher you start to bump into a lot of pros and people who play high stakes SNG for a living.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
All Hail King Phil!
No I am not talking about the dorkey loud mouth Phil. I am talking about the one who can actually play and is the greatest player in the world...Phil Ivey.
He has made the final table of the WSOP ME that will be played in November. This is a hell of an accomplishment and should be interesting to see his play when they come back. Unfortunately he is second to last in chips so that may make it difficult to utilize all of his creative play but if he gets some chips early I predict he will run over the table. I am sure ESPN is positively drooling over his presence as even casual poker players know who Phil Ivey is. He has already won 2 bracelets this year and a ME win would polish off one of the sickest years in WSOP history for sure.
Anytime I think of PI, I think of truly one of the great poker hands I have ever seen deep in a big buy-in tournament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Qap3VT_ZY
The level of thinking here is mind boggling. Ivey know his hand is best the whole way and plays it accordingly. IMHO he is not bluffing.
Pre-Flop
He raises preflop and Jackson just calls. When Jackson doesn't reraise Phil can basically eliminate any pairs, any Ace and most Kings as all of those hands are likely reraises by Jackson. Heads up those hands are almost always re-raises.
Flop
Flop comes JJ7 and Phil leads at the pot. This is the key to the whole hand IMO. This enables Phil to really define Jackson's hand as it develops. So Jackson raises. You can almost see Phil putting the pieces together. He knows that Jackson is highly unlikely to raise holding a J as there is no value is that raise. In otherwords, if he held a J and believed that Phil had a pair why blow Phil off his hand now. Makes no sense. He also isn't going to raise with a 7 in case Phil actually does have a J. Though he most assuredly would call with a 7. So at this point it is unlikely that Jackson has most pairs, a 7, a J, an A and probably a K. Meaning Q high is good here. So Phil 3 bets him for value I believe. Then Jackson 4 bets and again Phil puts the pieces together and I am sure he knows he is good at this point. Again, he is highly unlikely to have anything that beats Phil's Q high and the 4 bet really looks like a bluff attempt. So he shoves and Jackson feels owned. Brilliant play.
Oddly if Jackson had used his position on the button and just called the hand dynamic plays out much differently and Phil may have given up on the turn. With a flat call on the flop now it does look like Jackson could have a 7 or J and Phil will tread much more carefully especially out of position in the hand.
Easy for me to analyze this after the fact but to do that under the lights with all that money on the line is insane.
Let's hope PI gets some chips early in November and is able to play some big hands because when he is on he is a pleasure to watch.
He has made the final table of the WSOP ME that will be played in November. This is a hell of an accomplishment and should be interesting to see his play when they come back. Unfortunately he is second to last in chips so that may make it difficult to utilize all of his creative play but if he gets some chips early I predict he will run over the table. I am sure ESPN is positively drooling over his presence as even casual poker players know who Phil Ivey is. He has already won 2 bracelets this year and a ME win would polish off one of the sickest years in WSOP history for sure.
Anytime I think of PI, I think of truly one of the great poker hands I have ever seen deep in a big buy-in tournament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Qap3VT_ZY
The level of thinking here is mind boggling. Ivey know his hand is best the whole way and plays it accordingly. IMHO he is not bluffing.
Pre-Flop
He raises preflop and Jackson just calls. When Jackson doesn't reraise Phil can basically eliminate any pairs, any Ace and most Kings as all of those hands are likely reraises by Jackson. Heads up those hands are almost always re-raises.
Flop
Flop comes JJ7 and Phil leads at the pot. This is the key to the whole hand IMO. This enables Phil to really define Jackson's hand as it develops. So Jackson raises. You can almost see Phil putting the pieces together. He knows that Jackson is highly unlikely to raise holding a J as there is no value is that raise. In otherwords, if he held a J and believed that Phil had a pair why blow Phil off his hand now. Makes no sense. He also isn't going to raise with a 7 in case Phil actually does have a J. Though he most assuredly would call with a 7. So at this point it is unlikely that Jackson has most pairs, a 7, a J, an A and probably a K. Meaning Q high is good here. So Phil 3 bets him for value I believe. Then Jackson 4 bets and again Phil puts the pieces together and I am sure he knows he is good at this point. Again, he is highly unlikely to have anything that beats Phil's Q high and the 4 bet really looks like a bluff attempt. So he shoves and Jackson feels owned. Brilliant play.
Oddly if Jackson had used his position on the button and just called the hand dynamic plays out much differently and Phil may have given up on the turn. With a flat call on the flop now it does look like Jackson could have a 7 or J and Phil will tread much more carefully especially out of position in the hand.
Easy for me to analyze this after the fact but to do that under the lights with all that money on the line is insane.
Let's hope PI gets some chips early in November and is able to play some big hands because when he is on he is a pleasure to watch.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Quick post
I did end up playing a ton of volume after the golf tournament this weekend. I am not running well at all and only had two min cashes. So overall a down day for sure.
My bustout in one of the tournaments is rather painful. THis is the Sunday Quarter Million on Stars. It is the biggest tournament every week with only a $11 buy-in it attract nearly 30k players every Sunday. If you final table this massive field you can make some serious cash, so for $11 it is worth a shot. Anyway we are inside the money and I have a decent stack of ~48k. I had just tripled up when I flopped a set of T and cracked AA and dragged along another player who had a flush draw. This is one of the worst beats I have had in a tournament although give the way I am running it seems rather standard...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4452079
By the turn it is obvious he has a K and given the action most likely AK so I go ahead and stick it in and of course the river is just dirty. He got a top 10 chip stack with this hand.
Only one worse than this that I recall is this hand from about a year ago (Pot-Limit Omaha) that I had previously posted...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4452649
Even though that was not a big tournament or anything I will always remember just how filthy that beat was. One outers are ugly.
My bustout in one of the tournaments is rather painful. THis is the Sunday Quarter Million on Stars. It is the biggest tournament every week with only a $11 buy-in it attract nearly 30k players every Sunday. If you final table this massive field you can make some serious cash, so for $11 it is worth a shot. Anyway we are inside the money and I have a decent stack of ~48k. I had just tripled up when I flopped a set of T and cracked AA and dragged along another player who had a flush draw. This is one of the worst beats I have had in a tournament although give the way I am running it seems rather standard...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4452079
By the turn it is obvious he has a K and given the action most likely AK so I go ahead and stick it in and of course the river is just dirty. He got a top 10 chip stack with this hand.
Only one worse than this that I recall is this hand from about a year ago (Pot-Limit Omaha) that I had previously posted...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4452649
Even though that was not a big tournament or anything I will always remember just how filthy that beat was. One outers are ugly.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Schizophrenic Weekend
As my previous post stated I played the MD Am Stroke Play Championship this past weekend. It is contested every year at Mt. Pleasant Golf Course in Baltimore on the 4th of July weekend. This is an old public golf course in mediocre condition typically, but with a pretty classic layout. On the conditioning front the greens are not USGA spec and as a result are rather bumpy, grainy and inconsistent. Some would describe them as shitty...lol.
Anyway Friday I started in the last group off of 1. And I promptly three putted that hole from 30 feet....weeeeee here we go. Then I birdied 3, 10 and 18 playing very very solid all the way. So first round 69 put me in the lead by 1 shot. Actually round 1 could have been 4 or 5 shots lower very easy. I burned lip after lip after lip and was getting a little crazy. But 69 is a good start and I played super solid all the way.
Round 2 was another story. I missed shortish birdie putts on 10 & 11 (I started on 10) then 3 jabbed 12 from 20 feet. Solid pars followed on 13-16 and then it got really weird. On 17, a long downhill par 3 of ~215, I chose 4 iron. The green is very deep and somewhat narrow. It is a really good par 3 with a drop off on the right, a deep bunker on the left and an overgrown hill further left. The hill is no good and, of course, I hit my first truly bad shot of the tournament there. Snap hook up on the hill. Lost ball. Back on tee I hit the next in the middle of the green and 2 putts later I had double. On 18 I sort of popped up my drive and then hit a less than stellar 8 iron to 35 feet and 3 whacked that hole. Turned in 4 over and really felt like I only hit one truly bad shot. On 1 I ripped driver 3 wood on the green of the 550ish par 5 only to 3 jab that hole. I clearly tried to jam that eagle putt in and paid the price with a 3 putt par. From then on I was rather uninspiring with closing bogeys on 5 and 9. Very disappointing as basically my chances to win were basically gone. Now it was a matter of trying to secure a high finish.
Sunday I started off with my third str8 three putt on 1 and boy was I hot. I followed that up with a hideous 9 iron left of the green on 4. Biggest green on the course and the one place I can not miss it is left and I do exactly that for yet another bogey. On 5 tee we had to wait a bit and I calmed down and tried to get going again. I really just didn't want this thing to get out of control. With that I birdied both 5 and 6 with virtual kick ins to get back to even for the day and +4 for the tournament. A bogey on 7 derailed that birdie train, however, and got me back going the wrong way. I was +2 for the day when I returned to the 17th and promptly snap hooked a 4 iron into the same hill again and made double. Finished at 75 and was really disappointed.
Was +8 for the tournament and +4 on one hole. I also had 7 3 putts over the tournament. That is very unusual for me although on these greens you sort of expect some 3 putts. I have been putting lights out at BCC where we have really, really good speedy and slopey greens. But I hit the ball really really well for 3 days, particularly with the driver. It was my first real tournament of the summer and I'll look forward to jumping right back into the fray again in 2 weeks at the club.
Anyway Friday I started in the last group off of 1. And I promptly three putted that hole from 30 feet....weeeeee here we go. Then I birdied 3, 10 and 18 playing very very solid all the way. So first round 69 put me in the lead by 1 shot. Actually round 1 could have been 4 or 5 shots lower very easy. I burned lip after lip after lip and was getting a little crazy. But 69 is a good start and I played super solid all the way.
Round 2 was another story. I missed shortish birdie putts on 10 & 11 (I started on 10) then 3 jabbed 12 from 20 feet. Solid pars followed on 13-16 and then it got really weird. On 17, a long downhill par 3 of ~215, I chose 4 iron. The green is very deep and somewhat narrow. It is a really good par 3 with a drop off on the right, a deep bunker on the left and an overgrown hill further left. The hill is no good and, of course, I hit my first truly bad shot of the tournament there. Snap hook up on the hill. Lost ball. Back on tee I hit the next in the middle of the green and 2 putts later I had double. On 18 I sort of popped up my drive and then hit a less than stellar 8 iron to 35 feet and 3 whacked that hole. Turned in 4 over and really felt like I only hit one truly bad shot. On 1 I ripped driver 3 wood on the green of the 550ish par 5 only to 3 jab that hole. I clearly tried to jam that eagle putt in and paid the price with a 3 putt par. From then on I was rather uninspiring with closing bogeys on 5 and 9. Very disappointing as basically my chances to win were basically gone. Now it was a matter of trying to secure a high finish.
Sunday I started off with my third str8 three putt on 1 and boy was I hot. I followed that up with a hideous 9 iron left of the green on 4. Biggest green on the course and the one place I can not miss it is left and I do exactly that for yet another bogey. On 5 tee we had to wait a bit and I calmed down and tried to get going again. I really just didn't want this thing to get out of control. With that I birdied both 5 and 6 with virtual kick ins to get back to even for the day and +4 for the tournament. A bogey on 7 derailed that birdie train, however, and got me back going the wrong way. I was +2 for the day when I returned to the 17th and promptly snap hooked a 4 iron into the same hill again and made double. Finished at 75 and was really disappointed.
Was +8 for the tournament and +4 on one hole. I also had 7 3 putts over the tournament. That is very unusual for me although on these greens you sort of expect some 3 putts. I have been putting lights out at BCC where we have really, really good speedy and slopey greens. But I hit the ball really really well for 3 days, particularly with the driver. It was my first real tournament of the summer and I'll look forward to jumping right back into the fray again in 2 weeks at the club.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Finally some golf to look forward to...
As I mentioned a while ago, not qualifying for the MD Am and MD Open really sucks and kinda makes it seem like the summer is devoid of any good tournament golf. But I do have some stuff coming up and am playing really well right now.
This weekend we were planning to go to the beach house for the 4th but my kids caught wind of the incredible party that BCC (Baltimore Country Club) throws, with rides and games and decided they wanted to go to that. So that gave me a chance to sign up for the MD Am Stroke Play Championship at Mt. Pleasant. Good tournament and one of the few 54 hole events for us Mid Am types. I haven't played in a few years but did play for 15+ years prior to stopping once we got the place at the beach. I am playing very solid right now so I hope to have something good to write about.
After this weekend my golf schedule is as follows for the balance of the summer:
July 18-19 BCC Stroke Play Championship
July 27 USGA Am Qualifier
August 17-18 MD Mid Am Championship
Late August USGA Mid AM Qualifier
September BCC Club Championship
October 1-4 Mid Atlantic Amateur
There are a few other one day type events sprinkled in so we shall see what happens. As always I am particularly motivated for the 2 USGA Qualifiers. The AM qualifier is at my former club so that should be a benefit to me. And, of course, I am anxious to get back the Mid-Am after my couple of appearances the last few years. Will be working hard on my game through this month and next and hopefully have some results to back it up.
My wife and kids are going to go to the beach on Sat 4th (club party is actually on the 3rd) and a friend of her's is coming with her kids so I am all alone Sat and Sunday. That may mean some heavy poker volume this weekend depending on how the tournament is going. The later I tee off on Sunday obviously the fewer tournaments I will be able to play. Hopefully late tee times though!!
I did lose a key flip at the final three tables of a 24+2 on Full Tilt the other night. Same old story for me. Get deepish, lose a flip, cash for some bullshit amount like $200, look at the tournament lobby and see that top 3 all get $5k+. I have to win one of these flips eventually right??
This weekend we were planning to go to the beach house for the 4th but my kids caught wind of the incredible party that BCC (Baltimore Country Club) throws, with rides and games and decided they wanted to go to that. So that gave me a chance to sign up for the MD Am Stroke Play Championship at Mt. Pleasant. Good tournament and one of the few 54 hole events for us Mid Am types. I haven't played in a few years but did play for 15+ years prior to stopping once we got the place at the beach. I am playing very solid right now so I hope to have something good to write about.
After this weekend my golf schedule is as follows for the balance of the summer:
July 18-19 BCC Stroke Play Championship
July 27 USGA Am Qualifier
August 17-18 MD Mid Am Championship
Late August USGA Mid AM Qualifier
September BCC Club Championship
October 1-4 Mid Atlantic Amateur
There are a few other one day type events sprinkled in so we shall see what happens. As always I am particularly motivated for the 2 USGA Qualifiers. The AM qualifier is at my former club so that should be a benefit to me. And, of course, I am anxious to get back the Mid-Am after my couple of appearances the last few years. Will be working hard on my game through this month and next and hopefully have some results to back it up.
My wife and kids are going to go to the beach on Sat 4th (club party is actually on the 3rd) and a friend of her's is coming with her kids so I am all alone Sat and Sunday. That may mean some heavy poker volume this weekend depending on how the tournament is going. The later I tee off on Sunday obviously the fewer tournaments I will be able to play. Hopefully late tee times though!!
I did lose a key flip at the final three tables of a 24+2 on Full Tilt the other night. Same old story for me. Get deepish, lose a flip, cash for some bullshit amount like $200, look at the tournament lobby and see that top 3 all get $5k+. I have to win one of these flips eventually right??
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