2nd Annual Charity Poker Tournament for Colon Cancer Patients

Our next charity tournament will be Saturday, February 28th, 2009. We have already secured some great prizes, including an $800 Visa Check Card to First Place. Please visit http://figgtreepoker.blogspot.com/ to see the list of sponsors so far.

But, we are still in need of prizes. Any monetary or prizes donated would be greatly appreciated. We need money, online poker funds, hats, shirts, electronics, books, poker chips, or anything else that we could give away as a prize. These tournaments are only a success because of the donations we get as prizes. The better the donations, the better the prizes, the more people we can entice into playing. All the money raised will go directly to Colon Cancer Patients. For more information, go to http://www.figgtree.com/ .

Last year we raised right at $3,000. This year, I would love to raise over $5,000.

You may contact the foundation directly, or leave a post here and I will contact you. Or you may contact me at broncohawk7 at yahoo dot com.

Thanks for considering this.

Jamyhawk

Results from my weekend play

I played live for charity on Saturday night. There were only 40 players with the top 8 getting some type of prize. The guy running the tournament was definitely a bit odd. He read all of his rules line by line and then some. He talked about all the tournaments he has played in and run, to make sure everyone was comfortable with him running it, but it came across as bragging. Quite frankly, there were no major arguments, but he could have done so much better.

First of all, the blinds were insane. We started with 2000 in chips and the first 3 blinds were 25/50, 50/100 then 75/150 at 20 minutes each. I started as the big blind and was the first big blind at the 2nd level. 20 minutes to get around the table once.

There was also no consideration for position when moving or after someone was knocked out. No ghost blinds, skipped Small blinds or anything. Sometimes people would be set to be BB and then do just SB because someone went out. We argued our point to the TD but his response was "I know what you are saying, but we are not doing that here. " If he has soooooooo much experience, I would think he would know how unfair it is to move someone from one table in the BB and be the BB again right away. It's not that hard to ask people to scoot around.

OK, so enough bitching from me, let's get to some hands. We are seated 8 to a table and pick our own seats. I don't know that this was an advantage at all, since I really didn't know the other players. I quickly learned that I picked poorly. To my immediate left was "Maniac" old guy. After him was the only other good player at our table (Steve).

The very first hand, I am in the BB with 33. Maniac UTG raises 2x BB. One player calls and I call to see a flop. 2 clubs come on the flop with 9 high. I c-bet 1/2 the pot. Maniac calls. MP folds. Turn is a blank and we go check-check. River brings the 3rd club, still all little cards on the board. I look at the maniac and he is reaching for his chips. Twice he starts to grab his chips, then stops. I figure he is itching to get his money in so I check. He bets 1/4 pot and I fold.

So my ability to steal blinds was severely crippled when the maniac would call with anything and the good player would read my steals as what they were and pick his spots to fire back at me. The rest of the table was pure calling stations. Any Ace was playing. Any two paints was playing. The maniac at my table took down a few pots with 3rd or 4th pair.

At 50/100 I get AdKd from the CO and raise 4x BB after 2 limped in. 1 limper calls (UTG) and we are heads up. Flop comes 9c8h6h, UTG checks and I insta-shove. My thinking here is that he played his "any Ace". I have 1050 behind and he has 350, so I know this is not putting my tournament on the line. I put the pressure on him to decide and since he checked, he surely missed the flop. He tanks and asks if I hit the straight. Then he says, you probably played pocket sixes, but I'll call. He flips over Ad9h and I don't improve. With 700 left and 75/150 blinds coming, I am feeling pressure to make a move.

I am completely card dead. I lose a few blinds as I can't call raises with junk. Finally I get a hand where everyone folds around to my SB of 75. I have Q7 off and 375 left in front of me. The chip leader at our table is the maniac, so I just smooth call my monster hand. He checks behind me and we see a flop of 986 rainbow. I go all in for another 300 and he calls with K5off. Queen on the river doubles me up. Suckout is nice.

A few hands later I get AdJd in the BB. 4 limpers to me and I go all in for 900. Maniac UTG calls (everyone else folds) and he shows 7c8c. Ace on the turn seals it and the maniac has doubled me up again!

I have a little breathing room now. The Maniac is still chip leader having hit a couple of 4 card flushes and bullying everyone he can.

The very next orbit I get Ac9c in the BB. Maniac UTG calls and everyone else folds to me. I think seriously about raising him, but I know he will call and if I hit, I know I'll easily be able to trap him. I check and flop comes 3 clubs giving me the nut flush. My trap is perfect, check-calling to the river where I check re-raise all in and he calls. Maniac tables 22. Pair of 2's. Deuces. Ducks. Da-looosers. Doh! He is crippled but not out. A few hands later he is gone.

Down to two tables. Blinds are 1k/2k. I have 7k and I sit in the Button seat. First hand I have A2sooooooted and attempt a steal all in. SB calls with K10 and hits a K on the flop. Ace on the river and I get suckout #2. Double up.

Then A7 off from the BB and have 2 limpers ahead of me. I shove (again on a steal attempt) and get called by one player. He tables 22 -Da-looosers no good again and I double up when an Ace hits. I am now the chip leader at the table.

People are dropping fast with the blinds so high, so we only play a few hands at 2 tables then go to final 8. I am probably right in the middle of the pack. A steal attempt now costs 6k to win 3k. I steal one from the CO with KQspades but don't see much other action.

Player to my immediate right has 2k left so is all-in when the BB comes to her. I minraise from UTG with J9sooooted to try to isolate just the two of us. Everyone folds. She flips over Q8off. Jack on the flop, 9 on the turn........... and she completes her straight on the river. (She would have been out 7th but comes back to take 2nd place- very nice run of cards).

I go card dead again and am getting KILLED by the blinds. Of course, so are other players and the field is dropping players fast. I am sitting 4th out of 4 with around 7k in front of me when I get 910off in the BB. UTG is our chip leader and he calls the 4k BB. Everyone else folds and I check. Flop comes 910J rainbow. I shove my remaining 3k into the 10K pot. UTG thinks about it and finally says "I gotta call". He Flips over AQ and a King on the turn sends me home in 4th place.

I missed the cash prizes by one spot. I won a couple rounds of golf and some golf balls. I also won the raffle for Cardinals Opening Day tickets. I am so lucky! I won another set of Cardinals tickets and sold them and donated the money back to the charity. The other good player there, Steve, finished 5th. It was really a push fest and somehow I got lucky. Congratulations to my buddy GOFF for taking down 1st. You can find him on FTP under FFOG.

There are pictures here if you are interested.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

This was fun! At one point, I was down to 500 in chips. I was also in first with 3 people left and had a 3-1 chip lead on each of the players. I was really disappointed not to take 1st, since I consider my final table play to be one of my strengths ("so why do you suck at SNG's?" you say????). I sucked out a few times and won the majority of my races. That's what it takes to go deep.


Thanks to everyone for your critique of my cash hand. It's weird that I wouldn't play that hand in that position in a tournament, and it sounds like I shouldn't in cash play either.

I'm playing in another live tournament tonight for charity. I'll try to remember to stay patient.

Time after Time

Well, I don't know who really cares, but work has been kicking my ass lately. I am gearing up to open a third sales branch for my company. What does that mean? It means I am doing everything now by the book, trying to prepare to lead by example. I'm sure my employees will do things like I did, and I don't mind. But I want to show that doing it right can be done. But it consumes most of my time. Especially my posting time.

I read as many blogs as I can but rarely post on them. And it appears I haven't been posting much on mine. It just takes me a long time to put my thoughts into words sometimes.

Here are some quick thoughts I have had recently:

Chad is my HERO! He says whatever he wants in the chat while playing cards. As far as I'm concerned, that is another tool to use at the tables. I don't personally do it much, but I love that people can do it. What is total BULLSHIT is that his chat privileges were permanently blocked. Really? Fulltiltpoker can't do any better than that? You can put notes on people, block observers chat, block all chat, but you can't block 1 person's chat? That is really stupid if you ask me. Oh wait, here's another one: IGNORE IT! Oh wait, someone is soooooo offended that they complain about his "profanity free" insults (the software stops you from putting in words like SHIT). I've had people say all kinds of junk in that tiny, little box in the very bottom of my screen. Guess what? I IGNORE IT. Or type back if I choose. Either way, I think blocking chat privileges is wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. That's my 2cents.

There are some truly generous people in this world. I mentioned (well.... maybe pushed a bit) a charity tournament I was having and these three people who have never met me, and never spoken to me, and don't know where I live, etc., etc., donated HUGE prizes. I mean: really! I could've taken all that stuff for me and said: "look what I conned out of the internet dummies". Thankfully they didn't and I used those prizes (and a few others) to raise $3018 to give to colon cancer patients. I am so impressed and deeply grateful. I hope I can pay it forward the way they have.

Now to talk about BBT3. I pushed hard during BBT2, playing in most of the tournaments (22/27) and finished in 7th place. But it took it's toll on me. Almost completely burning me out of online poker. I like playing, and I like playing several times a week, but pushing to get into a tournament 3 times a week at a specific time was trying on my work and home schedule. Now BBT3 will be 57 events with Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday games. I just can't hang that many days a week in a row. But the prize pool is attractive. And I like the way bloggers play, it suits my style well. . . MiamiDon did a good write up on the pros and cons of playing. I will definitely play in a few, just don't know how many. Remember that it is open to readers too. If you don't have a blog, come play. Click on one of the links above or look to the right for the events. I may even see you there.

I'll be playing live this Saturday. $50 buy in. Last month I went out just before the bubble, so hopefully I can improve this time.
Remember to stay patient and if you see me playing somewhere, remind me. . .

So for my charity tournament, I had a lot of people trying to input how things should be run. I really wrestled with it, as I didn't want it like a pushfest, but I can't have it lasting 7-8 hours. I decided to go with a 25 minute blind time, since 15 or 20 minutes seemed too fast and 30 minutes was just a bit too long for a charity type tournament. Here's what I decided to use as blinds:

What do you think? Fair enough? We have between 80-100 expected to be playing...

I decided to split the prizes as far down the places as possible. So at first, I thought I could package stuff together and say you win a bunch of stuff but only pay the top 10-15. But then I thought that a lot of places paid would encourage peeps to play again next year. I mean, if 80 poeple play and we give prizes to 25 of them: that's over 30% of the people that walk with a prize. I think that's pretty good.

Here's an idea (not finalized) of what the prizes will be:

1st
$800 Visa Check Card
2nd
26 inch HDTV
3rd
Poker Table
4th
Guys Night Package
5th
$100 FTP Cash
6th
Jacket, 4 Beer Glasses, UDB
7th
IPOD Shuffle, 4 beer glasses
8th
Mineos Gift Cert
9th
2 Harrington Books
10th
500 poker chips
11th
Multiple Resteraunts GC
12th
hat and UDB
13th
hat and UDB
14th
hat and UDB
15th
hat and UDB
16th
t-shirt and UDB
17th
t-shirt and UDB
18th
t-shirt and UDB
19th
t-shirt and UDB
20th
Mike Matheny Auto Framed
21st
UDB
22nd
UDB
23rd
WPT cards
24th
4 beer glasses
25th
4 beer glasses
26th
4 beer glasses
27th
4 beer glasses

I just hope everyone feels like they had fun and got something. Of course, the open bar included in the buy in helps.

If you have any input, that would be appreciated....

Stay patient...

"But ours go to 11...." Nigel Tufnel 1984

No. I didn't finish in the money. I actually bubbled the bubble. I was close enough to probably fold to the money but chose to go for a steal that backfired. On the button with 6 players at my table, it folds around to me. I have $5800 with a SB of $600 and BB of $1200 and around $2400 total in the pot with antes. SB player has $3000 stack and BB has $8000. I decided to shove hoping that no premium hands are behind me. My cards were really irrelevant (Kh8h). We were playing hand for hand, so I figured only a big pocket pair is calling or maybe AK.

Anyway, BB calls with AQ and Ace high wins. I really should have stayed tighter for a couple more spots.

My main points when playing the $3 KO's. (built from tips from Matt and Emptyman).
1)Early on: loosen up my play. Starting stack is $3000. I can see a few more pots when I know that $2000 is an easy amount to come back with. By loosen up though: I only mean play a few more hands WHEN IN POSITION. And only during the first 3 or so blinds. I still don't want to play 79sooted from UTG. But on the button with a limped pot: yes. If a 6,8, 10 spikes the flop or my flush hits, I can take down a nice pot. Raising from the cutoff or Button with 77 or even KJ is OK. But stay attentive after the flop. Fire a bullet and get re-raised, you need to let the hand go.

2)Middle of the tournament play tight, solid poker from position. The nice thing about this level that I have found is that you can get paid off on monster hands. You might lose once in a while to someone chasing a draw, but if you leave yourself some chips, you can build them right up again.

3)Tighten up around the bubble. Now this is contrary to my normal style, hence why I have such a problem remembering to do this. But, people are still thinking "It was only $3" this late in the tourney. I've seen plenty of junk thrown all in with only 2 or 3 spots to the money (Like my K8 soooooted). Hopefully you have enough chips to make it through a dead card run, but no use trying to bully everyone with an all in here: you will get called, so you better have some bling. But seriously, the play seems to tighten up after the bubble pops. I think everyone starts eyeing that first place prize once they hit the final table. Then you can start stealing some blinds again.

4)Put the pressure on at the final table. Chances are, there are at least 1/3 of the players there that are terrible. Push on them, raise them up on their draws, watch them call you off with top pair weak kicker and take it down.

Hope you do well. To really increase your abilities, go check out Matt and Emptyman. It will pay off.

2 more days until the Figg Tree Poker Tournament to raise money for colon cancer patients. If you are near Saint Louis, please come play.

Is anyone else watching Big Brother??? What a twist this season to have couples. People have another person that they can bitch to, so now there's more outward fighting and backstabbing. It used to be that everyone had to play nice in front of everyone, but not this time... And how stupid is Jen for telling Parker her secret so early. Buh-Bye, Jen.

Stay patient...

I'm Back in Black

I hit the sack...Ive been too long... Im glad to be back... AC/DC 1980

I've cashed in 2 out of the last 3 90 player KO's I've played(a 1st and a 5th). That will boost my ROI real quick at the $3 levels. My bankroll now is just shy of $100. Not too bad, having been at just $2 a few weeks ago. I was actually in the low $100's a week ago, but dropped a buyin playing cash at the 25NL level and couldn't cash in a $10 MTT, so here we are.

If you will notice, I have been playing very sparingly. Only 8 SNG's in the last 19 days. Pathetic, I know. But I am happy to have cashed in 6 of those 8. I have been following a much tighter game plan: trying to play mostly from position only regardless of my cards. And when down to the bubble, play opposite the table. What's that? Sound unusual for me? Yes, it is. I usually try to bully at the bubble and "usually" end up getting caught at some point. What I found though, is most times the bubble at the $3 buy in level is not so tight. So if I play tight and wait for the right cards, then I make it to the money. The play really seems to tighten up in the final 4 or 5. Then players are looking at a major change in payouts if you can advance to top 2. This is a better time to get aggressive and start buying blinds. Again, be observant of your opponents play.

Thanks again to everyone who donated to my charity tournament. Evenings this week will be spent preparing chip stacks, blind structures, prizes, etc. You can still show up to play if you want. We are hoping for just over 100 players.

Stay patient...

Everywhere is.... freaks and hairies...tell me where is sanity

"I'd love to change the world

But I don't know what to do

So I'll leave it up to you" ..... Ten Years After

If you can play with patience and wait for the hands, BODOG is the nutzzzz. Now, granted: I play at the micro stakes .05/.10. But I have to tell you: pay attention! You can see plenty of draw and straight chasing, calling with 2nd or 3rd pairs, and just plain 'ol donkey play. And make sure to compliment the donkey play. They love it and will pay you back handsomely. Here is a screen shot of a $10 max buy in table I played for a couple of hours tonight.

Up 5+Buyins at any level is fun!

I'm on work tilt right now, so I haven't posted much. With mortgage rates low, I am swamped (I am a Loan Officer, if you don't know). Also, I am opening the 3rd sales office of our company sometime in March. I'm not dealing with much of the operations (office space, phones, servers, etc.), but I am working on finding people and getting my personal shit in order to manage a bunch of other sales people. Can't very much be lazy, and expect the people under me to work hard... So, I don't have much time to post.

Any free time I have had lately, I've spent trying to recruit players and find donations for my upcoming charity tournament. There is still time to donate if you would like. We have gotten Fulltiltpoker funds, an HDTV, A poker table, Ultimate Dealer Buttons, Books, playing cards, poker chips, and more... Any small donation will help. If you donate anything at all, you will be listed on this website, on the figgtreepoker website and on the actual flyers we will hand out at the tournament. Many players are excited about the FTP funds. If you could donate even $5, they will go to a great cause. You can donate the funds to me now or I will get you the winners name and you can donate directly to them. We are expecting around 100 players; unfortunately I won't be one of them, as I will be focusing on running the tournament.

Check out these prizes that YOU COULD DO too:

All proceeds from this tournament go directly to the figgtree foundation. Check them out here.

Don't Forget about Riverchasers tonight. 8pm. FTP. Password: riverchasers

Stay patient...

Yes, yes, y'all - you don't stop

I have been reading the FTP Strategy Guide. So far, it is a very good read. The interesting thing about it is that you get several different authors in one book. Therefore, you get several different viewpoints on how to play hold'em tournaments. I have not gotten to the Razz or Omaha sections yet, but they are in there as well.

For example: The chapter from Chris Ferguson talks about bet sizing and keeping your raises and or bets consistent, with small variations based on position. This keeps you from giving away too much information about your hand. However, Ted Forest writes in his chapter about how he uses limping in to throw his opponents off. I really like it though because you can pick out the information that best fits your style and apply it to your play.

I really need to work on my play from about the middle of the tournament until the bubble bursts. I play aggressive, but tight enough to make it through the beginning of a tournament. And I think I can hold my own through a final table. It's the middle that gives me trouble. I think, more specifically, I get too aggressive just before the bubble. I assume that people are going to lay down cards because we are so close to the money.

Like last Saturday, when I got a guy to put 90% of his chips in with 3rd pair and we were 4 spots from the money. That aggressiveness is good if I am on a semi-bluff, but with a draw only, I was out in 9th, and I very easily could have folded to the money that night. Stay patient, right? I keep telling myself that. I just don't like to "fold to the money", I would rather take shots that can move me up in chips fast.

It also could be the buy in levels I am playing at. The bubble in a $2 online tournament, is not very respected. I probably need to slow down and keep the "tight" play going right through the middle of the tournament. I just hate getting blinded out when I am card dead. Look at Chris Ferguson's Challenge. It took him 15 months to break $1,000 but then less than 2 more months to break $10,000. This certainly has to do with the kind of players that are at those different levels.

I'm not saying I'm a better player than others at the $2 buyin level, but I probably overthink the game, when others are like "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I call your all in with bottom pair and no draw. Now wait for it..... wait for it.....Thank you rivered set".

"I'm Mike D. - I got the deuces wild"... Beastie Boys 1986. Looks like I'll keep grinding at the $2 tournaments: the "deuces wild".

Don't forget about my charity tournament. Click on it if you think you can play or if you can donate. We still need more prizes.

Stay patient...

I said move over once, move over twice, C'mon baby don't be cold as ice

5 degrees this morning. No, I'm not one of those lucky Canadians. I live in the Midwest. 2 weeks ago I was powerwashing the front of my house in 73 degree weather. Yes, that's right. 68 degree swing in two weeks. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

I want to publicly thank Alan for a generous donation to my upcoming charity tournament. He donated FTP Funds. This was something I never considered but now am very excited about. Many of my friends have FTP accounts where they only play for play money. They will say "I am too scared to transfer funds in" or "I don't really know how to transfer in real money". Well now I can give them a shot at getting "hooked" like the rest of us.

If anyone else is interested in donating any amount at all, it will be used for a great cause. I will be printing up a certificate to give FTP funds as a prize for one of the top finishers in the tournament. We are giving an $800 visa cash card to first place, but still need donations for other top finishers. Or better yet, come out and play. If you are in the Saint Louis area, click here for more information.

WANTED: Your old or unused Poker stuff

I'm hosting a poker tournament on February 23rd to benefit colon cancer patients and need some help with prizes.

If you have any old chip sets, unopened card decks, good condition books, anything lying around that could be put to better use, we could use it. We are looking for prizes for top finishers as well as door prizes. Cash donations would be used to buy prizes, if you would prefer to go that route.

This is a great cause, as all money raised goes directly to benefit colon cancer patients struggling with high medical costs. You can read more about it here: Figg Tree Foundation.

Please send me a private email if you are interested. All donations are tax deductible.

I Thank you in advance for your attention to this.

Jamyhawk

P.S. I couldn't post without mentioning LJ's big score. 1st place in a $230 buyin tournament. She put up a great post detailing it. Go check it out and congratulate her.

For All Saint Louis Area Poker Players