Degen Stories

Reading some stuff on TwoplusTwo and there are some classics.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/poker-beats-brags-variance/degen-stories-447948/index359.html

Along the way, someone posted a link, for a Alfred Hitchcock short story ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz7vMJBKCnc

T20 - S.Africa v Pakistan - Wanderers

Wet season .. with some heavy stuff,  falling over the weekend, and later in the evening, most nights.

Earlyish start, may help get a game, but, CMM 1.5+ and rising .. looks right.

Hope they get a game.

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Didnt rain at all, yesterday, and thou its fractionally more overcast today, think the game will be fine.

CMM currently, 1.31

WPT SA - Winner

As the saying goes .. u could have knocked me down with a feather.

The winner, was Deon .. at least thats what I know him as .. and its a major sadness he was recorded in the event as Daniel .. with no picture, cos, I would have loved to have railed him to victory.

Deon is a regular feature at the Wednesday/Sunday tournys, and we often get to play together, as there are only 50-60 players. I am not surprised he went so deep, and am sincerely happy, he pulled off a major win.

Hes a nice guy, (thou, his pocket 5's cracked my Aces), 3 weeks ago !!

Playing Hardball

Let me start, by saying, I hate real estate agents.

Much like, bankers/lawyers/parking meter attendents .. I am sure, they have their supporters .. somewhere, but, in a country where they can often charge 7% .. yes, an eye-watering 7% of the price .. they get short shrift from me.

I have been trying to sell a property ..

I gave a mandate to sell, and specified, I wanted a certain price.

We had 2 offers, which would have fallen $5000 or so, below this price, so, I turned the offer down.

This was over the last 5 weeks, and the agent, who wants her commission, is trying to get me to budge ..

The poker, has, if anything, made me even more reluctant to sell .. and when she came with a 3rd offer .. cash, but still $5000 short, I resoundly told her, NO !!

It turns out, the potential buyer, wants to buy 3 properties, and has given her a headache, in that, he has said, he will take all 3, or none.

Cut a long story short, she is cutting her comm .. at least on my property ..

Megarain 1  .. Estage Agent 0

WPT - Event 2 - 6 Max thoughts, the day after ...

Heads up, went to a duel between Diana and Greg.

I played with Diana a lot, and when I was knocked out, she had about 650k, compared to Gregs 400k .. but, would think the heads-up must have been fun.

Diana finally won, when her pocket 10's, beat Gregs pocket 5's .. congrats to both.


The event taught me a lot .. especially abut final stages .. and if u could have your time over, etc, I would have done quite a few things differently.

Really pleased, that I hung in for the money .. played much tighter, from out of position, and was only really willing to throw chips in, with strong suited connectors (above 7), and solid pairs.

I didn't make many chips, once again, from Aces or Kings .. and probably even lost chips, with Kings.

When u have your monsters, u need opponents to also have v strong hands .. Diana picked up 400k in 2 pots, with Aces v Queens in 2 pots, and that can be the difference.

I peaked at about 345k chips, but, moving to the 'Table of Death' , really ended my chance to win the thing .. especially once I 3 bet, Leo Margets, with pocket 4's, and she shoved on me. I lost 60k, in that encounter, and tossed away another 100k, with a 10 high flush, when she re-shipped on me - maybe I should have called .. but, probably, think not.

U can always look back, and think things could have gone differently .. but, 6th was v fair ..

The play from the overseas professionals, is at a different level, to most of the locals .. but, the deep chip stacks, maybe makes them play differently, which they have more experience of ..

I wish the local tournys, were not as 'fast', at the end stages.

WPT - Event 2 - $1000 6-Max NLHE - Day 2

Day 2, reconvened at the Emperors casino, Johannesburg, at 1.30pm.

24 players left, and I am lying in 12th place, with an above average stack.

After making a Day 2, at Emerald casino, 6 mths ago .. 20th overnite, of 55 or so, with 30 making the money, and lasting 20 mins, when my pocket 10's crashed and burned against Aces, was determined, to A) last longer than 20 mins, and B) Make the money.

We all got new table draws, and I had a fair one, with 2 short stacks, I think I can bully.

Early on, I completed in the big blind, with 10♦, 9♠, and saw a flop with one other person.

A♠,10♠, 6♣. As the pot was unraised, figured my 10 was good .. and bet, which was called.

Turn was 9♥, giving me 2 pair, which definately seemed good, but, my opponent called.

River was 10♣ .. giving me a boat, and was able to get another street of value. Big pot, which moved my stack over 190k.

A few hands later, I get almost the same hand -  9♣, 10♣, and get to see a cheap flop.

This time, its J♣, 7♣, 2♠ .. it gets checked, and the turn is the 7♠ .. I check raise, and the other player calls .. which isnt so good .. but, hit the 8♦ on the river, for a well hidden straight, and get another 40k.

Players at the table are getting a big short-stacked, and a 85k stack, shoves his 7♦,7♠, and I call with A♠,J♠.

The flop comes :

8♠,9♠, 9♦, meaning I have the flush draw, and overcards .. turn is 8♣, which counterfeits his 7's and the K♦ on the river, is no help to him, so I win with Ace high.

My stack is now 220 k .. 19 left, and am feeling invincible.

Soon lose 15k in chips, and cut-back on opening range .. which might have cost me, as sucessive pots would have been won, with 4/5 offsuit, and A 3 spades, which I chose not to play.

Lost a 75k pot . somehow .. dont remember .. it got too hard to record it all ..so, am on 122k, with 18 left, when I pick up pocket Kings, for the 3rd time, in the tourny.

Won a small pot, with them, and move back above 150k, with 18 left (in the money, and we have re-drawn for seats).

I stilll havent played with Leo Margets (Poker Stars pro - or Greg Ronaldson), which was a good thing, as they both outclass me ..

On my new table, there is a Canadian .. and I manage to put him on tilt, when he starts attacking my blinds. I re-raise .. he re-raises, so I shove .. with

J♣, 3♥ .. not the best, but, he folds to the pressure, and I show the bluff.

2 hands later, I pick up 10♠,10♦, and a 10♥ on the river, causes him to give me 45k, and some deep breaths. (thou I think 10,s were in front, without the last card).

This run of cards continues .. I get 6♣,7♣ .. hit a flush on the flop, and push my stack over 325k.

As we lost players, our table broke .. 12 left, and I get the worlds worst new table :

Leo Margets/Greg Ronaldson/Jennifer leigh/another female pro .. and me.

I need a lotta help .. and literally gave away 150k in chips, before I adjusted.

Made some all-ins moves, and didnt totally panic, and soon, Greg dents Jennifer, and as short stack, she goes out shortly after. The other lady pro, got severely dented, in another 300k pot with Greg, and .. she was soon, also out .. making a final 7 .. and the final table !!

Some good prize money, and I am 2nd short stack.

The blond lady, (Dianna), is the lady I gave 35k chips to, on Day 1, with pocket Qs, beaten by her pocket Aces, and .. almost 3rd hand of the final table, she gets Aces again, and her all-in of 300k, is called .. by pocket Queens !!

She holds up, and the guy is left, with 15k, which althou he doubles, isnt enough, as the blinds are so aggresive, and he soon gets eliminated.

6 left, and I decide to try and wait for one more elimation, before getting hyper-aggresive.

As it happens, I picked up A♠,Q♦, UTG, so, just trying to not get eaten away myself (BB is 10k, I have 165k), I shove .. and get called by Gregs A♣,K♦ .. and go out.

No complaints .. was more than fair ..and picked up $6000.


Over the 2 days, I saw pocket Aces twice, pocket Kings 4 times, Queens once, and Jacks .. maybe twice.

I feel I had some run, but, also, but some pressure on, at both good and bad times .. in hindsight, the J/3 bluff was excessive .. to have gone out, in 18th or so, would have been devastating.

The pros, are v controlled, and once they have a stack, can make calculated moves, without endangering their tournament life. Its good to watch and learn.

I was a bit tired after day 1, but, day 2 was better .. but, cant justify entering the main event.

I may play, one more event, on Saturday.


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As I write this .. 3 left .. no surprises .. Dianna/Leo/Greg .. all would be worthy champions.

Many thanks to all the WPT staff .. who made the event run so smoothly .. it was a lot of fun, and great experience.

WPT - Event 2 - $1000 6-Max NLHE

These are the WPT trophies we are playing for . plus the loot.

The 6 max trophy, is the 3rd one, from the left.



Event 2 - my free roll, if u like, as I qualified via a satellite.

Starts at 12 .. midday, so, got some decent sleep, and ambled to the casino early, to see if any friends had made it deep, into event 1.

A few had . some v surprising faces .. on the lists .. but, in the end, it was won by Jarred Solomon .. who has a very cool twitter handle .. solotit .. and is a player I have often watched/played with, and v much admire.

My 6 max table .. featured 2 players to my immediate right, I play with a lot .. Offa .. the friendly Israeli - former forex trader, who bust me with JJ over my AA in the regular Sunday tourney, 2 weeks ago.

We get on v well .. as most people do, as hes such an engaging person, and it makes for a v light table. Next to him, is Lum .. who won the Cape Town 500k .. and he can play, and really mix it up.

In the corner, is a pretty Swedish pro - girlfriend of a high-roller from Vegas, and shes super solid .. so, its not easy.

In preparation for 6 Max .. which, is basically, a max of 6 at the table, as opposed to a full ring game, of 10 people, I watched some training videos on PokerNerve.com / read some articles, about opening ranges.

Becos there are less players, your opening ranges from different positions, are far looser than a full game, and it should suit a more aggressive player, as u have to be willing to play pots, with less solid hands.

That's me !!!

We started with 20k chips, and from the gate, I was in just about every pot .. and moved my stack steadily to 35k, with various things fell into place, and made some sets etc.

Then .. about 2 hrs in, comes along this hand :

I get Q♠, Q♦, in the big blind, and when the Swedish lady (Dianna), raises the BB to 1000, I re-raise to 3k.

She has a stack of 17k or so, and has played few pots, so, don't have any info on her .. which was a mistake.

She raises to 7k, and I call, and we see a flop :

8♥, 6♥, 5♦ .. its unlikely she has any of that, and when I check, she bets all-in, for her remaining 10k .. if I call and lose, I am down to 13k .. from a high a of 35k, and really, .. all I can beat is a bluff .. maybe she has JJ/AK .. but, that's all, apart from the obvious AA/KK.

I reluctantly call, and she shows the AA. Darn !! No miracles, and I ship her my chips.

The next hr, I was decidedly on tilt/unhappy .. and on reflection, don't like my play. It soon transpired, she rarely bluffs .. thou, doesn't often show cards .. and, I should have let it go .. but, anyway, dug deep, and doing nothing really special, made my way back to 30k.

U get your chips, mainly from the soft spots .. normally weak/tight players, who only play strong Aces, and when u connect your suited connectors/low pairs, u can get v well paid.

One hand : I have 4♣,2♣ in the Big Blind, and call for an extra 200 chips. The board comes : 4♠,4♦,2♦ .. Bingo !!! and need to let someone hit an Ace or King, to catch up. The turn, is an A♥, and 2 people bet into me. I just call, and the river, is a 10♣, and after various raises etc, they are gob-smacked to see my hand .. which naturally crushes their 2 pairs.

Anyway, things progress : The entries get past 100 .. u can re-enter just once .. a much better format, than the shove fest, from event 1 .. but, I suppose, this is a higher value tourney.

Levels are 40 mins, after which the blind structure goes up .. and re-entries, are up to level 12.

By this time, the final field of 125 is set .. and money is paid to 18th place : $2000 or so .. 1st place - is $30k.

I have 45k or so, and pick up K♦,K♠ .. again in the big blind. Lum, put in a small raise, so, I just call, for deception.

The flop, is J♠,10♦,6♣ .. which looks fairly harmless, but, Lum plays a wide range. I bet, maybe 3k, and he calls.

The turn is another 6 - the 6♦, which in a way, is a good card, in case he has J/10 .. and I bet again - 7k, and he again just calls. Now, I sort of know, I might be in trouble .. but, luckily, the river is the J♦, making the final board :

J♠,10♦,6♣,6♦,J♦  .. and it freezes out action, and he shows A♣,6♣ .. and I hand him 15k or so.

Frustrating .. as pocket Kings, should win u money.

Anyway, 50 mins later, I pick up 5♦,5♠, in late position. I raise, and its called by Lum.

The board is : 10♣, 7♦, 4♣, and we both check. The turn is 3♠ .. so, I figure I can hit a 5 or maybe a 6, for the nuts, so, bet .. and Lum calls. River is 10♦ ..

I think I'm ahead, but, am not sure .. so bet .. 7k, and tries to re-steal, making it 15k - he has 10k more left.

I cant put Lumm on 10's .. he can have a busted flush draw, a busted straight draw/got the straight - but just get the sense, my 5's are good, and decide to call.

It worked out .. as he shows pocket 2's .. and I pick up a very decent pot, and regain, table chip lead, of about 55k.

We get 15 min breaks, every 5 levels or so, and have 54k chips, at the end of break 2 - by which time, 105 had entered, 71 left.

I am really enjoying playing .. a lot of the pots, are quite small .. with often, a raise, and either a re-raise/call .. and the flop, followed by action, which normally induces someone to fold.

I pick up a lot of free pots .. I am betting a wide range .. but, only .. in position, against the top players.

Offa is still on my right, and .. on Level 7, in the late position, I get K♦,K♠, and call Lumms raise, as does Offa.

I dont mind playing multi-way pots, in position with KK, as I have a chance, of picking up a really nice pot, as they often play A/Q, A/J,, A/10 etc .. and if the Queen comes, its normally good.

The flop comes : Q♣,J♥, 3♦ .. and Lumm bets. Offa raises, and I re-raise - commiting , Offa all-in, if he wants to call. Lumm folds, and Offa calls, quickly, tableing Q♠, J♠ .. for 2 pair.

This isnt good, and get no help from the turn -  a 6♣, but, spike a magical 3♠ on the river, for a higher 2 pair. This is the variance of poker .. I only had 8 outs .. any King, any 3, any 6 to win the pot .. 16% .. but, it happens .. as we know.

Offa says he will re-buy .. and does .. later, to a different table.

I now have 54k .. probably an above average stack, but, its been 10 hrs, and am starting to tire.

We had another break, and see some team Poker Stars pros, are arriving for the main event .. including Barney Boatman .. who won a world series bracelet .. and I went up, and congratulated him :

Down to last 35 players .. some short stacks, are feeling the pressure, and I call a ship, from one such short stack, with A♣,9♣ .. for 17k. He shows 3♣,3♠ ..

Hes a Canadian/American pro, who has come for the main event, and calls his friends, to ask for some luck on the race .. its pure 50/50, but, I catch an Ace on the flop, and end up making trip Aces .. and hes gone.

After this, for the last hr, I dont do much, and we stop at mid-nite.

There are 25 players left .. I have 97k .. and imagine I am lying in about 15th place.

There are 3 team Poker Stars pros, and probaly 7 more international pros, plus local luminaries .. so, cant really expect to get v deep .. but, getting into the money should be doable ...

WPT - Event 1 - $200 NL Holdem, with re-buys and add-on

3rd fucking time I am trying to write this .. and am not happy.

Ipad has eaten 2 attempts, if this one dies .. then .. fuck it.

Day 1 started at 7pm, which is pretty odd, for a 7 hrs ship fest, as starting stacks of 20k, for $200, when u can re-buy and get 10k chips, for $50, for all of Day 1, or double re-buy for $100/20k, and get a top-up at the end of the night, for $50, another 20k chips.

The 1st 4 hrs, was senseless, and was so bored, often raised with 9♠, 4♦, and showed multiple bluffs.

Table didn't really care .. only the guy to my left, could actually play .. rest were defensive / limping nits, who wont gamble, and wouldn't put chips in play.

For all that, finished the nite on 87k chips, .. and got to bed at 3am .. had to be on the golf course .. at 7am .. so got 3 hrs sleep .. played v decently .. shot 46 on the back 9, and got 3 more hrs sleep, before Day 2 started, at 3pm.

320 entries, 220k highest stack. Now a freeze out.

Early on, was able to add 65k to my stack, with A♦, A♣, on a board of 2♠,2♦,Q♥, when one guy was all in pre-flop, and another gave me 3 streets of value, with presumably A Q.

So, got to 135 k .. and that was pretty much that.

Then got into 3 'races'

1st race .. K♥, 9♥, for a 90k pot, aganst Q♦,J♣, - pre-flop .. and board comes : Q♥, 10♥, 7♣.

I was/am such a big fav, its unfunny, but his pair held up.

2nd race .. A♦, K♠, against A♥, 10♦, pre-flop for 75k chips .. he made trip 10s.

3rd race .. Q♠, J♠, against 4♣, 4♦ on a board of J♦, Q♦, 8♣, and he makes a fucking flush.

Unbelievably sick, played v well, but didn't get any bounces.


Preparing for the $1k 6 max tomorrow ..

The Golden Ticket

Its good to dream .. but, even better, when u get your shot.

Was busy on Friday, so, my last chance saloon, at winning a satellite to get into he main event, of the WPT, was on Saturday .. for which, 102 people entered.

Really card dead early on, but, made a crucial call, with J♠, J♣, against an early position raiser, who I put on A, K, or A ,Q which proved 100% correct, and was able to isolate, and push-all in pre-flop .. and then not get outdrawn on.

These are the vagaries of tourny poker .. u have to correctly assimilate what someone has, and then, win your 65/35 races .. even 80/20 races, when, as we know, 4/1 chances, hit occasionally.

Once the re-buy period ends, play gets more sensible .. and its a period I can attack .. as fish dont want to go home, and protect their marginal hands, too much.

The whole session .. I saw pocket A/A once .. all folded-to-my-pre-flop raise, and pocket Jacks, maybe 3 times.

As we have said before, its not always the cards .. its pure position, being able to fold, to a raise, when someone really means it, and aggression.

I am not short on the aggression .. which, confuses a lot of people, as .. older people, have a stero-type as mild ..

Down to 3 tables .. I have maybe 25k, from a starting stack of 8k, and I can see a few monster stacks around .. of maybe .. 150k, so, as  there are 2 golden tickets, and 3 silver ones (2x$3500 for main event, 3x$1100 for 6 max), I have a lot of work.

Not really doing much, we get down to 2 tables, and have some really weak/tight players to my immediate right, who are getting blinded away. I continue this pressure, re-raising their limps .. and, invariably, they either fold, or call the raise, then fold to a c-bet, once they miss the flop ..

With 16 players left, I get A♠,3♦, in later position, so, raise .. and get pushed all-in, by a shortish stack .. maybe 7k. I feel I am commited,so, call the all-in, and he flips A♦, 9♠  and board comes :

A♣, 7♠, Q♦, J♣, so, am praying for a card higher than a 9, for a split, when a beutiful 3♠, comes on the river, for me to scoop the lot .. giving me, 45k.

This is just starting to be a workable stack, 14 players left, thou the blinds were already 1000/2000 .. crazy how fast the tourney is run.

The 2 guys to my right, are forced all-in, from my raise with another monster A♦, 6♠, but, by some miracle, there holdings of K♦, J♥, and 7♦, 9♦ dont improve, and I knock 2 more out, moving my stack to 65k.

With this momentum, and a final table .. I get a very decent table draw .. a great chinese player - Leo, is to my left .. but, he has 35k in chips, and I feel can neutralise him.

There are 2 monster stacks, of 150k, but, one is an 'unlucky' player, who always bemoans his luck, and I can probably talk him off hands, as I know his game v well, and an Indian guy, I have never seen before, but, seems to play v tight.

I get a really decent hand, - A♣, 5♣ .. in the small blind, and push .. to be called by pocket 2's ..and the flop of A♥, 5♥, 6♦, is pretty safe. Luckily, no 2, comes .. and I double up .. now, 70k chips .. and u can see, players are starting to get worried, as I am extremely active, when in position.

Almost next hand, I get pocket 3's .. and .. 2 callers. It turns out, one had pocket 10's, the other A,Q, but, no one hit .. if the 3 had come .. etc . but, the loss wasnt substantial.

We are now down to 6, and Leo gets knocked out, playing K♦,Q♠, to another players A♦, J♦ .. and a flush came.

So, we all have a ticket .. !! now, its just about the color.