Poort
Semi-Bluffing Part I
Semi-Bluffing Part I by
Charlie-Robinson Poortvliet
In this blog I’m going to talk about the power that’s semi-bluffing. For those of you who don’t know what it is: semi-bluffing is bluffing with a hand that has potential. Most of these hands are drawing hands. Example: You’re in the small blind with Jh10h, you call the buttons 3 BB raise and the flop comes 9h 8d 4s (rainbow). You check-raise his continuation bet, which is half the pot. But you have nothing? Why raise? The three main reasons for this are: 1) Your hand potential 2) Building the pot 3) Creating fold equity.
1) With an open-ended straight draw, you’ll make the nuts when a Q or 7 hits. A Jack or 10 could be good as well, giving you at least 8 outs to the winner ( 7777 + QQQQ).
2) When you hit your hand, you want to win the most chips possible. Therefore you raise without hitting it yet.
3) Given the fact that you’re opponent will miss 75 % of the flops, you’re raise enables you to win the pot right there. If he does call, you can either hit your hand or semi-bluff the turn. Will go into that later.
So let’s say you’re playing 3000 chips with blinds at 25/50 and no antes. The button has 3200 and makes it 150 preflop, you call the extra 125 and the big blind folds. This means the pot is 350 and both players have deep stacks. You check the 9h 8d 4s flop, button bets 175 and you decide to raise to 425 leaving you 2400 behind. Most of the times, you’ll win the pot right here . But in this case he decides to call, and you’re both seeing the turn which is the Kh. At this point, you have to think about his range of hands. Is he strong? Is he floating? Is he weak? Whether he’s strong or not, the best play is to lead out.
You’re out of position with no hand at this point, but the turn brought you more outs (hearts). So you’ll know you’ll win with a Q or 7, and most certainly with a heart. It’s unlikely that he has a hand like AQhh or Axhh Qxhh. He could have the 67hh, but you’re flush will be good in that case. So we’re happy with 15 outs (9 hearts, 3 Queens and 3 Sevens) and the odds of that hitting is 30 % on the river. The pot is 1200 (350+850), so in order to check-call he must bet around 400 (30 % of the pot). However if you’re the one applying the pressure, by betting 800 for example. He has to release any 8, weak 9, QJ, small pocket pairs… Not only does he have to worry about being beat, he also have to worry about you betting the river. So unless he weak-called AK on the flop or flopped a set or two pair, he’ll release. If you check-call and you miss, you’re possible bluff on the river isn’t that convincing too. Raising the flop -> betting the turn -> betting the river looks stronger than raising the flop -> check-calling the turn -> shoving the river (remember you’re first to act).
The main flaw I see most players make, with semi-bluffing, is that they change their aggression if they hit. They understand the concept, but check when they made their hand. Sometimes it’ll induce a bluff, but most times your opponent has a made hand that wants to go to showdown. Example, same hand, same scenario, and the river is the 7c. You made the nuts, now what to do? My advice is to make the same bet when you’ll miss the river. If you always fire 3 barrels with a semi-bluff, than do so too with your nuts hand. So opponents cannot read any patterns and will pay you off or fold.
Combining previous factors into semi-bluffing.
Me
Hand: 2s5s
Position: Big Blind
Stack: 9966
Blinds: 300/600 with an ante of 60
Opponent
Hand: ?
Position: Small Blind
Stack: 31595
Blinds: 300/600 with an ante of 60
Action:
SB raises to 1200 and I call. Flop comes 5d Qs 4d, giving me middle pair with backdoor straight and flush draws. SB Leads out 1200 in the 2955 pot, I raise to 2885 and SB calls. Turn is the Js, he checks, I shove for 6481 and he folds.
Thought Process:
Preflop I could easily just folded my hand, but I elected to call because he min-raised and gave me a good price. Flop is quite good for my hand, a middle pair is strong heads up. His continuation bet doesn’t tell me anything, so I raised for both information and to take initiative. I’d preferred if he folded, but he called. Turn is the Jack of spades giving me a flush draw along with my pair. After his check I shoved all-in. I do this, because I couldn’t give him credit for a strong hand. Would he really flat call the flop with a queen, when there’s a possible straight and flush draw on board? I didn’t think I had the best hand necessary, but I was confident that he couldn’t call a pot bet given my range. He doesn’t have the right price to draw and so he has to call with a made hand. He doesn’t know I have a weak 5, and even if he called with a better hand I’d have outs. That’s the power of semi-bluffing.
Afterword
As you may have noticed, the two situations I described are ones out of position. It’s a lot easier to semi-bluff in position as you’ll have the option to check behind on the turn, giving you a free card. That way you can control the pot and re-evaluate your hand on the river. I’ll write about this next time!
Playing For BadBeat: June
Playing For BadBeat: June
Hey all, back here with another blog! After my last one, I received feedback saying they’d prefer me talking hands and thought processes. So I looked back on some of my deep MTT finishes, using Hold ‘Em Manager and will post some key hands. June started great after I shipped a MTT on the very first day of June 
.
I mainly played turbo’s and SNG’s due to the World Cup 2010. As a big soccer fan, I wanted to watch almost every game I could see. Therefore, couldn’t play evenings and just start playing afterwards. There aren’t a lot of games at around 11 pm on PokerTime, so I just played the turbo ones. In the hand analysis’s I will review the key hands of the € 55 buy-in € 2500 GTD tournament. These small field tournaments offer a potential high return of 1 or 2 hours of play.
Highlights June:
- 1st in the € 5 Turbo Hold ‘Em 1/126 on PokerTime
- 4th in the 3-2-1 Jackpot MTT 4/312 on Pokertime
- 2nd in the € 2500 GTD 2/69 on PokerTime
- 3rd in the € 2000 GTD Turbo 3/285 on PokerTime
- 6th in the € 2500 GTD 6/53 on PokerTime
Tournament: € 2500 GTD (result 2/69)
Starting Stack: 2500
Blinds: 5 Minutes starting at 10/20
At the 2nd level (15/30 blinds) I found myself waking up with AA on the BB. I was very fortunate to see a limper, a raiser and a button caller in front of me. Of course I’m playing aces, the only question here is how? I could flat call to disguise my hand, but against 2 or 3 opponents that’s not an ideal choice. I could also flat call hoping the preflop limper will make a squeeze play. On the other hand, if I shove all-in I might scare them off as no-one is pot committed. I decide that the best play is to reraise. With the pot being 315 ( 15 SB +30 BB + 30 Limper + 120 Raiser + 120 Caller) I decide to raise to 360, pumping up the pot to 645. The limper folds, the raiser 4-bets to 600 and the button caller folds. This is exactly what I want, getting my aces heads up with a big pot already in front of us. I read his small 4-bet as a legitimate raise, meaning he’d raise more if he’s bluffing and trying to put me off my hand. Besides, he only has 1400 in chips and his 4-bet is therefore telling me he’s not folding. So, I shove all-in and he calls with KK and I win a 4k pot.
At the 3rd level (25/50 blinds) and with a stack of 3800 I’m in middle position when I get aces again. UTG limps, as does UTG +1. I raise 5 BB’s to 250 and the button ,UTG and UTG +1 call. So 4 players in a 1075 pot. I hated the button calling as he’s giving UTG and UTG +1 pot odds to call as well, but aces have great potential. When the flop comes 2 4 8 with 2 spades I am a little worried. With 3 people flat calling and not folding or reraising preflop, I’m narrowing their range down to 22 to JJ and hands like 56s/67s etcetera. I don’t see them calling 5 BB’s with hands like AJ/AQ/KQ as they are likely to be dominated, but you never know. Key thing in this scenario is what they think my range is? I only played two pots so far.. Getting AA all-in to KK and flopping trips with A3 in a limped pot. So, they should put me on a very tight range like JJ/AK +. So their most likely holdings are hands that crack big pairs or AK.
So that means they are calling for implied odds. If they hit a big flop, they correctly assume I’ll pay them off with big pairs. Ok, on the flop UTG and UTG +1 check to me. I fire out a continuation bet of 1050 (almost full pot). Seems a little much for an overpair? Well I bet this big to avoid myself getting in trouble by giving them odds to draw. A hand like J10 of spades will have a hard time calling hoping to hit a spade. And if they decide to shove with that kind of hand, I’m about a 3 to 1 favorite to win the hand. I also bet this much giving their stack sizes post flop: UTG = 1490, UTG +1 = 1600 and Button = 2660. I also have the advantage that they might me read my bet as AK, missing the flop. That will get their money in with any pair they might have.
Button folds, UTG shoves for 400 more and UTG +1 folds. By now I’m pot committed and I call, only to see 88 for a flopped set. Turn and river brick out and I’m left with 2020 in chips.
At the 4th level (50/100 blinds) I’m left with 1800 and decided it’s time to use my tight image. The cutoff limps and I raise to 400 from the button with 66. Both blinds call, as does the cutoff. Flop comes 10 7 Q and they check it to me. Not exactly the flop I’m looking for, but I decided to bet half the pot leaving me 620 behind. I bet 800 in the 1600 pot, because it looks strong giving my stack size and they see me as a very tight player. So they’re only comfortable with at least top pair. When they fold, my stack increases to 3820 due to this gutsy but thought over play. Image is important.
Afterwards I quietly went on and got to the final table and the final 3, when the chipleader had 100k and the short stack 20k. I was sitting 2nd with 40k, with blinds being 1500/3000. I’m on the SB and I look down at 44 with the short stack on the BB. To me this is an easy shove, for the following reasons: 1) A pocket pair 3-handed is very strong 2) His effective stack is around 7 BB 3) My effective stack is around 13 BB 4) He already has 3000 (or 1 BB) invested. All in all an easy shove, whereas he called with A5 and lost the coin flip.
The key hand Heads Up came up when I had 60k versus chipleader’s 100k, with blinds at 2000/4000. My opponent was a fairly aggressive player, who min-raised almost every pot and folded to a lot of my 3-bets. He min-raised yet again, and I shoved with KJ. He called with A9 and won the flip. I was very unhappy with this decision afterwards. Although we were effectively flipping, he had a tough time calling all-in with A9. And I didn’t want to re-evaluate my hand post-flop (like would it be good on Q J 4? ). But, I was taking most pots away from him and he correctly put me on a wide range here. Looking back, I should have taken a flop and play post-flop (as he was weaker at it). They money difference was significant and I shouldn’t have gambled with a hand like KJ. I guess it was my impatience and my confidence in him folding to almost every reraise of me. This is something I have to work on!
See you next month!
Charlie-Robinson Poortvliet aka ‘CPoort 1’!
Playing For BadBeat Month 3
Playing For BadBeat Month 3
The 3d month, or May if you will, was a very weird month for me. Aside from having little time to play due to school, soccer tournaments, team weekend and my birthday it was a bit of struggle. With my increased bankroll, I’m playing even less on Mansion Poker. But I did play the ‘Beat The Team’ tournament with a buy-on of € 5,50. In this tournament your goal is to beat any Mansion Pro for a € 50,- bounty. Unfortunely only one pro showed.
I doubled early in the game, when I picked up KK and 3-betted from the big blind. I got 2 callers and on a flop of K 10 8 rainbow the money went in to my surprise. I had an easy call, and when they tabled QJ and 1010 I had to dodge 9 outs (10, A, A, A, A, 9, 9, 9, 9), My hand held up and I tripled up early in the game. Play got very interesting when I moved to the table with the only pro. He had a 2k stack to my 6k, so my plan was to shove any 2 when he was in the hand. I got lucky when the pro shoved and I called with 95 suited. He showed AK and another short stack called as well and showed 99. The board ran out 10 7 6 9 8 for a split pot.
After that hand I won some pots and increased my stack to 8k with 3,5k being average. When the pro shoved again, I shoved all-in with 97 of clubs and got a caller behind me with a 4k stack. 13k Up for grabs (2k pro, 4k me, 4k other opponent and 1k blinds) and a chance to beat the pro for a nice bounty (him being the only showing up increased his bounty to € 200,-) things were looking nice. I had a free shot as I would still have an average stack if I lost. They tabled AK and 1010 and on A 8 4 5 5 with 3 clubs, I scooped the pot with a flush and won myself a nice bounty. With that pot I took a massive chiplead as well, eventually getting 4th place in the tournament. Easy payday you’d think…!
That wasn’t meant to be as it took me around 10 emails and 3 days to get Mansion Poker to pay me. When they finally did I only received € 100,-. I was very mad and notified BadBeat as well as Mansion Poker again. After another day they did pay me the full amount, but what a BS for € 200,-. I thought it would be over after they paid me, but it turns out they were screwing with my rake numbers as well. *sigh*
Bad luck struck again when PokerTime did a similar thing. I was playing a high volume of € 55 HU’s, bringing in a lot of rake. I won around $ 500 rakeback points bonus in a week and they did transfer me the funds. A few days later, my account was - $ 500… WTF!? They thought I didn’t earn the $ 500 bonus and decided to transfer it back without even notifying me! I had a hard time composing myself, after the drama with Mansion Poker. But BadBeat sorted it all out and I got the $ 500 back, thanks Laura!
May was a decent month for me as I won the 2k 2nd Chance on PokerTime. It has great value as the 1 rebuy and the 1 add-on are € 5,-, with buy-in being € 11,-. Also I’m thinking about a new blogging style for months to come, with hand to hand analysis. If time permits me that is. Let me know what you think.
Until next month and look for me on the tables!
Charlie-Robinson ‘CPoort1’ Poortvliet
Highlights:
- 1st Place in the 2k 2nd Chance on PokerTime!
- 39th in Mini ECOOP 3 on Mansion Poker.
- 9th in the 5k Rebuy on PokerTime.
- 4th in ‘Beat The Team’ on Mansion Poker
Playing For BadBeat Month II
Playing For BadBeat Month II
After a quite successful first month, it was up to me to follow through. I was getting used to BadBeat and it started to improve my game. Especially the MTT’s on Ladbrokes were the ones I performed well in. Due to Easter and other family commitments I didn’t play as much as I would in the first week of April, but played more during the following weeks in order to make the quota. I was enjoying the weekly leaderboard MTT’s on Ladbrokes, shipping some turbo freeze-outs, when BadBeat decided to change from Ladbrokes to PokerTime. Although I was disappointed in the beginning, it didn’t alter my game as PokerTime is on the same network (MicroGaming).
Highlights:
- 1st Place in the € 500 GTD Turbo Freeze-Out on Ladbrokes
- 3d Place in the € 500 GTD Turbo Freeze-Out II on Ladbrokes
- 8th Place in the € 500 GTD Turbo Freeze-Out II on Ladbrokes
- 1st Place in the € 500 GTD Turbo Freeze-Out on Ladbrokes
- 1st Place in the € 2000 GTD on PokerTime: HERE!
- 3d Place in the € 1000 GTD on PokerTime
- 2nd Place in the € 1500 GTD on PokerTime
I’m still having difficulty scoring good in MTT’s on Mansion Poker. After several bad beats I seem to be losing every crucial flip or less than a flip.. Like JJ to A10. Not too lucky on the IPoker network. I was happy to see they improved their games, bringing more double stacked MTT’s. Also, I’m looking forward to play the Mini ECOOP’s!
April was also the month I had the worst run in my life. Losing twelve 80/20’s in a row, like AA to 33. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. So I took some days off and got my A-game back on. It’s key to protect yourself from overplaying hands when you’re having a bad run. A hand like AQ seems much more good when you’re running bad than when you’re not. A similar situation occurs when you have KK on see a flop of QJJ. Often times when you’re having a bad run, you want the money in as soon as possible to protect your hand. Problem with this you’re not extracting maximum value (scaring people off) and you won’t fold to hands where you’re behind like J10 for example. Taking a break for a couple of days will help get your composure back and regain your focus.
Until Next Month!
Charlie-Robinson Poortvliet aka CPoort 1
Playing For BadBeat
Playing For BadBeat
I promised my followers that I’d write a blog about playing for BadBeat so here it is. First off, let me tell you they have a great team and I felt very welcome from the start. After setting up the following:
- Pokernet Player (BadBeat’s Tracking Program)
- Skype
- Teamviewer
- Ladbrokes
- Mansion
- Hold ‘Em Manager
I was able to start. Note that Skype and Teamviewer are used for mentoring sessions, mine is named DAZ. Very nice bloke who comments me on my play when playing as Teamviewer enables him to see my holecards. Requirements per month include playing 400 tournaments (SNG’s & MTT’s combined), having 1 hour a week session and playing tournaments up to a max of 5 % of your bankroll. I started playing MTT’s on Ladbrokes and SNG’s on Mansion.
The level of play on these sites is far worse than let’s say Full Tilt or Pokerstars. Players aren’t familiar with 3-betting for most part and some are just give their money away calling all-ins with A3 or 25. The structure of MTT’s are a lot better on Ladbrokes, deeper stacked and longer blind levels. That’s the reason I avoid playing MTT’s on Mansion for most part. Mansion on the other hand offers a lot of SNG’s. I’m playing the Jackpot SNG’s (1 or 2 tables SNG’s). Basically you need to win several in a row to win a huge jackpot. This is very difficult, but fun trying nonetheless!
I had a decent first month, netting some good scores. Especially on the Ladbrokes (= Microgaming Network) I had good runs in the MTT’s winning two and getting 2nd place. I’m trying to put in a lot of volume on Ladbrokes so I can compete with other players for the weekly and monthly leaderboard. A portion of the rake on tournaments is put in a prizepool, giving rewards for high finishers on the leaderboard. I’ll also play some qualifiers next month for the Easter Festival (sort of like Mini FTOPS).
If you’re interested in railing look me for on both sites as ‘CPoort1’. Take a look on my BadBeat profile here!
Cheers,
Charlie-Robinson Poortvliet aka CPoort1
Highlights:
Winning the € 1500 GTD 6-Max Freeze-Out on Ladbrokes. See article: here!
Winning the € 500 GTD Turbo Freeze-Out II on Ladbrokes
Runner up in the € 2500 GTD Freeze-Out on Ladbrokes
Playing The Monday Twins On Pacific Poker
Playing The Monday Twins On Pacific Poker
Last Monday I played the Monday Twins on Pacific, finishing ITM in both. I’ve been playing fairly well on Pacific for the last month, but been unlucky in the key hands. The Monday Twins have a $ 10 000 Guaranteed Prize pool with bonuses for cashing in both. The following article is about my thought process during play.
Tournament Details:
Name: Royal
Date: 08-02-2010 21.35 GMT+1
Result: 72/533
Name: Flush
Date: 08-02-2010 21.55 GMT+1
Result: 24/466
Both tournaments have a decent structure with 3k Starting stack and 15 minute blinds starting at 10/20 and antes kicking in from level 7. As I started the Royal I was very confident of my game. Made some final tables in the week before and I knew the field was fairly soft. Early in the game I doubled up when I flopped bottom set and got paid off by top pair. Doubled in the Flush tournament as well, when an opponent bluffs his stack off vs. my nut flush.
First Break:
Royal: 6865 48/368
Flush: 6116 69/312
As above states I had a good first hour, note that we’ve lost of players already, despite being quite deep ( > 30 BB average ). Now things get interesting, I’m up to 8k in Royal. I’m UTG +1 and I’m seeing JJ with blinds at 150/300. I raise it up to 789 (Around 2,5 x BB), I got 2 callers behind me and blinds fold. Flop comes K 8 5 rainbow and I’m first to act. First caller is quite deep with 6k behind and second caller only has 2k behind. I c-bet 1500 into 2800 pot, first caller flat calls and second caller immediately reshoves all-in. I’m absolutely positive I’m beat here, especially by the first caller. He was playing very tight and by not folding or raising, I felt he was using his position to let me fire on any turn and river. So thought he had AK+, I fold, caller 1 calls and they show KQ and 55 (set). I’m left with 6k.
Similar situation in Flush, I have 6500 with blinds 150/300. I’m UTG and I raise to 800 with A10 suited. Only button calls with about 4k behind. Flop comes K J 10 rainbow, I c-bet half the pot and after some thought he raises to 2k with 2k behind. First of all, I felt his raise was pot-committing himself and therefore felt he was strong. But would he really flat call with hands like AK/QQ/JJ/1010? And if he is that strong why wouldn’t he give me a free card to see what develops? Hands that are more likely are KQ/QJ/KJ or even 10J. Obviously I can only beat J10 so I have an easy fold, despite my gut shot draw. I folded and he showed 67 for a gutsy bluff.
Back to Royal. I’m in the SB with 7,5k with blinds still at 150/300. It folds around to the button (5k) who limps; I limp as well met 5c7c and BB (55 vs KQ man) checks. Flop comes 4c 6c Ks, huge flop for me. Open ended straight flush draw. I bet out 500, BB calls as does the button. Turn is the 3d, jackpot! I bet 1300 and BB insta-calls, button folds. River is the Kc which completes my flush. It’s not the best card in the deck, because it gives a higher flush and full house possibility. I decide to shove my remaining 5k in as I feel I have the best hand and BB insta-calls with K9o for trips. The reason I over bet is, because it may look like a steal and I give him credit for 2 pair or trips. I don’t want to value-bet, because my hand is so disguised (hard for him to put me on a K or Pocket Pair) and I’m sure he would pay me off regardless bet size. I’m up to 15k after that hand, which is 2,5 x Average Chip stack. Just before break time I pay the same BB off (he was short at 3k) with A6 on J 10 6 6 9 board, he was holding 1010 for a boat and I’m down 3k.
Second Break:
Royal: 12764 33/198
Flush: 6317 91/164
Now the tournaments are getting exciting, just 100 spots of the money and people are getting nervous and short. With 6k in Flush I’m fairly short but doing ok with 15 BB (200/400). I see Kc4c in the big blind and I decide to check to SB’s limp. Flop comes Q 3c 8c, SB bets out 400, I reraise to 1000 and SB calls. Turn is a blank 5h and I check behind and fold to the river of 9d. Now I’m getting kind of short with around 11 BB left. I’m a bit frustrated and therefore I made a huge mistake in Royal.
With my stack of 12k I’m sitting well, when I see AJo dealt to me in Late Position. In front of me are 4 limpers at blinds 200/400 and I raise to 2000 (squeeze play), first limper goes all-in for 1,8k more and the pot odds were too good for me to fold. I have to call 1800 into a pot of 7800, so the pot is offering me approximately 4 to 1. I call and lost to QQ. With around 8500 left the following hand is very interesting.
I’m on the button and it’s folded to me. I look down at 8c8d and I raise 3 BB after taking some time. The reason I do this, is because it looks like I’m steaming and trying to steal. As I always bet around 2,5 BB with odd numbers and make fast decisions. It’s no surprise that the SB with 6k shoves all-in and I insta-call with 8c8d. He shows 2d6h for a total bluff. Flop comes 4c 10c Kc , leaving him with runner runner 5 outs (as any club would give me a higher flush). Turn is the 6h and the river 2s and I’m crippled to 2k. This bad beat is steaming me off and I’m having trouble remaining my composure. Luckily I found JJ in the next hand for an easy shove and I double through A9 and I am back in the game.
Meanwhile in Flush I’m basically picking up some pots through stealing and have to fold a lot of hands, so I’m still around 6k when the following occurs. I pick up two pots in a row when 3-betting from the BB and SB with AQ and 88 where the original raiser folded. On the button I see UTG raise 3 BB with a stack of 12k. It get’s folded to me and I shove all-in with AK, UTG calls and I win the race vs. QQ when the board ran out 10 J K J K. With 17k I’m well above average (11k) and feeling good.
On this good run I’m picking up a huge pot in Royal as well. Before the hand is played I worked my stack up to 10k when I see 99. I raise 2,7 BB and SB calls with a stack of 16k. Flop comes A 2 3 and he check-calls my c-bet of 2100. Turn brings the 6s on the board putting up a potential flush on the board. I don’t have any spades and I check behind on this turn. River is an off suit 3 and he leads out for 3900, after putting some thought I decided to call. Here’s why: He didn’t reraise preflop so I can rule out any good ace as he wouldn’t flat call with such a hand out of position, any hand with a 3 is very unlikely as well as 45. So he could have been floating with K high or with a medium pocket pair. I’m absolutely positive he would reraise 1010+ preflop and if he has flush, well congrats to him. I call and he mucks 77. Up to 17k after this hand.
Just before the third break I raised KdJc UTG and BB calls, leaving himself 2k behind in a 3k pot. Flop comes K Q Q rainbow, and I put him all-in. He calls with Q7 (why the hell did he flat call preflop with such a hand?) and I drop to 13k.
Third Break:
Royal: 23465 20/98
Flush: 11827 57/84
- Almost ITM in Both -
With the bubble fast approaching, the tournament began to change to an all-in festival. I dropped to 13k in Royal after running AK into AA and a couple of hands after that I busted in 72nd spot when I shoved KJ UTG for my last 10 BB. I ran into AA again and was left with just 2 BB. I got my final money in good with A2 vs K10, but lost the flip and made a small score.
Soon after my bust in Royal I got ITM in Flush. With Q9 on the BB with 14 BB stack; I saw a raise in front of me of 2200 with blinds being 500/1000. It get’s folded to me and after thinking a while I called, due to the pot odds. Flop comes K Q 9. Normally I’d check-raise here, but I was afraid he’d check behind and a scare card could come off. So I lead out half the pot and he reraised all-in, I called and was in front vs. KJ. My hand held and I was up to 13/57th position.
Worked my stack up to 67k without a showdown, but lost K9 to short stack’s 88 and down to 52k. Still sitting 11/34, when the following occurred. With blinds at 1200/2400 I raised from MP with Ad4d to 5900. The chipleader called from the BB and the flop came 6d 4c 3d, obviously a huge flop for me. I have a pair with the nut flush draw. He checks, I c-bet 8k leaving 38k behind. To my surprise he raises to 17k and after a while I decided to shove. I did this, because he most likely has a hand like 55/77/88/99 maybe 67 or 65. Where I would win with any 4, ace or diamond. He called and showed 66 for a set (not the hand I wanted to see), turn brought another 4 leaving me a one-outer to win the pot. It wasn’t meant to be and I’m out in 24th spot.
In reflection I believe I played fairly well, by cashing in both and therefore winning free tickets for next week’s Twins. I could however played the last hand better, I should have pot-controlled it as my opponent could bust me. I didn’t, because of the huge potential of my hand and it costs me a final table. That said, there’s always another game! Will try the Twins again next Monday. Good luck Me :] !
Charlie-Robinson "Poort" Poortvliet
ITM = In The Money
C-bet = Continuation Bet
BB = Big Blind
SB = Small Blind
UTG = Under The Gun
New Chapter In My Poker Career (EN)
New Chapter in My Poker Career
After grinding several years on ChipMeUp ChipMeUp the time has come for me to start a new chapter in my career. Starting February 15 I will become a BadBeat sponsored player. It was a tough decision, as I enjoyed selecting my tournaments and selling them on ChipMeUp, but their offer was just far too interesting. I will continue to write some blogs and articles about my progress on BadBeat. I’ll mainly be active on Ladbrokes Poker and Mansion Poker as a player for those of you who want to track/rail me. I’m looking forward to this new chapter and I am very excited!
To conclude; here’s my last forum thread:
Poort's Goodbye Forum Thread
Within are links for free shares!
God Speed!
Charlie-Robinson “Poort” Poortvliet
New Chapter In My Poker Career (NL)
New Chapter in My Poker Career
Na een aantal jaren te hebben gegrind via ChipMeUp < www.chipmeup.com> is het nu dan zover de volgende weg in te slaan. Vanaf 15 Februari start ik met een sponsorship van BadBeat met full backing. Het was een moeilijke afweging, daar ik veel plezier had om mijn eigen toernooien te kiezen en te verkopen via ChipMeUp, maar het aanbod was te goed om af te slaan. Mijn bevindingen zal ik deels gaan bijhouden in blogs en artikelen voor diegene die geïnteresseerd zijn me te volgen. Ik zal voornamelijk op Ladbrokes en Mansion Poker actief zijn en een hoog volume per maand spelen. Met veel enthousiasme zie ik deze nieuwe stap in mijn pokercarrière tegemoet!
Tot slot is hier het laatste forum thread:
Poort's Laatste Forum Thread
Met daarin links voor gratis shares!
God Speed!
Charlie-Robinson “Poort” Poortvliet
Tough Spots Part I: Early Stages
Tough Spots
This article is a follow-up on the article ‘Cold Deck’ (Dutch), I will translate that to English soon. The idea of this article is to illustrate the difficulties that comes with playing poker. I will give examples of hands that I played in different stages of a tournament. During these hands I’ll try to share my thought process in any given situation.
Early Stages
Hand 1: Tournament: $ 4,40 SNG 180 Man
Blinds: 10/20
Starting Stack: 1500
Link: http://www.pokerhand.org/?3941958
It’s early in the tournament and I’m dealt QQ. I see two limpers in front of me and I raise it up to 85 from the cutoff. Both blinds call and the limpers fold. At this stage I’m not to worried, because QQ is obviously a very strong hand against the blinds. The flop comes 889 with 2 clubs. They check to me and I c-bet 220 (almost full pot), I do this because it’s a paired flop and I don’t want to give any draws away cheaply. To my surprise they both flat call.
Because of both the flat calls I’m not putting either one of them an any hand containing an 8. I’d think they will raise it up, because of the dangerous board (flush and straight draws). The turn brings the 10 of clubs and the BB shoves immediately. I decide to call, for the following reasons:
1) Although I don’t like the turn, his instant shove probably represents a hand like 10 J with the J of clubs.
2) I can rule out QJo, because I have two Q’s and it’s unlikely either of them would flat call the flop with just a gutshot. The only exception is the QJ of with one or two clubs.
3) The only thought that bothers me is that it could be a well-played 99 or possibly 1010. But would he really instant shove with that kind of hand? He could easily afford to give a free river…
So I decide to call and to my surprise the SB calls as well. At that point I know I’m beat. Especially when another club hits the river. Turns out the BB had a small flush on the turn and the SB had an open ended straight flush draw (although any J, expect the J of clubs, would have given me a higher straight). In reflection I think I made a bad call. I didn’t put enough thought in the possibility of both of them flat calling the flop. I should have known a weak flush was one of the possibilities. Note, that he’d probably would have raised with any good flush draw on the flop.
Hand 2: Tournament: $ 11 MTT
Blinds: 10/20
Starting Stack: 1500
Link: http://www.pokerhand.org/?3992409
I’m short after losing a pot with AA vs J 10 (rivered two pair). But I’m still having 32 BB’s with my stack of 640. I’m on the button with AcKc , there are two limpers and a raise to 100 in front of me. I’m looking at my options.. Fold, Call, Re-Raise. Folding is not really an option here, my hand is just too good. Flat calling would be a bad choice, because I’m giving the blinds and early limpers too good odds to call. I really don’t want to play AK against 5 players. So now I’m thinking about the raiser’s range. He could have JJ+, but given his history (loose) I narrow his range down to A10+ and 88+. So I decide to push all-in, blinds and limpers get out of the way and MP calls with QQ. Unfortunely I lost the race.
In reflection I don’t think I had much option here. I do have enough chips to fold the hand. But I couldn’t give him credit for KK+, although it was possible.
Update Benimino & Poort Challenge
Hey all,
I'm back ! Had a blast in Kiev last weekend and been busy preparing for the FTOPS. Full details about those events can be found here: http://chipmeup.pokernews.com/player/Poort.
Meanwhile, the challenge:
16) $ 11 MTT -
17) $ 11 MTT -
18) $ 11 MTT -
19) $ 11 MTT 6000 http://www.pokerhand.org/?4133103 195th $ 63
20) $ 11 MTT 30000 http://www.pokerhand.org/?4132440 - -
21) $ 11 MTT - 2 pair vs Set - -
22) $ 9,90 MTT 360 99 vs AA 240 -
23) $ 11 MTT 1413 http://www.pokerhand.org/?4202198 9 $ 197,83
Cheers,
Poort
