I continue to enjoy paying for my education

[The Wall]

So I got the chance to play my 2nd and 3rd ever live games this weekend!

Friday night I played the 5 rebuy & add on tourney at Walsall and I actually went in with a plan! I figured that this game was going to be super loose so I decided that I would take some risks during the rebuy period and see if I could get near to 5000 points before the freezeout phase started, especially since on my last outing when the blinds went to 100-200 I felt that I had no room to breath!

Well to be honest I started too loose and went all in on the first hand with a pocket pair of sevens when I had hit none of the flop..REBUY!

Got delt A-Q got all in against a pair of no helpREBUY!!

I still wasnt worried though and when I found myself with 6-7 s000ted in the small blind and facing a raise with 4 callers I decided to have a look at the flop..down comes A,7,7you dancer! I waste no time, there is no point in slow playing anything on a table this loose so I get in as many chips as I can and Im immediately re-raised! Amazingly a raise and a re-raise dosent scare of two of the other callers and we all see the next card..a blanksod it I get in as many as I can again and once again I get re-raised! And once again theres are two callers!.. final card.Qwell Im pot committed so the rest of it goes in and the three behind me call. Ive got a 7 announces the re-raiser and turns over 7-8 and I sink into my seat..I been out done by an 8!! SPLIT POT calls the dealer and my brain wakes up.

The only other hand of interest that I can recall is when I was delt A-9 os UTG and limped in, three callers and the flop comes A-9-6 I bet and get re-raised! So I call.other two foldnext card is a 3..I bet again and get re-raised again! I must have that Im new look about me (which is about right because everyone else seems to know each other alright john etc) so I call. Final card is a 10 and once again I bet and the fella who is still to act (he was an elderly chap wearing a lime green shirt) sets himself all in and of course I call. YAMS GOT TWOO PAIR he announces proudly (that was a black country accent by the way) and flips over 6-3 s00ted6-3? I dont say anything I just flip my cards over in front of the dealer and proceed to scope my chips.

Oh and I finally won a hand with A-K after I bloody limped in again! But I dont want to talk about that!!

Anyway when the rebuy period finished I had taken two rebuys and a top up and had just over 9k so I felt that I had some room to play.

But I didnt! I cant explain what happened to me! But I can say that when I got down to the last four tables from a start of 13 I saw the quality of poker increase and I just couldnt play! In the end I went all in when I was on the small blind with 6-7 and walked into the BB with K-Q and that was it for me!! It was an excellent night though and I felt that I learnt lots!!
My 3rd ever live game was on the Sunday, it was too hot outside so I thought that I would sit in the artic conditions of the Walsall card room for a couple of hours!

It was the 10 rebuy satellite for the 300 main event this Saturday, there were only 48 runners and this time Im quite sure that EVERYONE knew everyone else, which made me the mug at the table (I think that ifm was sat at my table thats if my Colombo style skills have got it right)

Anyways I played the same game from Friday (although I had worse cards), I took a hand down with Ah against a pocket pair of and my K-J made a straight on the river. I lost a monster pot when I was set all in by the lady on my right with a Q high board when I was holding Q-K, I called and the guy to my left called, she showed A-J but the guy to my left showed A-Q and he scooped the monster!

I never took an add on and entered the freezeout with just over 4k but once again I just sat there and let the blinds go through me until I was in bad shape, I went all in with A-8 got two callers hit my two pair and lost to a flush! Another quality afternoon though!

The best thing about playing live is the characters in the casino! I like the banter the other players give each other aswell, where else would you rather be on a too hot Sunday afternoon or at any other time for that matter!

Now im off to work out how the hell to play freezeouts!

[Ironside]

for 300 and a lucky draw (next to me) i will give you a lesson in freezeout play on saturday/sunday when  i fly home with all that english money in my pocket

[The Wall]

Thanks Ironside...........

Unfortunatly Im not around this weekend now or I would of come and watched you fellas in action.........free education!

[tikay]

Great Stuff The Wall.

I just adore the "live interaction" between players, that's pretty much why I enjoy poker so much, win or lose. (Yes, mostly lose before some wise-guy gets it in).

As to a pre-comp game plan, I have tried it, but it just does not work for me. You may be catching cards and hiitting flops, or dry as a bone, loose table or tight, maniac bossing things allowing you to pick up the pieces when he over-reaches. It just never works for me, so I dont set plans now, though of course I set targets in longer competitions.

Does anyone else go in with a fixed, pre-determined game plan? The action is so dynamic, I just can't make it work, & I am not sure it is a good thing, either.

[TightEnd]

.

Does anyone else go in with a fixed, pre-determined game plan? The action is so dynamic, I just can't make it work, & I am not sure it is a good thing, either.

I agree with you...I have a good idea before I turn up for the very slow clock tournaments, but for normal events I like to establish a planaonly after I've seen the texture of the table

Mind you, reading Rob's excellent Vegas posts, he's going into events with a set plan isn't he?

[RED-DOG]

Yes Rob is going in with a set plan, but then changing it to suit the situation

[tikay]

Yes, he is, but if you read it carefully, he is flexible enough to change as circumstances dictate. And yes, "texture of the table" is key, as is the sort of cards and flops you are hitting or msising.

Have a plan by all means, but don't set it in stone, it has to be flexible.

Dammit, I just broke a golden rule and (tried to) give poker advice.

[TightEnd]

, he is flexible enough to change as circumstances dictate. And yes, "texture of the table" is key, as is the sort of cards and flops you are hitting or msising.

that's it in a nutshell

[The Wall]

I dont have a plan as in which cards I will play and how I play them, I just have a preset amount in my mind that I will feel comfortable with when it gets to the freezeout!

Then when I get to the freezout, I dont really do anything!

[TightEnd]

Then when I get to the freezout, I dont really do anything!

it'll come...stealing, semi-bluffs, stack management...

play as much as you can and as much as you can afford, speeds up the education process no end!

[The Wall]

I certainly will TE, I was planning to play in the satellites on Friday and Saturday afternoon but a phone call from a good mate has reminded me that Ive promised my time elsewhere

Im going to play quite a lot over the next few months until Im either, skint or no longer enjoying it!

[Longy]

Intersting stuff the wall, always good to hear the view of people finding their feet in live play. I must admit to having no real strategy live or online to a tournament as far as where i have to be at certain stages. The only thing i do is count my stack in relation to the blinds when im shortstacked. I think one of the biggest mistakes made is getting too shortstacked and not being able to bet people out of a pot with weight of chips. I normally say 6bbs and then its time for a move.
Another thing i often do, as im quite tight player is open up my game when the rebuys are over. Firstly i have the table image of not dancing much and the table tends to tighten. So people respect pot size raises even tho im doing it with marginal hands. In general tho every table has its own characteristics andyou have to understand what will work and what won't. That takes experience and knowing your opponent. I think the old maxim playing the opposite way to the table is a good one.

[AdamM]

I think rather than a strategy, what you have to develop over time is a style of your own. I've found that at home/private games I used to be too loose and at the casino I was and still sometimes am far too tight. What I'm working on is a good balance between hte extremes. obviously learning to 'shift up and down the gears' is important but we are all going to do that in different ways. I know it doesn't suit everyone but I try and approach the game from a tight point of view and pick times to loosen up, as opposed to the other way round. Even 20 rebuys are beatable with a tight game. not sure about 5 or 10 rebuys, never played one.

[snoopy1239]

So I got the chance to play my 2nd and 3rd ever live games this weekend!

Friday night I played the 5 rebuy & add on tourney at Walsall and I actually went in with a plan! I figured that this game  was going to be super loose so I decided that I would take some risks during the rebuy period and see if I could get near to 5000 points before the freezeout phase started, especially since on my last outing when the blinds went to 100-200 I felt that I had no room to breath!

Hi The Wall. I live in Brum and have found some success at this comp. I only play it for fun and the chance to go with my pops, but it can still earn u a bit of extra cash in the long-run, even if it does seem like a lottery.

Firstly, playing tight during the rebuy period isn't a bad strategy. I find that Doyle's philosophy of playing tight on an loose table and loose on a tight table is worth adopting. Don't feel the urge to follow the maniacs, but if there's a large pot, and you are content to have the odd rebuy, then shoving it in with suited connectors or something is a worthwhile gamble. You only need to win one of these maniac pots to pick-up a decent stack.

What I find many of those player do wrong is failing to change gears. They win one of these massive pots, and then within a few hands it's gone again. So once I get up to a few thousand, and we're still in the rebuy period, I tighten up my game and wait for premium hands. With your stack, you can afford to see cheap flops with pairs and connecting cards, but if you don't hit, just get out. Don't go calling bets with 2nd pair or anything. So protect your stack once you win a multi hand.

If you have few chips at the end of the rebuy stage, then I wouldn't hang around too much. You really have to go for it in these comps, otherwise the blinds will swiftly swallow you up. You really won't succeed in these comps if you're always the lowstack cos somehwere down the line you'll get outdrawn and busted out the comp.

Bottom line. If you reach the latter stages, go for the win. Haven't been for a few weeks, but the prize structure seems to be very top heavy.

Good luck.

[ifm]

Hey!! you shoulda said hello, i don't bite.
Interested how you knew it was me though........most folks call me ginge in there cuz i got grey hair!!
I do remember you well enough, tall good looking young fella with "newbie" tattooed on your forehead.
I actually picked a few chips early on but don't remember taking yours??
One of those days for me though as it happens, got well chipped up a couple of tables left and raised with pocket Jacks (i hate this hand) and a fella called with more than 3/4's of his chips with KJ off!!  Moron, he actually thinks he's the new Phil Ivey but i ain't going into that, needless to say he hit his 3 outer.

As for strategy, i try to maintain a loose image at the table calling raises with (seemingly) anything but believe me i know my starting hand criteria and i know most of the players i'm up against so it ain't as bad as it sometimes looks (actually busted AA and QQ with 85 diamonds Sunday!!).
I love it when folks groan when i sit down hehehe.

Brunson's favourite saying is when you give action you get action, which basically means if you raise for the 10th time in a row but this time with AA you get callers......
See you again but this time say hello!!
Ian, IFM, Ginge.......whatever