Reader’s thoughts on Re-Buys (Did I get this all wrong?) + Tournament Director Review

My friends from home and I are having a discussion. My understanding, which one player has confirmed is that Re-Buys promote looser play. My confusion results from the implications drawn from this fact. Aren’t good players excited about Re-Buys because the Pot goes up? Don’t you want the bad players to re-buy and then bust them again? I thought that was all good!!! I am confused by a couple of players recalcitrance in this regard!?! A couple of the players from back home seemed to express frustration about that point. That being said, I want to avoid the topic of timing as I realize the re-buy time period was too long (2 hrs+) and next time will be capped after the fourth level (each level is 20mins). Let’s focus purely on the Re-Buy act itself.

Yorkshire, tournament director was really good. Due to a major MBA project I had going on, I was unable to spend time learning it. My hope is that someone from the play group will have familiarity, in order to to assist in stoppages. If you adopt it I highly recommend that a regular player in your games learn it as well in order to assist you when you are tied up. If the players in your game are positive and proactive they will see the long term benefits of the program and ignore the short term inconveniences that come with learning the bugs of the system the first few times around. As you saw from the points and placing post, it keeps track of a wealth of detail. That being said, I am still working through the intricacies of the league format and structure, so I hope to figure that out. If worst comes to worst I can dump it all onto an excel file and manually combine. The next step is to export the steps onto an on-line website, not sure if I will do that yet.

Tournaments: Fri Sept 8th, Sat Sept 23rd

I got some cool tips from someone who’s poker skillz I really respect. Thanks Thumbs!

Thumbs poker tips for Jav … -          

1. work on your reaction to looking at your own cards -          
2. don’t look at your cards until the action is to you (this hurts saying because it will actually slow your play down more) -           forget the acting … it is not for you -          
3. vary your play more … slow playing big hands and betting your draws may seem like you are attempting to get maximum value for your hands but it makes you predictable

4. -           sometimes the optimal play is suboptimal

5. I am not necessarily saying play a wider selection of hands I am saying if you flop a made hand sometimes you should bet it, sometimes you should slow play it.  If action A = action B then eventually action C = rebuy

“Gets down to what it’s all about, doesn’t it?  Making the wrong move at the right time.” – Lancey Howard in The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Heres Thumbs with his winnings:  

One thing that kills me is the Baron. He put me out again. Basically whenever I go all-in the Baron will call. The bad thing is not his auto call it’s my insistence in giving him that option. Wow, I think I have a mental block in that regard. Note to self: Must remember if Baron is still to act.

Little Miss Innocent takes it down…

Daphne,

I’m sorry. You can’t fool us. Your disarming smile can’t hide the fact that they are hiding shark’s teeth. Admit it!

So LMI took this one down. She was knocked out at the final table in our previous tournament, so she has some skills. And as usual, for any tournament winner she had a little bit of luck along the way… LMI single handedly knocked out 5 players, including the last 4 remaining players. I was the first one she knocked out with my Q-10 vs her A-x, with an A on the flop. The next knockout was Thumbs, and I excerpted his thoughts from his blog:

 With 4 people remaining I was the small stack with around 12K.  I was the Big Blind (2K, with 400 antes), the small blind (whom I just had doubled up) min-raised to 4K.  I looked down at Ac10c and called with intention to go all in on any flop (this is probably my only mistake of the tournament, I should of just pushed in at this point … it would of not changed the result but I would of felt better with the play).  The flop came KQ9 with 2 clubs.  Small blind went all in and I called (with a flush draw, inside straight draw, possible straight-flush (almost Royal) and a overcard).  The small blind turned over KQ for 2 pair (so my over card didn’t matter much but I still had 12 outs twice for 45%).  I did not improve.

There was a tight battle between Sandro (The Don) LMI, and Krazy “8″’s Kien for the remianing 3 spots. They duked it out for over an hour, and at this point we realized the blind schedule was too low so we upped it. This led to a couple of sharp engagements with The Don taking out LMI with pocket rockets and reducing her stack to 10K. At this point KK and the Don had around $50K each. LMI clawed and fought her way back eventually eliminating KK with the hand below: an 8-9 straight while KK had 7c5c with a flop of 6s 7h 8h 10s Ad

After KK was out, LMI and the Don sparred with even chip stacks until the final momentous preflop all-in Hand. Everyone’s favorite backstreet boy (AJ) against pocket Queens. The flop came 5h Ah 4s, the turn 3d, and the river….. Qd!!!! What a great ending to a great tourney. Congrats LMI. But be warned, your secret is out…

Here’s a pic of our winner duking it out with our second place finisher, Sandro

Thoughts about the Tournament…

Positive: Tournament blinds schedule worked perfectly up to the last 3 people, but need to be ramped up when you get down to the last 3 people.

Solution: Anticipate a higher blinds schedule as we move to the final players. This could easily have shaved off 45 mins.

Needs Work: First time using the new program Tournament Director, some problems came out with adjusting a person who bought in after the rounds schedule had advanced. This led to me fiddling with the program and someone even made a move on me remarking that I was too distracted with the program.

Solution: Have a back-up be familiar with the program + I will learn with experience. Lane you volunteering?

Problem: Re-Buy wasn’t officially discussed until the tournament was under way. Since I was the first out, it could have been awkward. I went to a vote and it was 9 – 1 in favour and I abstained.

Solution: I set aside a period before the tournament started specifically to discuss rebuys. I ended up waiting for a couple of tardy players and as a result the discussion never took place. I think I will specifically allow rebuys only in the first couple of rounds (6-8) as this worked out fine.

Overall I was happy as I got the program running and everyone I talked to provided positive feedback. I think this will just gather momentum into the Winter as less people are cottaging and enjoying the weather. The next Tourney dates are Friday Sept 8th and Saturday Sept 23rd. Official Invites to follow shorty. If you want an invite, please drop me your e-mail address under the comments section…

The Results are in… Placing and Points from last nights game, Sat Aug 26th, T10,000

7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Daphne bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Sandro bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Kien bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Croft bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Jav bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Tournament Specialist bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Wolfman bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Sami bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Jay-Ro bought-in
7:34:01 pm 8/26/2006: Satwinder bought-in
8:01:07 pm 8/26/2006: Baron bought-in
8:10:46 pm 8/26/2006: Tournament started
8:58:33 pm 8/26/2006: Jav was busted out by Baron
8:58:39 pm 8/26/2006: Jav rebought
8:58:48 pm 8/26/2006: Satwinder was busted out by Jay-Ro
9:23:54 pm 8/26/2006: Kien was busted out by Jay-Ro
9:24:20 pm 8/26/2006: Kien rebought
10:05:54 pm 8/26/2006: Baron was busted out by Sandro
10:06:03 pm 8/26/2006: Baron rebought
10:48:05 pm 8/26/2006: Sami was busted out by Sandro
10:48:12 pm 8/26/2006: Sami rebought
10:49:40 pm 8/26/2006: Baron was busted out by Sandro
10:52:27 pm 8/26/2006: Jay-Ro was busted out by Kien
10:54:49 pm 8/26/2006: Sami was busted out by Daphne
11:22:49 pm 8/26/2006: Wolfman was busted out by Kien
12:17:55 am 8/27/2006: Tournament Specialist was busted out by Sandro
12:31:51 am 8/27/2006: Jav was busted out by Daphne
12:37:52 am 8/27/2006: Croft was busted out by Daphne
1:59:10 am 8/27/2006: Kien was busted out by Daphne
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Sandro was busted out by Daphne
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Tournament ended
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Total pot: $300.00
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Daphne ranked 1st, received $160.00
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Sandro ranked 2nd, received $70.00
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Kien ranked 3rd, received $42.00
2:07:34 am 8/27/2006: Croft ranked 4th, received $28.00

Points:

+1 pt for knocking out a player

For Placing 1st  – Points = (n) – (r) + 1

For placing Top 6 (Points = max (6-r, 0) where r = Placing (e.g. 1st place r = 1)

Total Formula = (n) -r +1 + (nh) + max(6-(r), 0)

n = number of players, r = ranking, nh = number of players busted

Points:

1. Daphne 21
2. Sandro 18
3. Kien 14
4. Croft 10
5. Jav 8
6. Tournament Specialist 6
7. Wolfman 5
8. Jay-Ro 5
9. Sami 4
10. Baron 3
11. Sat 1

Final Table Chip Counts:

Wolfman $10,450

Tournament Specialist $7,175

Sandro $38,700

Daphne $31,450

Kien $25,250

Jav $22,325

Croft $14,650

Things I’ve learned so far this year from other people…

1. Organization is not everything. It’s the only thing…
2. Self Esteem is positively correlated with success (This means a major personal restructuring is in order to escape a Catch 22 situation).
3. Amount of time spent talking is negatively correlated with quality of thoughts conveyed.
4. Be wary of those that have inherited their success.
5. People who direct constant negative criticism towards you are telegraphing their own lack of self-esteem. Ignore/avoid these people as much as possible.
6. People really don’t want to hear honest feedback. So stop trying. Cognitive dissonance is powerful. No one really wants to take the red pill.
7. Just because someone doesn’t have much to say does not imply that they say much.
8. Some people thrive on conflict. Avoid them, as they are seeking external confirmation of their internal turmoil.

The birdcage has landed…!

After much trial and painful tribulation the birdcage has arrive. Saturday night looks like a go and I am excited. I have been totally buried in this MBA assignment, but I hope to be finished by mid afternoon Saturday so that i can get some sleep and be fresh for the tourney. Looks like it will be 2 tables of 8-9 players per table…

The Baron and Jay Ro are in…

14 confirms now I just need another table! Thumbs is bringing chairs so I am good on that front. I also have the starting chip distributions worked out:

Green $25 —> 8

Black $100 —> 8

Purple $500 —> 4

Orange $1000 –> 2

Plaque $5000 —> 1

The tournament specialist will be making an appearance as well but maybe just for the cash game and some PS2 action. I think the max I can hold is 1 but I think that is a good month or two away. That being said I look forward to everything running even more smoothly this time around…

The Psychology of Poker

I’m reading this book and there is a worthwhile quiz at the start. It asks what are your motives for playing poker are as well as what % you allocate to a certain category. The categories are:

1. Make Money
2. Socialize/Meet People
3. Relax
4. Get excitement of risk
5. Test self against competitive challenges
6. Sense of accomplishment from winning
7. Pass time
8. Other

This should add up to a % of 100. I’m actually pretty balanced as I put 20% down for 1, 2, 3, 4 , and 5. A good balance, which is something the book espouses, but I’m thinking the book is geared to more casual players anyway? 

So I’ll leave you with this. Probably best NOT to play this one at work, or at least turn down the volume…

More flavour for Saturday Night.

Check, Check, Check… 

I won $19,000 at the Bay Shooting Stars tournament!!!

I placed 19th out of 328. Too bad it was on Poker Academy Pro.:)

I had the original Poker Academy and upgraded. On the 2nd hand of the tournament I had a boat that 2 other players went all in on and I never looked back.

 Poker Academy Pro #497, T#16
No Limit Texas Holdem ($25/$50 NL)
Table Bay 101 Shooting Stars – Jav
August 19, 2006 – 23:34:56 (EDT)

 1} Jav         $11,645  4s 4h
 2) Alice          $9,950  Qd 3h
 3) Shon          $10,000  Ah 9h
 4) Jeffry        $10,000  8s 2s
 5) Faye           $8,430  5d 3s
 6) Efrain        $10,000  Qc 5s
 7) Pamela A.     $10,000  Kd 7c
 8) Phil Tilte    $10,000  6c 3c
 9) Ted A.        $10,000  Th Jh
10) Tony *         $9,975  Kc Jd

Jav posts small blind $25
Alice posts big blind $50
Shon calls $50
Jeffry folds
Faye folds
Efrain folds
Pamela A. folds
Phil Tilte folds
Ted A. raises $175
Tony calls $225
Jav calls $200
Alice folds
Shon folds

FLOP:  4c Qh Kh
Jav checks
Ted A. checks
Tony bets $1,550
Javed calls $1,550
Ted A. raises $1,550
Tony raises $6,650 (all-in)
Jav raises $1,670 (all-in)
Ted A. calls $6,675  (all-in)
Jav shows 4s 4h
Ted A. shows Th Jh
Tony shows Kc Jd

TURN:  4c Qh Kh Ts

RIVER:  4c Qh Kh Ts Ks

Jav wins $50 with a Full House, Fours over Kings
Jav wins $30,025 with a Full House, Fours over Kings

TOOT! TOOT! I made one bad call at the end, which cost me most of my stack and took me out of contention. I was the leader until the end, and at one point had $450K. I actually really like the program as it will allow me to fine tune my playing skills. I am unsure of the AI on No Limit. I think I got a good feel for a big tournament. It’s all about putting together a big chip stack (3x avg) and then avoiding those players who are close to you, unless you have the nuts. I did a lot of coin flips with small stacks. The players(bots) are random, but we’ll see how different it is with live players. It allows me to try out different strategies, especially for large tournaments. I figure in 5 years or so I’ll go and play the Main Event at the World Series of Poker, but maybe in 3-4 years I’ll head down for one of the side events. Poker Academy Pro has the best AI for Limit Hold’Em, but I’m not a big limit fan after my recent trip to Vegas. 

I also downloaded a trial version of Tournament Director for the game this Saturday, and it looks pretty sweet. It has a tonne of stats that update real time, and it’s easy for other players to adjust so that I don’t have to keep getting up. It tracks blinds/antes/ avg chip count, placing, and it tracks who took out who, and it’s pretty customizable, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve got the chip distribution all set up and the league and season as well. The chip distribution is pretty close to the actual WSOP so I think that adds a cool touch. This Saturday will be the first official league date for the T10,000 Sat tournaments and the Fri nights will be the T1000 tournaments. I have also added a cash game league, which I will track when I do random one off nights or depending on player turnout, if we scrap a main event we can do the cash game instead. Ok, gotta work on my MBA assignment…