Sometimes you just don't feel like playing

I didn't play any tourney Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It was a mix between taking some time off and just not wanting to play. This is a wonderful job, it's a pleasure to decide when you want to work.
Well, today Saturday I tried to put some hours, but for some reason, I'm not in the mood, I managed to play two tournaments, the $320 NL on Party and the $320 NL on Stars. I didn't make the money in the Party one, and I managed to make the final two tables in the Stars one; I was 3rd on chips, but I decided to make one of my usual kamikaze plays with two tables left, I have done several of those this month, with 14 players left in the tourney; I raised to 4800 (blinds 800-1600 and 75 ante) before the flop with AQ in EP, button called; flop came JT8 with 2 hearts; so I needed a 9 or a K for the straight, I didn't like the flop but still I made a continuation bet of about 8k into the 13k pot; he went all in for about 28k more, and I started to calculate my pot odds, my first instinct was to fold, but I though he could have AJ, 99 or even a small flush draw like 76h; too much thinking I guess, I decided to call and he had a flush draw indeed, but one with AKh that left my hand in pretty bad shape. I lost the hand and shortly after I was out in 14th place, good for $730.80. I think I should have folded since the chips I have left were good enough to keep playing my game, and if called and lost, I was almost out of the tourney; besides even with pot odds the call was very marginal at best. Probably I'm just getting impatience in the last stretch of the tournaments.

TILT !!!

Como todos los domingos, termino terriblemente cansado del esfuerzo mental de jugar tantos torneos, pero este domingo termine aparte tremendamente fastidiado, sencillamente no pude controlar estar en Tilt conforme avanzo el dia. Tilt es la expresion que usamos en el juego cuando nos enojamos por tener mala suerte. A pesar de tantos años jugando sigo enojandome por los bad beats, cada vez menos claro esta, incluso hay dias en que me controlo totalmente, pero ayer sencillamente no pude mas y eso contribuyo a gastar mas de lo debido en el torneo de rebuys de Empire ($100+10) donde gaste $880 y en el torneo de rebuys de $10 en Stars donde gaste algo asi como $181; controlar el tilt es una caracteristica fundamental de un jugador exitoso, la suerte va y viene y uno tiene que seguir jugando su mejor juego en todo momento aun en las peores circunstancias, es una leccion dificil, pero o la aprendes por la buena, o la aprendes por la mala despues de perder un monto de dinero. Just relax and be happy !!!!

Online Sunday

9:30 AM (MST) I wake up after sleeping about 5 hours.

10:00AM Start Playing Stars NL $360+20 Satellite to EPT France

11:25AM Out of the EPT, my streak of losing 80% or more continues, this is getting ridiculous. I was up to 3200 from the original 2500, I called in MP with T9c, flop was AJ7 and was checked around, turn 8 with no flush, so I have the nuts, somebody minibets, I raise, he reraises little, I reraise little, he calls. River a 7, and of course he made a full house with his A7 and I manage to just lose about 1000 in that hand, down to 2200.
Later I have AA in the SB, somebody raise to 200 in EP, a guy go all in for about 1700 in LP. I call, and original raiser calls !!. Flop come 972, I bet my last 500, and he calls with TT, the other donkey has AQ, so chances of tripling up are sky high. Turn 5, river T. Damm, these days I'm afraid to see cards appearing in the screen when I'm all in. Oh well, not a good way to start sunday but hopefully I keep playing my best.

12:00 PM Start playing the PokerRoom $300+20 and the Interpoker $500+30, first time I play Interpoker, hopefully it will be a lucky one.

2:00PM Out from PokerRoom, I was the chip leader in my table with 15k, guy in 2nd with 10k and everybody else with less than that when the following hand came up. I raise to 1200 (blinds 200-400) from EP with ATh, guy with 10k called. Flop was 2h3c5h; which is a pretty nice flop for my hand. I knew this guy was going to bet if I checked, but he could not call a big reraise. So I check, he bets like 5k, which was kind of odd but I was not going anywhere, I raised him all in and he called with AK !!!!; I still had 12 outs to win and 4 outs to tie, but missed all of them with 2 cards to come. He was the chip leader of the tourney after that hand and I was out shortly after when I was all in with the powerful 22 against JJ and AQ and the board came 8832J.

2:30PM Start playing the Big Sunday Stars and Party tournaments; still alive in the Interpoker $500

4:00PM Out from Party, don't even remember how. Just out from Interpoker, 94th out of 869, too many of these top 15% lately. The money was at 70; which was a good amount since they pay $2000. I think I made a long ball mistake similar to one I made yesterday in the $100 rebuys, bluffing flop, turn and river, it's not working. I need to rethink if they can fold the river after calling a big bet in the turn.

Ax, Ax, Ax again, How much more money more until I learn?

I got 13th place yesterday in the Stars $100 rebuys, blinds were 1k-2k with 100 ante, I was the short stack with 18k and decided to go all in UTG with A7; we were playing 6 handed in my table, so I thought it wasn't that bad, but the button wake up with KK and I was gone. The problem with A7 or Ax for that matter is that when called you're a huge underdog almost always, there are still some donks who call all ins with KQ, KJ or 98s, but even there you're not that much of a favorite; and if not called what's the use of having A7, if not called you can have any hand; so in general I think it's better to go all in with JT,J9,T9,97 or the such than with Ax; besides I was UTG, with everybody still to act, it's better if you're in the button, since then look more like a steal and you have people in the blinds calling you with K high; and despite the fact I was the shortstack, I still have 9 BB and I'm a good short stack player. Ax has been my demise in so many tournaments and has cost me tons of dollars. I still remember my 2nd place in the big Sunday tournament in Party, 2nd place was 39k and first 72k; I went all in with the same A7 and my opponnent had AK and I lost 33k in the process. There was still one more time I lost with A7 in a big final table of a $200 tournament and went all in vs QQ and got 4th; and some other times I lost with A6,A8. Definitely of all the poker hands this is the single one I have misplayed the most. And my ignorance has cost me thousands of dollars. Ignorant people always suffer. Did I mention I still don't know how to play Ax?

No WPT por ahora

Llego la fecha del WPT de Tunica y decidi mejor no ir. Siento que es la mejor decision en este momento y me quiero prepara mejor para el WPT de Los Angeles en Febrero. En vez de usar los 10000 en el torneo de Tunica, creo que voy a jugar el WPT Championship en el Bellagio de 25000 en Abril, es el torneo mas caro que existe y el primer premio andara cerca de los 3 millones de dolares. Habia planeado jugar el EPT en Francia de alrededor de 5000, el PartyPoker Million en Marzo de 10000 y este de Tunica de 10000, quizas en vez de esos 3 torneos jugare el de 25000 en el Bellagio. Considero que es la decision estrategica correcta, ando un poco cansado de tanto viaje y esto me permitira concentrarme mejor. Ademas el torneo de Party no es WPT ya y esto le quita algo de atractivo. Asi que los torneos grandes (mayores a $5000) que jugare en los siguientes meses son:

WPT LA Poker Classic $10,100 Febrero 16, Los Angeles CA

WPT Bay 101 $10,000 Febrero 27, San Francisco CA

WPT WPC $5,100 Marzo 27, Reno NV

WPT Championship $25,500 Abril 18, Las Vegas NV


Hay posibilidades de que juegue tambien

WPT FPC $10,000 Abril 6, Foxwoods, CT

EPT Grand Final $12,500 Marzo 7, Montecarlo, Europa

Reporting live my online Sunday

11AM (MST)
I started the day playing the Paradise Masters Championship. A $1000 tournament with one million guaranteed.
1st bad beat of the day, I raise with AA in MP, and somebody go all in with TT. I called and he won when he made a straight in the river. I'm down to about 700 of the original 2500, but short stack game it's one of my fortes.

12PM (MST)
I start playing the PokerRoom $300 and the Bodog $100.

1:30PM (MST)
I start playing the UB $500, another million guaranteed. Where all this money come from?

2:30PM (MST)
I start playing the PS $200, 500k guaranteed

3:00PM (MST)
I start playing the $360+20 satellite to the EPT France

5:00PM (MST)
Report so far

Paradise Masters, out 386 of 1457
PokerRoom out 64 of 301, they paid 40 places
Bodog out 67 out of 752, they paid 63 places
UB, still in with 8600 chips
Stars 500k, stil in with 17k good for 187 out of 785 left
Stars EPT, still in with 5k good for 50 out of 130 left

5:05 PM (MST)
I start playing the Party $500k Guaranteed

5:20 PM (MST) Update

Out of everything, nightmare report coming

Before the 5PM nightmare, this is the way I went out from the previous tournaments

Masters: Lost AA-TT all in preflop, leaving me shortstacked with 700
Triple up with A9d, back in action to about 2700
Built my stack to about 6k
Last hand: with 200-400 blinds, Donkey raises to 1200, I went all in with about 5500 and AQ, he made a terrible call with KQ and of course badbeat coming and I was out.

Bodog: I built a big stack with about 80 players left, then I made a very risky play versus another big stack with 88 in a JJ2 flop, he had QQ and I lost half my stack there. With about 67 players left, near the bubble (63); I had about 10k in LP and QJ, the BB had about 50k and was an aggressive player, I knew the chances of getting called were high, but I don't care, I need chips and not just making the money ($250). So I went all in, he called with 94 and I was out.

And between 5 and 5:20PM

Party: Blinds 10-15, 1st hour, somebody calls in EP, I have QQ on the button and raise to 200, I know they can't resist calling with their little pairs. So the 200 bet is made so they don't have the odds to flop a set and I'd go all in in a ragged flop so my hand looks like AK and they call me with their 99-22. He called, flop came T86, he checked, I went all in and he called with 66, gg me.

Stars: This tournament started with 4000 players !!!!. I cruised my way until the last 600 or so, and then with 600-1200 blinds I was happy to find AK with my 6k stack and went all in, I was called by AQ and you know what was coming; I was out 578 out of 3999. 378 places were paid.

UB Million: I had a pretty good stack (about 9k) when this hand came up. Blinds 100-200 I think. There were some callers, a raiser in LP and I called in the BB with 99; 4 people to the flop. The flop came Tc9h5s, I checked, original raiser bet about 3/4 the pot and I called. Heads up to the turn. The 3h came, I checked again and he went all in, and of course I called instantly. I had him covered by about 600. He had KhTh; the river was the Ah and I was gone in just a few minutes more.

EPT France: Here I made a mistake in my last hand (tilt maybe?). I raise in the button with J7h. BB called, flop came 872. BB checked, I bet, he raises and I went all in; I thought he was maybe on a draw, or he can not call with the 8 the all in bet, but he had 77 for a set, hard to fold I guess.

Well, after all those tourneys I played the Stars $100+9 Rebuys, here I lost AA-KJ all in on a KQ37 board. I spent $309 in this one and didn't make the money.

Later I played theEmpire $100 Rebuys, went deep but didn't make the money once again, 34 out of 182.

My last 3 tournaments of the day were the Paradise $30 Rebuys, the $200 Paradise Satellite to the WPT Bay 101 and the UB $150k Guaranteed.
In the Bay 101, my QQ run into KK when I had a pretty good stack against the only guy in the table that covered me. I had about 4500, blinds were 100-200 and I raised to 600 UTG, this guy has like 8k and he went all in ???, I thought about folding for a moment but in the long run I think it's +EV to call here.

I cashed in the other 2 tournaments, in the Paradise $30 Rebuys I was 38 out of 1313, I spent $90 in this one, and for outlasting 97% of the field I won a whopping $350.

And finally some redemption in the UB tourney, I made the Final Table and got 7th place out of 712 for a good $5250; in the FT I had AQ vs AA and at the end KQd vs KK, and of course didn't suck out. Of course I wanted to win, but it was just impossible and I really think I made the most of the cards I was dealt in this tourney.

So, you want to play the WPT circuit

Well, then you better have lots, and I mean lots of money. These are the WPT I have played so far:

PS Caribbean 2005 $8000
Legends 2005 $5150
Borgata 2005 $10000
Foxwoods 2005 $10200
Five Diamond 2005 $15300
PS Caribbean 2006 $8000

So, I have paid about 57k to play in these events.

But since I am such a great player and they pay almost 20% of the field, I should have some of this money back, right?

Times in the money: 0 for 6

Hell, times I made it to the second day: Zero !!!!


So, as today I'm a WPT donator, dreaming with that big score before going broke, lol.

Next stop is Tunica, but right now I'm kind of tired, I have been traveling almost non-stop since November and maybe I should wait to be in a better shape for the WPT in LA next February; besides Tunica (Mississippi) is not precisely a city you're dying to go. So, I haven't made a decision, I still have some days to decide; in the mid time I'm planning to play some 20 internet tournaments between Saturday and Sunday.

Back from Bahamas

The tournament in Bahamas was pretty uneventful. I was out the first day without playing basically any interesting hand. Maybe the only hand worth mentioning was my last one. With 150-300 blinds and 50 ante I was in the BB with about a 7k stack. The guy in the SB was a no show, so everybody folded to the button, and of course since I was the only one left he made the expected raise to 1100; I had KT, which is a pretty marginal hand; but the pot had 950 to begin with plus the 1100, and the guy in the button was most probably stealing. Maybe the best play in this spot is to go all in, but for some reason I decided to just call and check raise him in the flop if I have any pair; the flop came T96 rainbow and following my plan I checked, he asked how much I had and he went all in !!!! like 10k, covering me of course, that was just strange and I took my time to make a decision, my plan was to check raise, but now was to call or fold. After a while I couldn't find a fold and I called, he showed AA and no help for me in the turn and river and I was gone. Another dissapointing ending of course. In this tournament I felt kind of lost, I couldn't find my game and didn't feel confortable at all. I think I made at least 2 mistakes with pots that nobody wanted and it was just a matter of making the right bet and I didn't pull the trigger, not big pots, but still you need to take all the chips you can. In the 5 or 6 hours I played I had only one hand, I called a multiway pot with 88 in the button, flop came 875 with 2 clubs, like 5 people checked to me and I made a 1/2 pot bet, and nobody called !!. I also made a suckout when I was pretty short stacked, I went all in for like 3k and AK, KK called and I doubled up with the A in the flop; but that was it; no interesting hands to talk about. My next WPT stop will be Tunica in about a week, lets see if I can find my game then.

Rumbo a Bahamas

2006 empezo bien, este domingo 1 de Enero llegue otra vez a la mesa final del torneo del domingo de $100 rebuys en Poker Stars y quede en quinto lugar, bueno por $4824.
Ahorita escribo desde un hotel en Tampa, mañana volamos a Nassau en las Bahamas donde el miercoles empiezo mi participacion en el torneo del WPT. Voy con mi amada Diana y el mas grande de nuestros hijos, David Iran que tiene 2 años y 8 meses, dejamos en El Paso al "chonchito" (Niels Derek) que apenas tiene 9 meses.
En Bahamas estaremos en Atlantis que es un lugar paradisiaco, yo tuve la oportunidad de ir el año pasado y la verdad el lugar es muy bello. El torneo lo jugaran alrededor de 500 personas, la entrada vale unos $8000 dolares, asi que el primer premio estara cercas del millon de dolares. Ahorita algo ando enfermo de gripa, espero mejorar para este miercoles, esperemos que todo salga bien y los dioses del poker esten de nuestro lado.