Monthly Archives: February 2009

Lowrolling My Way to a Main Event Seat

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Yes, you read that title right.  I am trying to win my way into the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.  No, I have not seen the light and converted to NL Holdem as my personal savior.  Instead, I am playing the step tournaments on UltimateBet.  Yes, Ultimatebet.

All of you that know me are probably doing a collective eyebrow raise.  “James is playing NL Holdem?  James is trying to win his way into the Main Event?”  For those of you that don’t follow poker, UltimateBet has a series of Step tournaments that one can enter to win their way into the Main Event.  They start as cheap as a dime.  Now I see most of you doing a collective, “oh, THAT’S why he is doing it.”  Exactly.

What I have decided to do is take 1/5 of my UB bankroll, which is $100, and try and win my way into the Main Event.  I started yesterday by directly buying into a Step 1 tourney for .10 and a Step 2 for .30.  The top two advance.  I finished in the top two in both and got a Step 2 and a Step 3 ticket.   Later in the night, I bought into two Step 1′s and 1 Step 2.  Those didn’t produce much fruit, but I got my entry back.  (That happens if you finished 3rd or 4th.)

Today, I decided I was going to try and win me a few step 2 tickets.   At that point, I have setup a rough idea of how I want to proceed.  Here is my plan:

Win several Step 2 tickets and then try and play the Step 2 events.   Win as many Step 3 tickets from the Step 2′s and then move on to Step 3.  Rinse, lather, repeat.

I have decided that I want to have at least 6 tickets at any one level before I try and take a full shot to move on.  Why 6?  I will explain.  Today, I started with two Step 2 tickets.  I played 5 Step 1 games through the evening.  I finished in the top two in 4 out of 5.  (The fifth I had AA vs KK and QQ with a King on the river.  GG me.)  After winning, I had 6 tickets.   That seems like a fair amount to start taking a shot with, so I will proceed.  Chances are I will have to go back and win a few more step 1′s or even buy into some step 2′s directly to win my way to 3, but I will try and keep the 6 ticket rule.

Here are a few rules that I have setup for myself during my challenge:

1.  I cannot buy-in directly into any Step above Step 2.  Yes, Step 3 and Step 4 are uber cheap, but I want to give myself maximum opportunity.  With $20, I can take 100 shots at going up the Steps.  (Assuming I start all Step 1′s)  If I can’t make a decent showing in 100 tries, then I shouldn’t be playing in the Main Event anyway.

2.  Play a maximum of two tables at a time.  Yes, this can get a little boring for some of you, but this will allow me to concentrate the best.

3.  Do not play a Step tournament above a Step 2 unless I am fully committed to playing.  (One would argue I should be committed all the time, but c’mon, who is really THAT committed for a dime.)

4.  Don’t tilt when you take a super incredible bad beat at the lower step levels.  The lower steps are donkeyville, governed by Mayor McDonk.

5.  Don’t play after 4 a.m.   (No matter how awake I feel, playing after 4 a.m. usually results in break even at best results in my poker sit-n-go’s.  This includes my Stud 8 or Better.)

While I don’t normally like UB as a whole, I couldn’t pass up on playing these Steps.  If nothing else, this gives me a way to play a lot of NL sit-n-go’s cheaply.  With the exception of 1, I have at least made my money back in each one, so this is allowing a lot of play, even if it is at low limits.

I will try and keep track of my progress on this site.

Also, while you are at it, you can also check out www.thewsopblog.com.  I write for that blog as well and will probably mention my results there as well.

Progress so far:

Step 2:  6 tickets

Step 3: 1 ticket

Total Amount Spent:  $1.20

Step ticket Value: $2.80

Good luck at the tables.

Tunica, Online Poker, and Holy Crap – I Played a Home Game

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I got back late on the 5th from my trip to Tunica to cover the WSOP-C for PokerNews.com.  It was a decent trip overall.  I didn’t play poker but twice.  I played one cash game and finished ahead and busted out of the only satellite I played in.  The satellite was just for giggles mostly and to say that I at least played at the circuit this year.

The tournament had a decent turnout, but the numbers were still down from last year.  The field that came out was a strong field nonetheless.  Gavin Smith, Bill Edler, Matt Stout, Kathy Liebert, Allen Kessler,  “Captain” Tom Franklin, and Jason Potter all came out. There were also some tournament regulars there as well that you see all around the circuit.  Heading down to three tables, it looked like we might have a pro stacked final table.  In the end, only Matt Stout and Mike Leah were the only true professionals at the table.  We all were pulling for Stout to take it down, but he was knocked out in third.

I got several compliments on my coverage of the event.  A couple of different people came up to me at the final table and was quoting my blogs back verbatim.  Matt Stout even gave me a shout out in the shout box.  That was appreciated.  Hopefully I will get to cover some other circuit events before the beginning of the WSOP.  Considering that it took 6 months to get this one, the prospects don’t look bright.  However, I am available if needed.

Lately, I have been trying to pull the same type of stunt that both Chris Ferguson and Daniel Negreanu have been doing.  They both started out at micro stakes and tried to build up a bankroll.  The difference is that I am trying to do so in Stud 8 or Better.  I have discovered that I may be in for a long road to hoe.  My sessions have been up and down lately and it is becoming apparent that I need to stick to a tighter strategy.  I have been tinkering with my game a bit in NL and in Stud 8 and I notice that in Stud 8, I am leaking off chips.  Typical beginner leaks that I know are there but I have been ignoring because the leaks may cost me literally a buck at the most when I have them.  Of course, when I am hitting, I am hitting decent.  The problem is that I cannot play like that long term in a limit game and hope to be successful long term.  Honestly, I have already decided what I am going to do, but I just wanted to ramble a little bit.

For the first time in almost two years, I played a home game last night.  A friend of mine hosted five other people and we played a “Dealer’s Choice” home game.  Of course, every hand I dealt was Stud 8.  With the exception of myself and one other player, all of these players were utter novices to poker.  One didn’t even know a flush lost to a straight.  As a result, I played very very loose to begin with.  How loose?  I called with a J-10-9 offsuit in Stud 8 on third with 3 low cards up.  That’s how loose.  I ended up making a straight and nobody made low.

This group play uber loose and somewhat aggressive at times.  They also played a wide mix of games.  The oldest guy at the table played 5 card Draw and 5 card Stud almost every time.  I didn’t play a single hand of 5 Stud.  The guy that didn’t know a flush beat a straight liked to play this wierd Indian Cross poker.  I basically only played the deal unless I hit the board super hard.

The hand that I won the biggest pot on was a variation of blind man’s bluff.  Yes, I am talking about where you take a card and put it on your forehead and bet according to what you see.  Well, the first card was dealt and I looked around and the highest card I saw was a 10.  At this point, I am thinking that I will stick in this hand and take a 2nd card and see what develops.  There is a raise and everyone calls.  Then a 2nd card is dealt.   I take a look around and the best hand is 10-6 out of the other 5 players.  I decided that I would pump the pot at this point, and I did.  I got four bets out of the remaining 4 players in the hand.  When we showed down, I just said “I win” before even looking at my cards.  Everyone was in shock.   I explained that everyone had a 10 high or lower and the odds of my not having a face card were long.  Also, I picked up a non-verbal tell from another player that told me that he feared my hand against everyone else’s.  Oh by the way, my hand was J-10.  I beat them with Jack high!!!

I was up probably double my buy-in and then gave a little of it back on a couple of hands where I had a 4 low in stud 8 and couldn’t catch.  I still finished up 3/4 of a buy-in.  In the end, I called it a night when every hand was being played with wild cards.  When there are wild cards, that eliminates the skill factor and makes it a total game of luck.  The good thing is that I picked up some tells and betting patterns of players.  The next time I go to play in two weeks, I’ll probably do as well or better.