A lenda - The legend

A um dia de jogar o BPPT no estoril, resolvi escrever aqui sobre quem me inspira quando vou jogar um torneio, a lenda Stu Unger. ( One day before the BPPT estoril I decided to write here about who inspires me when I play a tournament, the legend Stu Unger. )

Stu foi de 0 a milionário e de milionário a 0 para voltar de 0 a milionario e tornar a perder tudo. Stu foi o primeiro jogador a ganhar o WSOP main event duas vezes seguidas e mais tarde ainda ganhou outra. ( Stu went from 0 to millionaire and from millionaire to 0 to return to be a millionaire and losing everything again. Stu was the first player to win the WSOP main event twice and later he won another. )

Stu tinha um estilo desconcertante se tu betavas ele raisava, se tu fazias limp ele betava, as suas fichas estavam em constante movimente, stu foi o primeiro jogador agressivo de poker.

Stu tinha uma frase " qualquer um consegue ganhar um torneio, defender a sua vitória é que não é para qualquer um ", Stu Unger ganhou as WSOP em 2 anos seguidos, NUNCA nenhum outro jogador fez isso. ( Stu had a disconcerting style imho if you bet he would raise it, if you Limp he would bet, their chips were in constant motion, Stu was the first player to play aggressive poker. )

Stu vivia a vida nos limites, cara ou coroa, 50% - 50%, não se importava de ir sair com os amigos gastar rios de dinheiro só porque tinha... Doyle brunson conta uma história de uma pessoa que abordou os dois na rua e disse : " estou falido podem ajudar-me " stu colocou a mão ao bolso e deu uma nota de 100$ ao homem. Doyle virou-se para Stu e perguntou " Stu conheçes esse homem " Stu respondeu : " não, se o conhece-se dava-lhe 200$ ". ( Stu lived life to the limits, head or crown, 50% - 50%, he didn´t care to go out with friends and spend rivers of money only because he had ... Doyle Brunson tells a story of a person who approached the two on the street and said: "I'm broke can sombody help me" Stu put his hand to the pocket and gave a note of $ 100 to man. Doyle turned to Stu and said "Stu do you know this man " Stu replied: "no, if i knew him i would give him $ 200." )

A generosidade de Stu levou a que falsos amigos se aproveitassem dele e que ele ficasse sem dinheiro nenhum. Obviamente que a sua forma de vida, o consumo de cocaina não ajudaram e Stu que de 0 se tinha transformado em milionário tornou a voltar a zero. Stu era um gambler! ( The generosity of Stu led to false friends taking advantage of him and he was without any money. Obviously his way of life, the consumption of cocaine didn´t help him. Stu went from 0 into a millionaire and now has come back to zero. Stu was a gambler!

Numa mesa de High Stakes Poker, um dos jogadores que estava lá resolveu perguntar aos outros quanto tempo é que eles achavam que Stu ia durar com esse estilo de vida. Começaram todos a dizer diversas idades, depois pararam pois aperceberam-se que está era uma aposta que nenhum deles queria ganhar. Stu aguentou-se, segundo os seus amigos mais chegados por causa da sua filha, pois queria acompanhar o seu crescimento. ( In a table of High Stakes Poker, one of the players who were there decided to ask the others how long they thought that Stu would last with that lifestyle. They began to say all different ages, then they stopped because they all realized that this was a bet that none of them wanted to win. Stu remain, according to his friends alive because of his daughter, to monitor their growth. )

Em 1997 Stu estava falido e completamente desgastado pelo uso de cocaína e nem tinha dinheiro para pagar os 10k para entrar no main event das WSOP. Foi aí que Stu encontrou um dos seus amigos de longa data, Billy Baxter, que lhe empresta-lhe os 10k para Stu ir jogar o torneio. ( In 1997 Stu was bankrupt and completely worn out by use of cocaine and had no money to pay the 10k to enter the main event of the WSOP. It was there that Stu found one of his friends of long standing, Billy Baxter, which lends him the 10k Stu to go play the tournament. )

A meio do primeiro dia Stu confessou a um amigo que o seu corpo não estava a conseguir acompanhar. Mas Stu era como um lobo no meio da capoeira e com a filha como inspiração ( Stu ligava-lhe, durante todos os dias a dizer, já só faltam 1000, já só faltam 500, 400 ... ) Stu consegue fazer história e ganhou pela 3 vez as WSOP.
( Halfway through the first day Stu confessed to a friend that his body was not keeping up. But Stu was like a wolf in the middle of the chicken and with his daughter as inspiration (Stu linking to it every day to say, only missing in 1000, only missing 500, 400 ...) Stu made history and he win by 3rd time the WSOP. )

Em vez de pagar os 10k que billy baxter lhe tinha emprestado Stu Unger resolveu dar metade do 1º premio ao amigo. ( Instead of paying the 10k that Billy Baxter had decided to borrow Stu Unger gave half of the 1st prize to his friend. )

No ano seguinte Stu estava falido outra vez e billy baxter ofereceu-se para pagar outra vez a entrada ao seu amigo mas Stu disse que estava cansado, o seu corpo já não consegui acompanhar o seu cerebro. Stu morreu 7 meses depois num hotel, com uma overdose. Um pessoa pode ter um ou dois vícios, Stu tinha todos os maus vícios. Obviamente que eu não queria vangloriar os se vícios mas a sua genialidade e generosidade. No jogo da vida a mão de Stu, estava dominada, tinha 0 outs. Stu Unger morreu dia 22 de Novembro de 1998. ( The following year Stu was broke again and Billy Baxter offered to pay once again the entry to his friend but Stu said he was tired, his body could no longer keep to his brain. Stu died 7 months later in a hotel with an overdose. A person can have one or two bad habits, Stu had all. Obviously I did not want to talk about his bad habits but i want to focus in the genius and his generosity. In the game of life of Stu's hand, was dominated, had 0 outs. Stu Unger died on 22 November 1998. )

A lenda, ao kid, eu amanha dedico o meu torneio. ( To The legend, the kid, I dedicate my tournament tomorrow. )

REPORT from POKERSTARS SOLVERDE #3

well, I was feeling good about my poker and I went to the casino friday afternoon to play the satelite for the MainEvent, 1,100 euros buyin tournment.

The tournament is very sick imho, 30 euros rebuy to a 1100 euros tournment?
well, 110 players decided to play it.
I pickup my number and went to my table. I knew one or two players at the table from previous live tournaments but the arrived to the table wolfieAA who sat immediately to my right. I never played with him nor he with me live but the respect was mutual.

The tournament started... I ask for double rebuy and I jumped agaisnt one guy I knew, Ruben. Ruben is a young gun ( 18-20 years guy ) that went to a FT, in December, with me. Why I did it?

Simple. The table was a tight one ( that is the worst thing that can happend to you in a rebuy tournment ) and I knew he was NOT a tight one so I decided to jump @ him. Another important issue was that I knew He didn´t want to make to many rebuys so if I was aggressive I was going to get the edge over him.

A major error in these tournaments is :
- don´t have money to play it

How do you want to come to this type of tournament and expect to survive a rebuy and an add-on?

So sick!!!

well without any kind of premiuns I manage to get to the 5k-6k range and stay there till the end of the rebuy period. That was bad imo because there was guys that had 15k to 22k grrrr but I was the 2nd chip leader of the table behind wolfieAA that had 7k.

I made the addon and we got moved to other table. With the addon I was with 7.5k-8k meh.

WolfieAA went with me to the new table but now He had position over me. After some steals and other pots won without showdonw I manage to move up to the 15k.

Then something happened... I was on the CO, blinds were 1200 - 600 - ante 100, and wolfieAA decided to open raise in the utg+2 to 3200, other guy MP called and JOKA ( other good portuguese poker player decided to call @ CO-1. I felt he wanted to make a push but didn´t had the guts to do it so before I looked to my cards I decided to push all-in. When I looked I saw As Ks, Lmao, and I made my push all-in. Everyone fold and I won the 14,5k pot. Double up yes!!!

After that I was in the 20-30k range for a large period of time.

My tournment hand happened against wolfieAA. the blinds were 3k - 1.5k - antes 200
and I decide to make a open raise to 8k with AT everyone fold and wolfieAA push all-in for more 7k. well, If I fold I would be with 16k and the blinds were moving fast, if I called I would be left with 9k so I decide to call. He had 99 vs my At. A on the flop and I was with 45k or so.

I had a donk at my left, that was always saying that this was his 1st tournment, blablabla, so I was pushing and he was folding alot.

Being the chip leader of the table with 60k, and having the joka to my right made me make raises when there was no action till me. There was one I remember.

I made a 10k raise with 6s5s, blinds ( 4k -2k -ante 200 ) and the BB went allin for more 2k.
I called
AQoff vs my 65s

flop 8Q8 raiwbow with no spades
the donk at my left said "its all over"
I said "not yet my friend"

turn 5
river 5 to a runner runner full

omg

I went to the FT with the chip lead

Paulo Emidio 40.000
Mario Pereira 45.000
Sónia Magalhães 45.000
Hugo Gomes 80.000
Francisco Costa 140.000
Bruno Lopes 10.000
Vitor Pinto 30.000
Diogo Silva 45.000
Ricardo Meireles 25.000
Eduardo Terrível 130.000

on the 1st hand of the FT

Mario pereira opend with a raise to 20k ( blinds 8k-4k ante 400 ), sonia on his right went all in ... she was very nervous, and felt her very weak I looked and saw TT and made a 4bet to 100k everyone fold and mario decided to call. 55k of my bet return to me and If i lost the pot I would be with 95k so no problem with that.

I had TT
sonia had 55
mario had KK

not happy to see mario KK but with my stack i wouldn´t fold my TT.
sonia had 200 more chips than mario so there was 151k on the main pot and 200 on the side pot LOL

flop 8 T Q yessssss
turn 6
river 3

And there I was with 246k

two hands later I was on the SB and hugo gomes aka HMGomez made a raise to 22k on the button( blinds 8-4-ante 400 ) and 3bet him to 55k in with KT. Everyone fold and he fold too. why did I do that?
1st 2 guys already out and the prizes of the tournment were 6 entries to the main event the other 4 will get 220euros.
2nd if he fold he would had 60k
3rd I thought he was trying to steal and raising in position
4th I had the chips to do that
5th his range to call was AA, KK, QQ and probably AK

so there I was with 300k

after that play I decided to keep putting presure to the table.

The next player going out was my close friend vitor pinto aka Holigato. I was utg and I folded. utg+1 went all in for 5k, holigato on utg+2 went allin over him for 25k and everyone fold till gomez. he made a easy call because he already had put 12k because he was the BB and only got to put more 13k. If with any 2 that was easy with a PP that was even more easy.

utg+1 66
gomez 55
holligato A7

folp KQ2
turn 9
river 2

holigato was out
gomez won the side pot and now he had 90k
utg+1 won the pot and now he had 25k

a word to holigato
GREAT MOVE IMHO
why ?
1st the utg was a sick guy how come you get to 5k when the blinds were 12k-8k ante 1k??????
2nd i think he thought someone could call him and won. if that happend he will need to put 12k + 8k on the next round and with 25k left he tought that was a good spot to bet
gg m8

with one player to bust and since the donk was with 28k and he will be next guy to put the BB and SB someting happend
do you belive he fold both times???and stayed with 8k with the antes @ 1k????
LOL

The next hand was even more strange
the guy utg called
Paulo emidio went all in for 40k
gomez fold
I looked to my cards and thought j7off and thought well I got to call
1st i had 340k
2nd the guy utg limped and he had 50k so he might be strong and probaly will call and we could check check till the end
3rd PAPA had 60k too and he was on the BB and already had there 12k because he was the BB. even without cards even if he lost he had one guy on his right with 8k that would need to put the BB ans SB before him

well something strange happend both this guys fold ( PaPa and the utg guy ).

well
emidio had AK
I had J7

flop 8 Q 6
turn 4
river 5 for str
I finish with almost 420k
PAPA 60k
terrivel 100k
gomez 90K
the donk 8k
ricardo 70k

and Main Even here I go!!!!

SATURDAY

After friday I was very confident to the pokerstars solverde #3. I arrived to the table and saw sonia from yesterday FT, and there was there one or two good players the others were bad imho. And that is the wrost thing that could happend because You can´t get no read on them.

I started playing reaching the 6.5k good but agaisnt bad players ...
this happend
Binds 25-50

utg +1 limp
mp limp
co raise to 200
I saw TT and 3bet him to 550
blinds fold
utg+1 and mp fold CO called

flop K 8 3 rainbow
he checked
I bet 900 to a 1275
he called

turn 9
he check
I bet 1600 to a 3075
and he called

well right now I thought I was dead because I couldn´t see any other range besides 33, 88, AK...

river A
he checked
I checked

he show me AQ ...

AQ??? wtf
ofcouse I went mad
i was with now with 3450 grrr

well

i decided to calm donw and waited despite everything this was 1 rebuy + 1 add on tournment so I decided to wait for the next blind 100-50 to make my move or if I had the chance...

4 limps ( blinds 50-25 )and again with position I made a raise to 300 with TJ I got 2 calls utg+2 and one guy in MP i was on the CO.

flop 8s9sQ
the utg decide to bet 600
the mp called
and I decided to push all in for my 3000 chips.

I probably should only call but with 2 spades on the board and the utg+2 guy opend raise I put him on worst case cenario in AQoff to AQspades to a set 88 or 99
a 3bet there? for what? 1500? half my stack? only call?

both guys fold and I was back to 5175

and I was there 5175 to 5500 to 5000 ... meh
when there was 10min to the end of the rebuy period
I made a open raise on mp 450 with 9h8h CO called the button called and the BB made a 3bet to 1500 I asked how mutch he had he said 4100 I count my chips and saw I had exactly the same chips and pushed all in. CO and button fold and he called with AK.

flop 9 q 7
turn 3
river 3

yessss!!!
and I finish the rebuy period with 12k
add on and I was with 17k

nothing special happend in till the next break and i finish with 20k. I had 0 hand, and I´m not talking about premiuns AA, KK i´m talking about no QQ no JJ no AK no nothing. Right after the break I caught a 66 only raised and got to calls. hit the 6 on the flop with a Q and a J made a Cbet and both players fold and there I was with 25k

when the blinds were 400-200 I open with a raise to 1050 MP with AToff the BB called
humm
flop
2s 8d 9s
he check
I made a Cbet 1600
he called

turn 8h
he check
I hit the 2nd barrel 3000
he tought for a while and looked very nervouse I put him on two over for sure and if he decided to call me i thought he would going to try to bluff me on the river
he call

river Kd
he checked
I bet 4200
he check-raise me to 8400
and I start think omg what now . . . he was very nervouse licking the lips etc and I remember mike caro tell " that is a bluff" he had left the same stack I had... if fold I would be with 14k big hit or i could think mike caro was right and he was bluffing. After looking back to the play if he had AK he would re-raise on the flop
the call he migh had AQ AJ or a low pair ... if he was so nervouse he might had that kind of hand. so I push all in he fold showing AJoff and asked to see my cards ... since I didn´t had any kind of cards till this time of the tournament I thought what the hell i will show this they will give me respect ( the good players ) the others will call me with more thing and try to bluff me... and I show AT.

everyone on the table knock and said wp.

@ dinner break i was with 38,100chips

then Andre moreira come to the table. I was mp and decided to raise to 2200 with KhJh knowing that andre problably will 3bet me ( i played with him 3/4 time before and he always do that because he knows that I respect 3bet and probably only would call with something and I never would 4bet with nothing.
Andre like I thought 3 bet me to 6000 havin 15k behind. everyone fold. and I instant pushed putting him all in. he thought. he tryed to talk with me but he decided to fold ... latter he said to me he had AQ :)
nice fold imho

and there I was after on my next break after I was out with 52k playing great, with a big edge over my table and with no premiuns :(

then 2 more donks come to the table
2 typical gamblers loaded with chips

one of them made a raise everyone fold and he showed QTs

on the next hand the same guy made a raise to 5k and I 3bet him with my best hand of the day to 12k with JJ he call me.
flop 9 t 3
he made a donk bet of 5k to a 32pot and Î pushed all in he instant call me with AA
grrrrrrrrr
turn and rived didn´t help me and I was left with 5,6k

on the next hand everyone fold till me and I put all my chips on the table with AJ.
the guy on my left called !!! yes called me and he had only 15k and I thought omg other I hit other hall even the Blinds foled.

when he show KJoff i though what a fucking donk
great if I win I will be with 15k and I´m back imho
flop K92
turn 7
river 3



it was all over gg me

Pocket Pair 88 or worst

Best to all!

Less than a week of Solverde # 3 decided to write here about pocket pairs 88 or worst.

There is so much information to give that I do not know where to start. I will try to keep it simple.

I leave aside the SNG, I leave out the cash games and I only going to focus on MTT (multi table tournaments).

I know how to play them perfectly but I paid a price too expensive because I learn that by making common mistakes but I think now I'm at the point. The low pair will make you win big at poker because you are @ a stage agaisnt AK vs yours 33 and the flop hits A38 rainbow and hardly the player who has the top pair / top kicker will leave without spending a few chips or all the chips if he doesnt smell trouble.

What I do if I caught a PP of 88 or less early in the tournament? The answer here depends on various factors. why is it so complex?

Many people just limp when they have one of these pairs, I think this may be the best option for certain table or even for mid stages with position but certainly not in all. Why?

First, let's imagine that we have 4 limps. Here we have 2 cases:
a) Making a raise in position to increase the pot so it hit the flop we have a EV+ and a larger pot;
b) Make a limp and keep it simple, kind of hit the flop ( set ) or doesn´t hit the flop and get out simple;

I think, in my humble opinion that we must be aggressive and when we should raise when we have position and limp when we do not have position ( if someone there decided to raise then we simple call and hope to hit the flop. This is Pot control all the way because you dont want to put alot of chips in the pot you know the odds the set hit the flop... ). However, even when we position if someone decided to make 3bet the best answer is to fold - easy. With a raise on our part we will eliminate hands like QJ or JT because they dont have the position the call (obviously you never can´t tell ... there donks that make easy call with these hands. Francisco´s rule nº1 respect the raiser if he have position on you and if he is not the bully of the table). Reducing the number of players we also reduce the range of their hands and we can always make a Cbet if the flop is a pair + one high card trying to win the pot right there.

When we have a PP 88 or worst you only want one thing - to get a set. Here many people makes a simple mistake they fell "satisfied" when a board go under his pair or they have one higher card on the flop. Error! Easy fold always.

Another problem that often occurs in stages mid-stages/final is to see people calling a all-in when they have a PP like the one we are talking about.

What is the best thing that could happen?
BEING IN A RACE AGAINST 2 HIGH CARDS
This is limit our game to a single factor: luck!
We are ahead if we go to 2 higher cards but do you like the odds? we can lose our whole or partial stack with this move.
Most of the time because we're dead against a higher PP.

The reverse does not apply ... If I go all-in with a PP of these?
The only advantage it has is that we are putting pressure, but my friends, if there´s a call you are fucked because you can go agaisnt 2 higher cards or a higher PP you already know the drill :)

The best solution in my view is, if you have stack, make a raise it probably going to be respected if not you can see the flop almost for free, but if someone re-raises you - yeah, you are right you can easy fold and wait for a better oportunity.

The all-in will only be acceptable if you are already short but if we are short we will probably receive a call from one that is not short with any 2 overcards. But here the situation is different, we are getting killed by the blinds and we need to make a move.

Another thing very important that we should give the importance it deserves is the stacks of our adversaries. Perhaps a raise may not be the best situation if there is one or more shorts to our right. Why?
These players can make a call or a raise easily with any two and we will not want to risk our stack agaisnt a QJs.
Finally another point which we must consider are the style of play of our players right. If they are tight, loose, aggressive or passive and analyze as many times this can help our decision to bet / fold.

Obviously there are more situations to speak, many hidden things in the game, however this should be the basis of how to play the PP under the 8th

Francisco "The Truth" Costa

Less than 1 week to SOLVERVE #3

yeah, SOLVERDE #3 is less than 1 week away and I´m getting good vibes, imo.

The goods

1st I´m playing my best poker ever. Right now I´m finding what aggression is lets wait and see if I can do it next Saturday.
2nd I´m on my hair prop bet and I really want to win to end this BS
3rd I´m with my team ( TonyL, Canossa and CID ) on the SOLVERDE / BETFAIR prop bet

The bads

1st I´m without my car :S
2nd I´m without my car :p
3rd I´m without my car

now the worst part is the waitting
I will cut all my tournments this week and I only will play 1 or 2 next Thursday. Right now I will finish to read Mike Caro´s poker book about tells. I find it very amusing and I really think you must read this book.

well nice to write something here again ...
cya and have fun