Multi Table Success...

Online multi table tournaments (MTT) are currently an area of poker I loathe. You can play a tournament for hours then get an awful suckout just before the prize money gets big. Indeed in some of the bigger online tournaments you could be playing for anything up to twenty hours! I do not mind playing a twenty hour session online but every once in a while I like to take quick breaks. A MTT may give you a break at the end of each hour however if you are playing several tournaments at once these breaks will not all start at the same time so in effect for your session at best you can run off for a sixty second toilet break. Whatever discipline I am playing I like to stick to just one at a time. Some people may run cash and tournament tables together but you results will not be so good. Last night I played a £50 tournament but I only ended up in it by chance....

Betfair were running a cross forum poker challenge with pretty much one team from each discussion forum entering. I was registered for one of these teams and was determined to put a good effort in as I feel you must do when playing as part of a team or with someone elses money or if someone has a % in you. So to stop me straying off losing concentration in my usual games I entered Betfair's 16k guaranteed (gtd) which is the biggest daily tournament that they run. The prize money is nowhere near as much as that of sites such as Fulltiltpoker and pokerstars bigger daily tournaments but $5000+ for an entry fee of $100 is still pretty decent.

First up the cross forum challenge where I lasted a dissapointing half an hour, i make a huge check raise on the turn with the then nut straight and was called by a flush draw which hit on the river. There was quite a few chips in the middle and I was not going to fold my hand even though I knew there was a possibility that the opponent could have a flush. So sorry to the special bets forum team who all in all did not have the best of success, but like many of the other forums they all had a good time. Few quick thanks to Deejay, Mandylou (Ponte/Carl), UKgatsby for organising this event and misspoker for inviting me to play for the team. Lastly good work by Betfair and hopefully a few new faces turn up on the tables as a result of this tournament for some easy pickings in the future! Just as I was busting out the 16k gtd started and I had forgotten I had even entered it....

Within the early stages the same situation appeared to arise that had just taken me out of the previous tournament, I call a bet on the flop with an open end straight draw. If i hit one of 8 cards I will have the best possible hand on the turn, bingo it hits on the turn and I have the nuts but there is also a flush draw now out. So once again I put in a big check raise on the turn and my opponent calls. Alarm bells are ringing but the river is a safe 2 red and I push all in and am quickly called by pocket Kings for an early double up. I was finding it hard to focus and kept slipping off to play some heads up and single table tournaments at the same time. Then when it got down to the last 50 of 157 participants I won a few pots and was up to around 8th place. I then decided to step up a gear and lost a few pots mainly to a player called shaunpaul which was entirely down to my own stupidity of playing out of position. In a multi tournament it is stupidity to play hands out of position unless you are playing a rush of good hands. I have now slipped down to around 12/40 and am in no mood to continue playing the tournament.....

Then suddenly my brain activates and says why waste two hours of your time online for nothing? I take a few steps that have helped me win MTTs in the past, I turn off msn and locate some good music to listen to. I win a few points and am focussing hard when the following hand came up to boost my confidence:

NL Texas Hold'em $100 Buy-in + $9 Entry Fee,
Level:7 Blinds(100/200-25 ante) - Tuesday,October 16, 21:05:01 GMT 2007
Daily $16k GTD #106194
Table 1 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of active players : 8
Seat 1: shaunpaul ( 6,920 )
Seat 2: jaymac ( 19,354 )
Seat 3: J.R ( 6,469 )
Seat 4: The Klup ( 4,596 )
Seat 6: benjyboyblu ( 4,909 )
Seat 7: Mr Silent ( 13,755 )
Seat 8: Thrappers ( 5,300 )
Seat 9: paymybeer ( 14,448 )
Tourney Level:7 Blinds(100/200-25 ante)
shaunpaul posts small blind [100]
jaymac posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Mr Silent [ 4c, 4h ]
J.R folds
The Klup folds
benjyboyblu folds
Mr Silent calls [200]
Thrappers folds
paymybeer raises to [720]
shaunpaul folds
jaymac folds
Mr Silent calls [520]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ks, 4s, 6d ]
Mr Silent checks
paymybeer bets [1,000]
Mr Silent raises to [2,800]
paymybeer raises to [4,600]
Mr Silent goes all-in
Mr Silent raises to [13,010]
paymybeer calls [8,410]
** Showdown ** Mr Silent shows [ 4c, 4h ]
paymybeer shows [ Kc, Ac ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]**
Hand Conclusion **Mr Silent wins 27,960 from main pot with three of a kind, Fours ************ Game 263624516 ends ************

With 11,000 in the middle I put my last 13,000 in which is almost the same as my opponents remaining chips and I think he should be folding here. A lot of people will call here but with a healthy position in the later stages of a tournament I think that it is a standard fold here with one pair even if you have top kicker. So now I am up with the chip leaders and in cruise control. I am also moved away from my nemisis shaunpaul who has been taking every pot from me. The only way I go down now is with a big hand or a bad beat. For some reason I keep getting huge hands with other people with big stacks, I take down several huge pots in a short period when opponents check raise me all in to see to their horror me instacall.....and them either drawing dead or to miracle miracle to survive. With 16 left I am a big chip leader and the stacks on my table are as follows...

Seat 1: shaunpaul ( 44,439 )
Seat 2: Pambo ( 27,813.50 )
Seat 3: Mr Silent ( 89,410 )
Seat 4: suddes ( 17,176 )
Seat 5: evo2 ( 29,952 )
Seat 6: Blackpool07 ( 18,199 )
Seat 7: Demol ( 25,260 )
Seat 8: UncleBak ( 6,390.50 )
Tourney Level:11 Blinds(600/1,200-75 ante)

I have 75 big blinds which is huge at this stage of the tournament and playing my rush I am pretty much raising with any two pretty cards. I raise up with QT suited and Blackpool07 reraises all in. I don't have the odds to call him, however I am playing a rush and also like to demonstrate that if I raise I will call a reraise from a shorter stack. He has AK and doubles up through me, now its time for me to change gear and shut up shop for a bit. Looking back I wish I never called as Blackpool07 and ICANTPLAY who are both decent enough players were crying when I was raising their blinds. One example is it is folded to me in the small blind where I look down at AT, ICANTPLAY is sitting in the big blind with ten big blinds left. My stack is huge and in this spot it is a standard all in. I am not going to raise to 3-4 times the big blind and fold to a reraise, I am not going to limp and let him flop two pair and me top pair. How he was being sarcastic about that push all in only he can know.

I started to lose concentration a bit and again was back to some sit and gos, which I soon finished and said I may as well focus on trying to get $5000 here. I have a big chip lead and it can all be over in just over an hour. So one last hour or so of concentration and I will make more than I would from a whole day of sit and go. Then down to the last 14 i suckout badly for the first time of the tournament, the hand and an explanation follow....

Seat 1: shaunpaul ( 56,314 )
Seat 2: Pambo ( 33,063.50 )
Seat 3: Mr Silent ( 68,361 )
Seat 4: suddes ( 13,751 )
Seat 5: evo2 ( 40,127 )
Seat 6: Blackpool07 ( 21,773 )
Seat 7: Demol ( 25,250.50 )
Tourney Level:12 Blinds(800/1,600-75 ante)
shaunpaul posts small blind [800]
Pambo posts big blind [1,600]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Mr Silent [ Qc, Qs ]Mr Silent calls [1,600]
suddes folds
evo2 raises to [7,800]
Blackpool07 folds
Demol foldsshaunpaul folds
Pambo folds
Mr Silent goes all-in
Mr Silent raises to [68,286]evo2 calls [32,252]
evo2 goes all-in
Returning uncalled bet [28,234] to Mr Silent
** Showdown **
Mr Silent shows [ Qc, Qs ]
evo2 shows [ Kc, Kd ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, 9s, 8s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qh ]
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
** Hand Conclusion **Mr Silent wins 83,029 from main pot with three of a kind, Queens

Now with QQ in first position I do not like to get involved with many players, I have come unstuck so many times. I do not mind limping and then if there is a raise and reraiser I will fold with my current stack. I do not feel I am folding a big hand, i will feel that I am just losing one big blind. My stack is healthy to take on the shorter stacks no matter what they do, however worst case scenario is evo2 raises and shaunpaul reraises in which case i fold. Evo2 raises and the rest fold, he has a lot of fold equity and pretty much the only hand he has here that beats me is AA/KK although I did not feel aces. Many other hands he could have are AK/AQ/QQ/JJ and by reraising all in he is absolutely certain to fold any hand other than KK/AA. Unfortunately for him he has KK and gets a bad beat, thats poker though and I am sure of two things. Firstly he was happy to get that far in this tournament as he caught a few rivers against hands such as KK himself with AJ and secondly he will call and get beaten by a lot worse than QQ on a daily basis. He is a decent guy and I wish to pay for him to enter the tournament one night soon from the lucky money! If i did not get lucky that hand I am down to 36000 chips which would still have me in around 6/14.....

But i did get lucky and now we are down to unlucky number 13 players left....unlucky for shaunpaul as I now have huge stack and position over him...

Seat 1: shaunpaul ( 55,439 )
Seat 2: Pambo ( 31,388.50 )
Seat 3: Mr Silent ( 111,263 )
Seat 4: suddes ( 13,676 )
Seat 6: Blackpool07 ( 21,698 )
Seat 7: Demol ( 25,175.50 )

I pretty much terrorise him with raises and reraises, one hand suddes benefitted with over a treble up and shaunpaul's stack was damaged with me losing one big blind on the hand after the sidepot. After a while on the final table bubble we are down to the final 9 and I am in control. I have a huge amount of confidence any final table I make, I feel that having invested so much time I have to get first. As the money jumps every position any spot but first deeply dissapoints me. When I was frequently playing tournaments on the crypto (aka corrupto/crookto) network I once went through a stage where I won 15/20 final tables no matter if i started as the big stack or short stack. The final table start is as follows.....

Seat 1: shaunpaul ( 56,639 )
Seat 2: Pambo ( 39,811.50 )
Seat 3: Mr Silent ( 110,036 )
Seat 4: suddes ( 52,153.50 )
Seat 5: nivek987 ( 21,022 )
Seat 6: ICANTPLAY ( 24,518.50 )
Seat 7: COMMANDO ( 42,366 )
Seat 8: sammylee ( 24,232.50 )
Seat 9: PAYTOSEE ( 21,721 )
Tourney Level:13 Blinds(1,000/2,000-100 ante)

Of these players I don't want to see ICANTPLAY or COMMANDO get too many chips. I do not mind shaunpaul getting a few chips as I now have position on him and pretty much have his game beat. I play a few hands and we are soon down to seven with my stack size hugely increased and one of the better players out. I decide that my stack is too big to be getting involved with the smaller stacks as any raise I make on them I have to be prepared to call their reraise all in. So i step down a gear and let them fight it out, it seems every all in and call the shorter stacks win the race and pot.

Seat 1: shaunpaul ( 40,505 )
Seat 2: Pambo ( 29,961.50 )
Seat 3: Mr Silent ( 167,804.50 )
Seat 4: suddes ( 29,626 )
Seat 5: nivek987 ( 23,716 )
Seat 7: COMMANDO ( 63,845 )
Seat 9: PAYTOSEE ( 37,042 )
Tourney Level:14 Blinds(1,500/3,000-150 ante)

Two more players are out and now the prize money jumps a bit, so I was happy to be calling shorter stacks all ins so long as I had such a huge chip advantage. The only player I was avoiding was COMMANDO as he is a pest with his reraises etc and I do not want to chip him up as I am in control..

Seat 2: Pambo ( 23,061.50 )
Seat 3: Mr Silent ( 209,059.50 )
Seat 5: nivek987 ( 28,516 )
Seat 7: COMMANDO ( 100,721 )
Seat 9: PAYTOSEE ( 31,142 )
Tourney Level:15 Blinds(2,000/4,000-200 ante)

When a short stack is all in with AK i call with QJ and hit, then I take another out in similar fashion and we are down to the last 3. Personally I wish for COMMANDO to make heads up so that I can make a deal with him and let him take first as the multi table leaderboard points would push him up a lot higher and mean nothing to me as I do not play many. First spot being worth $3000 extra at the end of the month and a top 3 finish getting into the champion of champions game which i always get into via the sit and go leaderboard anyway. Pambo has played very clever to get to the last 3 where he suddenly hits the biggest card rush since Jamie Gold won the world series main event and COMMANDO is out in third. I was in a lucky position to have a big stack and recieve so many walks, Pambo was clever enough to realise I was not going to let him steal my blinds and kept folding his small blind. I soon one heads up and I feel that Pambo's second spot was perhaps a better performance than mine as I had such chip leads and he was often the short stack from a long way out. So my £50 nets me £2400 for a game that lasts 4 hours, will I now be playing more of these tournaments? No way they give me a headache every time, still at least it was over ten hours less in duration for me than the stars 5million$ guaranteed.

Well thats my first tournament first place in a while as I do not play many, I would like to mention a few more points on tournament play but there are a few people who will read this blog who are not worthy of improving their game at my expense. Hence no hand histories when I am reraising with 37 offsuit or the hands when I create a sidepot with ten hi. (soap liked that one! soap's poker ) Good luck to all and I am going to squeeze a few hours in before the football later (as part of the aussie millions powerplay promo), and then off to central London to meet Animal and a few others who are playing in the GKUPT London tournament. I wish them all well as I do all other players who play for a living...