tilted behaviour

The Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series is all wrapped up after Daniel Botta took care of Sam Higgs to capture the $100,000 first prize with the beautiful 5♥ 2♥ all in on the flop against Higgs’ A♠ K♣ with the final board running out 7♦ 5♣ 10♣ 4♥ 3♠.

In a continuation from my re-cap of the ANZPT Adelaide here is the The Eight Points of Enlightenment: Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series.

1 – Affordable: Following the Aussie Millions where events start at that four-figure mark, and Main Event’s around the country that fluctuate around that $3,000 mark; its good to have a Championship series that is truly affordable for the tournament junkie. With most buy-ins at the $230, $340 and $550 mark, players can take their shot at being crowned a Champion without it hurting the wallet too deeply.

2 – Tournament Structures (part one): The structures for these tournaments were excellent! The deep starting stacks and slow levels provided incredible value for money – and there can be no arguments; all you have to do is look at the vast improvements from last years structures. As for the buy-in amounts, you couldn’t ask anymore from the Jonno and the Crown staff as they catered for those that are looking to play some deep-stack tournament poker.

3 – Tournament Structures (part two): At some points the structures were too good with finishing times stretching into breakfast where pancakes were the order of the day instead of check-raises and open limping (which is definitely not smart at any point). This does support the argument for players and their need for adequate structures with maximum play – but on occasions this can be negative.

4 – PokerPro Problems: Most may be unaware of the persistent problems Crown have experienced with the PokerPro machines, and most recently it effected Event #5: $165 Poker Pro. With problems all tournament long, by the time they reached the final table they had no choice but to vacate the machines and play the tournament on actual felt. This totally changed the game as the time it took to get through hands doubled, and with the turbo-like structure the final table played faster then most on it would have liked.
If Crown wish to continue running Championship tournaments on the PokerPro machines – and I believe they should – then they really need to take a look at rectifying the existing problems.

5 – Lack of Chips: This really wasn’t a problem, but more of a funny scenario come flight two and three of the Main Event. With 17,960,000 chips in play, the majority of them were bagged during flight one meaning that the following two flights were left with physically less chips. Therefore the 25,000-denomination chips were out early so as to make sure that flight three had enough to play with – on a side note it was funny seeing people with two or three 25,000-chips and nothing else when trying to post a 1,600 big blind (me inclusive)!

6 – Repechage Main Event: Personally I’m not a fan of a repechage because it changes the way the game is played; but poker-wise I think it’s great. To allow people to rebuy if they bust on the first two days means that the prizepool will always be boosted, and be of excellent value to those that don’t repechage and those that do (as it gives them a second chance).
However only playing eight levels during the first two flights means that the numbers that returned for flight three were lower then they could have been. By playing ten levels and an extra 90 minutes means that day two will on average be shorter and that more people will bust and therefore repechage into flight three – consequently a greater prizepool with more money on offer.

7 – Half Million Dollar Prizepool: Well nearly – it was $449,000, but for a $550 buy-in event it was unbelievable to get such a huge prizepool. I assured a few young Adelaide boys that a $100,000 first prize would be reached, and even through they had heavy doubts it was still achieved! The prizepool may have appeared a little skewed, but on closer inspection it was pretty industry standard – however the only change that should have been made was changing the payouts from 81 to 72 as to represent the 705 unique players that took their seat.

8 – The Money Isn’t Going Nowhere (again): Just like in Adelaide, the money is staying firmly in Australia, and most importantly in Victoria following local Daniel Botta’s victory in under three hours on day three. Hopefully this will drag more amateur and pub poker players into the Crown Poker Room knowing that for just $550 and three days work – they can be $100,000 richer too!

I hope now that it is clear why so many people enjoy the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series and will hopefully venture back down to Melbourne in 2010 for the best value deep stack tournaments on this side of the world.

With the dilemma that is the 2009 WSOP and whether or not Tilted Behaviour will be there the current issue at hand; it will be only a matter of weeks before we’re back at it with the ANZPT Sydney (23rd April to May 1st) and then the Melbourne Poker Championships (17th May to 1st June).

The road ahead for this poker journalist is definitely going to be interesting, so make sure to stay tuned over the upcoming weeks for your poker fix!

Personally one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in relation to poker is when I rock up for a day two or three or even a final table and get to rip open a bag full of chips before the start of play.

After bagging 47,300 in chips on Friday I rocked up on Sunday for day two of the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series Main Event to see if I could outlast the 343 players remaining and take home the $100,000 first prize.

My starting table wasn’t that bad as I knew how a few of the players played and was broken down as follows:
Seat 1: Karib Karib – 87,200
Seat 2: David ‘leewah’ Lee – 109,900
Seat 3: Craig Mischel – 47,900
Seat 4: Dean ‘Dinhjo’ Nyberg – 167,900
Seat 5: Robyn Ivankovich – 26,100
Seat 6: Tim Duckworth – 47,300
Seat 7: Antonio Cercone – 39,100
Seat 8: Brian Hull – 25,200
Seat 9: Jai Thomas – 64,000
Seat 10: Carone Guiseppe – 18,300

Having position on Dean Nyberg was fantastic as I knew he would play aggressive against me under the perception that I was a nit – therefore I was going to play back at him as lightly and as often as possible.

Play started like a tournament for me – I opened 4♠ 5♠ to 3,000 from under the gun at blinds of 600-1200 with a 200 ante and found two callers. I folded to a 3,500 bet on the flop of A♦ 3♠ 10♦ and was on the back foot early. Exactly an orbit later I would open to 3,000 with K♠ Q♠ and find three callers. I led out for 11,500 on a flop of K♦ 9♣ Q♦ and was met with an immediate all in. With everyone else passing I called the additional two thousand to be up against A♦ 10♦; and luckily for me the board bricked out and I was up to 63,600 before closing out the level with just under 65,000.

First hand into the 800-1600 with 200 ante level I doubled a guy up when I opened to 4,000 and called the all in of an additional 6,600 with A♦ 4♦ to be up against J♠ J♣. I turned a counterfeit draw but missed and was down to 53,800. I then played my first pot against Dean when he opened to 4,000 from the button and I put in a re-raise to 11,000 with my K♠ 8♠ to prompt an immediate fold – I was intent on not letting him push me round, and this was the first step to doing so. I was check-raised over my continuation bets twice to see me finish on a disappointing 34,000 for the level as we headed on our first break.

As I slumped down to an ante under the 30,000-chip mark I found a double-up through Dean after he opened to 5,000 at the 1000-2000 with 300 ante level. I pushed from the button with K♣ J♣ and Dean made the call tabling treys (on a side note the dealer mis-dealt a 3♣, but apparently Dean didn’t notice). I flopped a King and that would be all as I jumped back to 64,700, and ended the level on slightly over that after again three-betting Dean out of the blinds with Q♠ Q♦ to pick up some chips that I had lost in blinds and antes.

I would take care of my second opponent for the day when I opened to 6,000 with Q♠ Q♣ with blinds at 1200-2400 and a 400 ante. As it folded round to Karib Karib in the small blind he put in a re-raise to 20,000 and after the big blind passed I shipped it in with Karib making the call for his tournament life holding A♦ 9♠. The flop dropped a nine, but the Q♦ on the turn would end things as I sent Karib to the rail and surged up to 108,000 in chips.

The following level at 1500-3000 with a 500 ante I made it 10,000 to go from the cutoff with 10♠ 10♦ – which was yet another live mis-click as I thought the blinds were 2000-4000. Anyway I was re-raised all in for 46,500 total – and normally would fold my ten’s here, but this player had been playing fairly aggressive so I thought we were racing or had him at 80/20 and made the call. Bad read! He tabled aces and they held as I slipped to 41,000. I stole the blinds and antes the next hand and slowly grinded back to over 60,000 in chips with some further steals and all in manoeuvres.

As my good friend Luke McLean took a seat on my immediate left and posted the big blind as we moved into the 2000-4000 with 500 ante level I was dealt A♦ K♦ in the small blind. Ronnie Shabtay made it 16,000 to go and with it folding round to me I moved all in for 56,000 putting Shabtay into the tank. After over two minutes he made the call for his tournament life with sixes and the board would fall eight-high and I would be left crippled with 12,000. Two hands later I would wake up with K♥ J♣ in the cutoff but would be unable to out-run the power of the 10♥ 8♥ with the board running out Q♣ J♥ 3♥ 7♣ 6♥ to see me exit the tournament and find my way back to the blogging desk to work the remainder of the tournament.

Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series – Main Event Chip Stack Graph

Heath ‘TassieDevil’ Chick would go on to finish 25th for a $3,000 payday and take a giant lead in The Race To 10k as I would left to ponder “what if?” as Ronnie Shabtay would go on to finish third for $45,000.

All-in-all I was fairly happy with how I played throughout the Main Event and other events during the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series and took some satisfaction in my 143rd placing out of the 898 total runners which place me in the top 16% of the field (too bad it wasn’t a further 6%!).

There were a few points during the tournament where I wish I was able to capitalise and accumulate more chips so I would have had a better chance of cashing and making the final table – and therefore the origins of the below graph extend from.

Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series – Main Event Chip Stack Graph

After Heath ‘TassieDevil’ Chick busted late yesterday it was my time to have a crack at the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series Main Event and possible $100,000 first prize!

I outlaid my $550 for the buy-in and drew a marginal table but my favourite seat – seat one. I didn’t really recognise anyone on the table, so the music went straight on as we tackled the first level of 50-100 with a 20,000-chip starting bank. I opened twice and got three-bet and four-bet and was happy to look down at A♠ K♣ in early position with blinds at 100-200 and opened to 500. Finding a caller on the button I made it 1,000 to go on a flop K♥ 5♥ 6♠ before this cash game LAG-tard made it 3,000.

I know I’m waaaaaaaay in front of his range like 95% of the time and believe that raising here loses potential value from weaker hands. Also, if I can truly put him on a set I can gather more information when the turn lands – so therefore I flat call and we see the turn fall the 8♦. I check and the LAG-tard makes it 6,300 to go leaving himself a little over 10,000 behind. With that bet I’m really confident I’m ahead in this hand, he either has a flush draw or a weak King and is capable of firing three-barrels into me; and consequently I flat yet again and hope he bluffs the river.

The 7♠ falls and I check to be immediately followed by an announcement of “I’m all in!” Yikes, could I see a worse river? Probably not and now I sit in the tank analysing every possible hand this guy might have. From past experience I know he is capable of bluffing the river with air or with a really marginal and weak hand, but still that river makes me sick – do I really want to bust second level? I don’t think so.

Tank . . . Tank . . . Tank . . . and then I look up at the LAG-tard and notice that he is sitting upright, leaning back and with his arms crossed. “Call” I announce and slid my remaining 9,400 into the middle to see the LAG-tard sheepishly roll over his Q♥ 7♥ for a busted flush and straight draw and rivered pair. A few comments of good call came from the table as I chipped up to 38,700 in chips only to break tables a few hands later.

After coming back from the first break with blinds at 100-200 and a 25 ante I chipped up to 51,650 after getting action with top set holding A♠ A♦, and then taking down pots holding A♠ K♥ and A♦ Q♠. I would see out that level with a tick above 50,000 in chips but run terribly in the next missing every flop I saw and running one bluff right on the break to finish at 42,000 as we rounded out the 150-300 with 24 ante level.

It wouldn’t be until the 300-600 with 75 level where I would find my first dilemma. Facing an under the gun raise to 1,600 from Jakson Laughton and a call I made it 5,200 out of the small blind holding A♥ K♠ – now in all honesty it was supposed to be 4,200 but it was a live mis-click. With the big blind out of the way Laughton made it 25,000 to go and all of a sudden the action was back on me. With both of us having doubled our starting stack this was really a decision for my tournament life – Do I want to race against a pair or do I want to have that sick feeling in my stomach when he rolls aces after he snaps my all in?

No and no so I open mucked my A♥ K♠ and Laughton showed his A♦ A♣. With a personal tap on the back I was down to under 40,000, but quickly got it back over the next two hands. I opened J♠ 10♠ to 1,600 and found one caller but took it down on a Jack-high flop. This time from the cutoff I made it 1,600 yet again with Q♥ 10♠ and both blinds made the call. The flop fell down J♥ 10♦ 2♣ and after it was checked to me I led out for 2,200 with only the big blind calling before donk-betting 2,100 when the 5♥ peeled on the turn. I instantly moved all in after finding out that he had a little over 10,000 in chips behind, and after a few minutes of deliberation he folded his hand as I chipped back to over 50,000. My K♥ K♣ were cracked on the last hand by Ace-King to see me slip to 44,000 as we went on another break before the final two levels of play.

Our table broke mid-way through the 400-800 with 100 ante level and I moved to a table where play was very tight. I opened K♦ Q♥ and was three-bet forcing me to fold as we ticked into the final level of play. Looking down at 8♦ 3♦ I made it 2,500 from the hi-jack and found a caller in the big blind. The flop fell down Q♥ 3♥ 5♣ and following a check, my bet of 3,200 would be enough to take the pot – which would be one of my last as I bagged 47,300 at the end of the day.

Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series – Main Event Chip Stack Graph

I was very happy with how I played and confident that I could turn my average stack into something come day two when the three fields merge. Even though my chip stack graph may seem busy in the middle to latter stages of the tournament – this was mainly due to the motive of wanting to accumulate and use my chips to my advantage; which had been the downturn in my previous few tournaments. Although I was unable to do so, a combination of minimal mistakes, good reads and an early finish prompted us to get a home game going with a 25c-50c holdem/omaha in place. I bought in for $25 and ran it up to $65 before slowly getting donked to see me retire to the TV as the guys continued to battle it out.

We finished the night with some Chinese Poker and Baccarat degeneracy and was home around 4am to get some rest before covering the repechage the following day.

Following a late-night session of Chinese poker and a short sleep session following my bustout in the $340 Terminator I was up early and returned to the Crown Poker Room to play day one flight one of Event 7: $340 No Limit Holdem.

Feeling really good and full of confidence I would see that slip away fairly quickly when my 15,000-chip starting bank slipped down to 14,000 and then 11,000 after paying someone off on the river with A♥ 10♥ on a board reading Q♥ J♦ A♣ 5♣ J♣ with my opponent tabling Q♦ J♠ when I called his 1,100-chip bet on the river.

With blinds at 100-200 I completed from the small blind with J♥ 10♠ and four players checked the flop of 10♥ 7♥ 4♠ to see the turn of the J♦ fall. I led out for 800 and Kevin Khouiss called as did another player before I checked the river of the K♦ to see Khouiss lead out for 1,750 and find a caller. I sat in the tank with my two-pair and felt that at a minimum Khouiss had K-J but most likely made a straight on the turn or river and decided to not make a spite call and openly tabled my hand to the shock of the table. With most thinking it was a bad fold, I was happily reassured when Khouiss turned over 9♦ 8♦ for the turned straight and the pot.

Down to 10,125 and then 9,650 and then 8,950, I would find sixes under-the-gun to take down the blinds and antes and climb back to over 10,000 as my original table broke to seat me on a table that included Julian Cohen and Raemin Alexander as well as some other players that I had played against before.

My stack kept dwindling and I was unable to muster a double after rueing an opportunity when I opened to 1,600 with A♥ Q♦ from early position and found a caller in the big blind for an additional 1,000 in chips. We both checked the flop to see him lead out for 2,000 with the board reading A♠ J♣ 9♣ 10♠ only to be followed with me moving all-in to force a fold. Now if I flat there he may bluff-fire the river and I get a double up to put me around 18,000 instead of the 13,300 that I was left with.

I was able to avoid two potential eliminations when I opened to 1,600 from the cutoff and was raised to 5,100 by the big stack on the button. I mucked my 8♥ 8♦ and he flashed Aces to leave me with 10,550 in chips. Next level (400-800-25) I opened to 2,000 from the hi-jack and the big blind made it 5,500 to go forcing me to fold a pair of threes which prompted him to table his J♠ J♣ to leave me confident of another good read and fold, but left with 6,550 in chips.

I managed a double just as we broke tables when the small blind moved all-in and I snapped off with A♣ 2♦ only to be up against A♦ 8♦. However a deuce on the flop would see me eliminate him and move to 11,800 in chips as I was moved to be seated next to Andrew Scott and opposite Russell Watkins.

The enjoyable conversation with Scott wouldn’t last too long when I was sent to the rail when the button opened to 3,200 with blinds at 600-1,200 with a 100 ante. With the small blind out of the way, I peeked down at A♦ K♣ and moved all-in for an additional 5,200 and was met with a call. I called heads, but flipped tails when his 9♣ 9♥ stayed ahead on a board of J♦ 8♦ 8♣ 2♣ 4♦ to myself fall short of bagging my chips falling in 53rd place of the 131 flight one starters.

It was extremely disappointing playing so well but falling short of registering a result for not only me, but also my ChipMeUp backers. Over the last two days of tournament poker I’ve identified a weakness of not being able to accumulate chips in those middle levels where it can make or break your tournament and therefore minimise your reliance on finding a rush of cards and double-ups when approaching the money.

Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series – Event 7 Chip Stack Graph

Like previously the blue line charts my chip trend with the red vertical lines indicating the change in blinds and green ones the change in tables.

On a side note, one of my first ever poker buddies and fellow bloggers Carey Ciuro is still in with 84,600 in chips which puts him in the top ten in chips. Good luck buddy and (since we swapped 5%) please ship it ONE TIME!

Spending the early part of the day at fellow PokerNews worker Mat Pater’s house I eventually made my way to Crown before digging into some fried rice before the 7:10pm commencement of Event 6: $340 No Limit Holdem Terminator where for every person you eliminate you receive a terminator button that can be redeemed for $100.

I wondered over to table 25 seat 1 which was coincidentally the same table I played this event on during the Melbourne Poker Championships. Vito Montalto, Damion Drapac and Crazy John populated my table as play began at 25-50 with 10,000-chip starting banks. I started terribly connecting my 2♦ 3♣ with a board of 9♥ 6♠ 5♦ 4♦ 2♣ out of the big blind and calling a min-raise on the river to slip down to 8,425 in chips when showed 7♦ 8♦ by Montalto. By the end of the level I was back up to 9,600 after taking two pots down on the flop following some preflop aggression over a couple of limpers.

It wouldn’t be until the third level to see my stack jump over the average after calling a 425-chip raise in position with blinds at 75-150 holding 8♣ 8♦. The board fell down 7♣ 6♠ 5♥ and following a continuation-bet of 1,000 and a call I raised it to 4,700 leaving myself 3,575 behind; which forced both players to fold. Late in the level I had a chance at eliminating someone, but was a little unlucky after I opened to 400 from late position with 7♦ 8♦ and found callers in both the blinds. The flop fell down 7♠ 4♦ 5♥ and the big blind let out for 2,000 of his 4,450 stack which prompted me to move all-in over the top. He ummed and ahhed before making the call for his tournament life tabling A♣ K♣. BANG the K♦ fell on the turn and with none of my 17-outs falling on the river I was down to 6,975.

However it wouldn’t be for too long after facing a weak-passive limp in early position I made it 550 to with blinds at 100-200 and found four callers up against my A♣ J♥. On a flop of A♦ 8♠ 7♠ the weak-passive player I was trying to isolate led out for 1,600, and thinking he was drawing or had a weaker made hand I moved all-in which eventually prompted a call from him following those famous of words of “I wanna gamble.” Gamble he would turning over 5♣ 6♣, but alas he wouldn’t improve as I doubled through to 15,600 in chips.

With blinds at 150-300 I came across an interesting hand which I think I played very well. The cutoff limped, as did the same weak-passive player from before on the button and I completed from the small blind with 9♦ 2♦. I led out for 700 on a flop of 10♦ 9♣ 3♦ and with the big blind out of the way the cutoff made the call before the button made it 1,400 to go. Now there is good chance I’m behind to a bigger pair, but with my two-pair and diamond draws I think it’s better to put in a re-raise to find out where you are in the hand, otherwise you face a difficult turn decision. Consequently I made it 5,400 total which prompted slow folds from both players both showing a bigger pair and A-9 respectively to see me climb to 15,325.

The following level I would move tables to join my good friend and fellow PokerNetwork writer Michael Palti who has recently been added to the team to specialise in Pot Limit Omaha. I would make a steal from the small blind and then play 39 hands before finding a spot – and that spot would be a double with Kings against Queens with all the money going in preflop. Now back up to 18,900 I chopped another all-in with A-K against A-K before I opened to 3,500 with blinds at 600-1,200 with A♥ K♦ and was shoved on by the small blind with A♣ 7♣. The board brought a sweat when it fell 4♥ 6♥ 6♦ 5♠ K♣ but I whipped my brow as I stacked up to 30,200 in chips.

After folding 4♣ 4♦ against a stubborn overpair on a board of 5♣ 3♠ 2♥ K♦ I was down to 18,800 as a few new players joined the table. One would get involved straight away opening to 4,000 with blinds at 800-1,600 from middle position as I looked down at A♦ K♦ on the button. Having under a third of the average chips and still two tables from the money I decided to get tricky with the hand in an attempt to double up knowing he wouldn’t call my all-in as I felt he was raising pretty marginally; and therefore I flatted on the button leaving myself 14,800 behind.

I really didn’t want to see the flop connect too heavily with broadway as I had him on a range of hands from J-10, Q-10, K-10, Q-J, KQ, A-10,A-J and A-Q and intent on shoving any flop that didn’t connect with his hand too much. The flop fell down A♠ J♦ 10♠ and he checked to me which I followed by checking behind as I either had him crushed or was dead to two-pair or a straight. The turn landed the 10♥ to give additional outs to improve my hand and when he led out for 6,000 I decided to go with it and push for my last 8,800 on top. He called tabling K♣ Q♥ for a flopped straight and when the 9♣ fell I was eliminated short of the money by 21 spots falling in 58th place of the 256 starters.

Looking back on the hand I was happy the way I played it because at that point in the tournament I really needed some chips and gambled that we would both connect with the board (however with myself in better shape) and I could find a double up instead of taking down the 6,400 that was in there. I know that it could seem a terrible line to take, but with an average stack of over 40,000 at the time and still two tables away from the money I would need a lot more than just a double up to have my chance at taking down the tournament!

Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series – Event 6 Chip Stack Graph

Just like in the previous tournament I tracked my hands dealt and chip trend and the above is my trend for the 6 hours or so of play. With the red line indicating the change in blinds and green line the change in tables, the blue line indicates my trend of my fluctuating chip count over the 157 hands that I played.

Up next is Event 7: $340 No Limit Holdem (2 Day) before I have a break before working and playing the Main Event!

Finding myself surprisingly refreshed after a four-sleep on a mate’s futon mattress out in the ‘burbs of Melbourne; Box Hill North, following a quiet (as in limited alcohol consumption) night on Chapel Street I was ready to tackle Event 1 of the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series!

Since I bought my ticket the night before to avoid the early rush to the tournament booth I had no need to make tracks to Crown but still found myself arriving well before the first card would be dealt. Met up with a few mates before I settled in and found my table and seat up in the high stakes area.

Sitting down on the table I had Jozef Berec down one end, but no-one else of note. Even though this may be a deep-stack tournament and championship series, the structures are fairly fast at 25 minutes and beginning at 50-100. The table began fairly limp happy and I didn’t pick up my first hand until I was dealt Q♥ 7♣ in the small blind and completed for 50 more following a few limpers. The flop fell down 7♦ 7♠ 5♠ and I led out for 250 and got one caller on the button. The turn landed the K♦ and I made it 550 to go with the button player again making the call to see me check the fairly insignificant J♣ on the river prompting a 1,100-chip bet which I quickly called.

When showed the losing 6♠ 6♣ to see me chip up to 12,175 I thought about the hand and how I played the river badly, not putting in a check-raise; even though it most likely would have yielded nothing. A few hands later in the hi-jack I saw two weak players limp ahead of me before raising to 350 with my favourite hand (disregarding the suits – diamonds one time!) 6♣ 7♣. The blinds both passed as did the limpers and right there I decide to try and use this play regularly when in position against a few of the players that oozed weakness.

The start of the 75-150 level saw me sitting with 12,400 and a few hands in I limped the button with A♥ 3♥ following nearly half the table coming along for the ride, and was able to take down the pot with a 600 bet on the flop of Q♦ Q♥ 3♦ to jump to 13,225. I unsuccessfully opened with K♦ 10♥ but was able to take a nice pot against what I perceived to be the best player on the table.

Bit of background first. Later learning that he was Michael ‘Shuffleupagus1′ Bancroft from our mutual mate Andrew ‘Adgee’ Jeffreys, Bancroft final tabled a PokerNews Cup event finishing in second and had taken the first few steps to repeating that following a strong start to see him placed on around 15,000 in chips and the only one on the table to have me covered. He played one hand to the river that set off some lights in my head when he raised a flop bet in position with a flush draw and raised on the river when the board paired but also brought the flush. His A♣ 6♣ for the nut flush was good for the pot, and on a few other occasions I saw him play similar.

Bancroft limped under the gun as did some others as it was folded round to me in the small blind and I completed for 75 more holding A♠ 2♦ and followed it by leading out for 600 on a flop of 2♠ 5♠ 2♥. With the action on Bancroft he made it 1,500 to go which put me to a decision once everyone passed. I thought that calling here would really leave me out in the dark, because if a spade falls on the turn I can’t really fold to bet due my re-draw nut-flush draw and book draw, so consequently (after considering some of his previous play) made it 4,200 to go. He mulled over it for a little before folding and I decided not to table my hand to the disappointment of the remaining players on the table as I stacked up to 15,075 as we jumped to the 100-200 level.

I was unable to play a hand in this orbit seeing Ace-rag twice and four suited junk hands before me moved into the last level before the first break of 100-200 with a 25 ante and I still fairly healthy 14,775 in chips. I opened with J♠ 10♠ to 550 to take the pot down uncontested before my final hand came up.

Dealt K♥ K♦ in early position I opened to 550 and was called by Bancroft and a short-stack in the big blind. The flop fell down 8♣ J♣ 3♥ and the big blind moved all-in for his last 1,700 putting the action on me before I just made the call. Now this can be seen as bad play just flatting the all-in with someone else to act, but there isn’t a whole lot I’m scared of, and it kind of works as a trap if Bancroft wants to get tricky with one of his many possible holdings. Bancroft now sat with 20,000-plus following a nice double with bottom set and put in a raise to 4,500 immediately putting me to a decision for my tournament life.

Tournament life you may say? Well yes, because it is terrible to just call here so my decision is either to fold or to raise all-in. Now after my 1,700 call I have 12,950 behind so folding leaves me with an above average stack, moving all-in will see my double to three-times average or send me to the rail. Considering what to do I played out all the hands that Bancroft may have and how he would have played them – a set is likely, and he is even capable of playing Aces, Kings or Queens in the same way, but I felt that he was more likely to be holding something marginal such as a straight-draw or flush-draw or maybe top-top with Ace-Jack or King-Jack. Eventually made the decision to move all-in hoping that I could sweat out a draw, get lucky or stay ahead in a tournament where 100,000 chips would see you cash and a further 500,000 to make the final table.

The short-stack player held Q♦ 10♣ and Bancroft was in the lead with J♦ 8♦. The turn was gin, but not for me, landing the 9♥ and unable to catch one of the eight outs in the deck to stay alive with the 6♥ peeling on the river I said Bon Voyage in 428th place out of the 500 runners.

Looking back on the hand if I made that flop raise to say 4,500 and Bancroft re-raised me, I think I would have been able to lay the hand down, but apart from that I played fairly solid and tried something different this tournament by monitoring my chip stack fluctuations and hands dealt in sort of a written live hand history record.

Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series – Event 1 Chip Stack Graph

The blue line is obviously my chip trends during the 48 hands (sigh!) I played with the red vertical lines indicating the blind level increases. I’m going to continue to record a live hand history in tournaments and push past the tediousness of the process so as I can continually review my game as move closer and closer to the 2009 WSOP!

Next event isn’t till Thursday’s Event 6: $340 Terminator where every person you knock out entitles you to $100. For the meantime it will be back to the online grind, but if you haven’t already come get a piece of me at ChipMeUp where I have a few stakes left.

Around 11 months or so ago Full Tilt decided to close my online account due to alleged multi-accounting because my backer logged in from Malaysia while I was in the middle of five tournaments! We got the money back, but the timing couldn’t have been worse as I was just finding my groove online with two consecutive 750k guarantee cashes and three locked up FTOPS seats.

My backer and I moved on, but haven’t played online since with any real purpose (with an occasional $50 deposit here and there chasing bonuses and promotions). With The Race To 10k heating up and my increased involved in ChipMeUp I decided that I needed to get some money online to dabble back in the 12-tabling of old!

With US$1,000 on Full Tilt and people snapping up my stakes on ChipMeUp, a steady stream of deposits came trickling into my accounts. Consequently I decided to try and get most of them into my PokerStars account after reading an article in the recent Bluff USA edition about satelliting to the WSOP via the PokerStars Step Satellites. These Step Satellites are basically a series of SNG’s starting as cheap as $7.50, where the first / final prize is a package to a desired tournament; and in this case the 2009 World Series of Poker.

So far I’ve been somewhat successful cashing at a rate of 55% reaching a single Step 3 (sigh – busted early when I ran second nut flush into full house and then A♠ K♠ into Kings and eventually pushed with A-9 and lost a flip), along with a handful of Step 2′s after 18 games.

PokerStars Step Satellites Lobby

People say that playing online can be a real grind and I definitely agree. Accordingly I’m only loading a few tables at once and only playing when I feel in a good mood. I have to admit that I’m playing these SNG’s (disregarding how easy people say the first few steps are) really well, making very few, if any, mistakes so far. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can start to pick things up and make that $2,100 Step 6 and take down an entry into my second WSOP!

I decided to sit down and watch a movie the other night and settled on Step Up 2: The Streets from the limited collection Foxtel was able to provide to me at 3am. Basically its a sequel to Step Up about some kids that dance in crews and basically bust some cool moves.

I’m not going to bore you with the plot and how the two main characters fall in love in the final scene, but instead show you the coolest part of the movie (in my opinion). Adam Sevani plays Robert “Moose” Alexander III, and for his portrayal was praised by The New York Times as being “the baddest nerd in movie history”. In the following scene he busts out a freestyle dance to one of my favourite songs on the steps of his school – whether you think its lame or not, for us old-timers some classic Michael Jackson at the end blows the scene up!

Moose Stair Dance

I think nearly everyone that will at one point read a word on this site probably can’t dance (just like me), but you have to admit that there is some appreciation for these hip-hop / crank / RnB / freestyle dancers that can just pull moves whenever they want to put us non-dancing robots to shame!

Yeah, your eyes are probably rolling at how lame you think it is that I like a ‘dance’ movie but don’t worry the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series starts on Sunday, so it will be back to poker from here on in!

As the calender ticked over into 2009 PokerNews purchased poker staking website ChipMeUp, and following in the foot steps of good mates Andrew ‘Adgee’ Jeffreys, Michael ‘TheBigSiCkO’ Guzzardi and Heath ‘TassieDevil’ Chick I decided to jump on the ChipMeUp bandwagon!

Players worldwide can buy and sell shares of themselves in all poker disciplines, a variety of buy-in amounts and from the online felt to live events such as the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series, ANZPT and WSOP. Players sign up for free and create their own user profile. To purchase a stake in a player; simply browse through the extensive list of events, choose the amount or percentage you wish to stake, and then transfer the funds accordingly. All the funds used to purchase a particular stake will go towards the player’s buy-in. While ChipMeUp does not charge for shares purchased, they do however charge a listing fee for when you sell a percentage of yourself.

With the strong online community that ChipMeUp and PokerNews now attracts – along with the ChipMeUp feedback service, all transactions are legitimate and actioned properly ensuring players receive their entitled share.

With the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series only a week away I thought it would a good time to create a profile and post some events where people can buy a piece of me. I’ve decided to only play four events totalling a very affordable $1,460 as we have the ANZPT Sydney, Melbourne Champs and the WSOP ahead of us in the next few months.

On ChipMeUp it is expected that you sell shares of yourself for over market value, but it was very common to see people selling a share at 130-140% plus. So consequently I decided to sell mine cheaper varying from 112-120% so I can start creating a profile on a site that heavily relies on statistics and community support.

To grab a piece of me during the JHDSS or any future events check out my profile before all my shares are snapped up!

For those that are interested The Race To 10k is still kicking strong with Heath logging the first (official – as my PLO final table occurred before the full conditions were finalised) final table of the race winning a $22 PLO tourney on PokerStars for a little over $370 to take the current results to:

thkcduckworth: $2,970
Tassie Devil: $2,749.35 (1 FT bonus)

To catch any further action jump on Facebook: The Race To 10k, Tassie Devil Poker and Tilted Behaviour for every little score and brag!