It's a Trap!

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away Admiral Ackbar uttered the classic "It's a trap!" line as the Rebel Alliance attacked a fully operational Death Star. As a kid I loved these movies and I have enjoyed watching them again with my own kids thirty years later. The joy of setting a trap is not just for those prone to the dark side. In poker one of the greatest feelings comes from executing a successful trap move. When I started playing this involved slow playing a set. These days I trap mainly using my old friends aces and kings. In early position at most stages of a sit n go or tournament I regularly limp with super premium hands. Often faced with a raise I then exploit my confused opponents by re-raising big style. In a mixed start to the year I have had one notable success on Pokerstars which developed out of this trapping with kings and aces strategy:

PokerStars Tournament #1099432314, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $13.78/$1.22 USD 
45 players 
Total Prize Pool: $620.10 USD  

Tournament started 2015/01/04 17:56:20 ET 
Tournament finished 2015/01/04 19:11:50 ET 

  1: Kartajana (United Kingdom), $192.26 (31.004%) 
  2: pipiki (Greece), $133.32 (21.499%) 
  3: Matheeeew (Slovenia), $102.31 (16.498%) 
  4: Leviathan74 (Greece), $77.51 (12.499%) 
  5: DrTee28 (United Kingdom), $55.80 (8.998%) 
  6: wondras3005 (Czech Republic), $37.20 (5.999%) 
  7: cockneyboy19 (United Kingdom), $21.70 (3.499%) 


So if you do come across me at the tables limp, three betting you don't need to be a Jedi to work out what I have. Cheers and may the force be with you in 2015.

Disney Feel Good Factor

On returning from a family holiday in Disney World Florida I was expecting to be a little rusty for my return to online poker. I had genuinely low expectations as I sat down for my usual nightly set of games given my overnight flight the day before. However, following a wonderful break I was mentally refreshed and in a happy place. As such any jet lag was offset by what I will call a feel good factor. This is a great mental state to make good aggressive poker decisions. In previous blog posts I have strongly linked my good results to a very positive mindset. 

    Having cashed in a couple of dirty dozen sit n gos I was also showing good promise in one of the two daily double contests. Without too much trouble or too much luck I made the final table and before long was down to the last three, albeit with only ten percent of the chips. Of the two remaining opponents it was clear one was very good and one was not. With enough time left even with my chip stack I was able to slowly pull myself level with the other two players. I then knocked out the good player in a classic coin flip and was able to seal the win against a very passive heads up opponent. It was quite a stressful heads up process though as the winner got an extra $100. With relatively low blind levels I choose to take a low ball approach to this contest given the clear edge I had. Twice my opponent was on the ropes but fought back but I eventually prevailed. A $297 return on my first night back is very satisfying.

Thanks a lot Mickey and friends. See you next time. 

Daily Double Delight

My life and my poker are running pretty good in October. Last night I had the perfect mental setting for what became my best poker night of the year. I started playing straight after England qualified for the World Cup in Brazil next year by beating Poland 2-0. Whilst this gave me a massive mood boost my general sense of well-being is at a highpoint. We are busy at work. My daughter looks increasingly like getting into a wonderful secondary school. We are currently voting to name my latest racehorse. My family are all enjoying good health and we have just booked the holiday of a lifetime at Disneyland Florida for next year. I also recently watched my first live NFL game at Wembley Stadium. OK so I look like shit and am always tired but you can't have everything!

Anyway I played the Full Tilt daily double games, around one hundred and fifty players competing in each. My returns for my 2 x $12 investment and around three hours of my time were as follows:

$90 for 5th place in game A

$90 for 5th place in game B

$6.96 for cashing in both games

$37.14 for the best average finish in both games

$371.41 for final tabling both games

I played really well and also got good cards or won some key coin tosses when I needed to most. Just shy of $600 is a pretty good nights work and I have generally been doing well in these games and the Dirty Dozen Jackpot games in October. To keep my feet on the ground my tentative action on Pokerstars continues to be for no reward.

Good luck
Jason (Kartajana)

180

Finally, I have had a decent result in a 180 man MTT. This year I have played quite a lot of these games and had a very poor record. It was not the first place I was looking for but second place for $264 is a good result for me and is pretty satisfying. Luck was certainly with me but I also played well in crucial spots. My efforts last month in MTTs have finally reaped some returns I think. Heads up my A3 lost to 33 but only near the end did I have a real chance to win. Three handed and short stacked my A9 held up against Kings so I cannot complain. A welcome boost at a time when I am contemplating my poker future and my form in the Jackpot Sit N Gos is patchy at best.

PokerStars Tournament #617715931, No Limit Hold'em

Buy-In: $7.34/$0.66 USD
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $1321.20 USD
Tournament started 2012/09/21 18:25:25 ET
Tournament finished 2012/09/21 20:06:55 ET
  1: freitas1001 (Brazil), $396.42 (30.004%)
  2: Kartajana (United Kingdom), $264.24 (20%)
  3: King Souljar (Germany), $157.22 (11.899%)
  4: glaskarten (Germany), $105.69 (7.999%)
  5: Dr. House 73 (Switzerland), $85.87 (6.499%)
  6: langace66 (Hungary), $66.06 (5%)
  7: Natek258 (Canada), $46.24 (3.499%)
  8: widesteel (Russia), $34.35 (2.599%)
  9: bootlebird (United Kingdom), $22.46 (1.699%)

Congratulations to Freitas1001 who played very well and deserved the win. It is always nice to beat the Germans though. :)

Kartajana The Coach?

This year I have been working with a young Danish player on strategy for the Jackpot Sit N Go games. In May I passed on my strategy document for the Maui jackpot games and exchanged e-mails with him about specific hand ranges and a more detailed explanation of  my approach. More recently we having been working on the Rio games for which I have a significantly different strategic approach. Again I have passed on some strategy notes but the most interesting aspect has been exchanging hand histories for the Rio games and then discussing certain key hands. I think this has been helpful to both of us. It has certainly made me think a lot more about what I am doing and why I am doing it.

 

Interaction like this with fellow jackpot players was one of the reasons I did this blog. I have exchanged information and e-mails with a handful of others but this has been the most productive interaction to date at least from my point of view. And from his I think for sure. One really pleasing aspect is that in June he won the Maui jackpot for $15000. Perhaps he should be coaching me! Certainly he is a good player who seems keen to get better. A very good combination. I would certainly not rule out him bagging a Rio Jackpot if he plays enough games. The Jackpot stands at $110,000 currently so for now I am trying to beat him to it!

Good luck to us both.

Rio Consolation Win

Twelve days in to my latest mini challenge to play 250 Rio games I have won a consolation bonus of $300 for a sequence of 112212. This is the first one I have won for a couple of years so is particularly satisfying. The way the games fell I was able to approach the final game the way I described in my "Winning The Final Jackpot Game" post with the simpler task of targeting first or second.  I had no distractions, assessed my opponents and played just this one game. I played well and got the luck I needed, particularly on one key late hand. Key Hand 1 AQ v KQ With five players left I three bet an opening limp and was called. The flop was queen high and the chips flew in with my ace kicker helping me double up. This gave me a great platform to build upon to secure a top two spot.   Key Hand 2 33 v 99 Four handed with a slight chip lead and high blinds I shoved with threes only to be called by nines. A three on the river helped me secure a dominant lead and ultimately a second place finish. I should remember by luck in this spot as otherwise I was the short stack and unlikely to make the top two. GameID Date (UTC+0100) Type EntryFee Position Profit  656953481   12-May-12  00:35   NL Holdem    $20 2/6 $12.50  656924241   11-May-12  22:39   NL Holdem    $20 1/6 $36.50  656923951   11-May-12  22:31   NL Holdem    $20 2/6 $12.50  656649151   11-May-12  00:22   NL Holdem    $20 2/6 $12.50  656649541   11-May-12  00:11   NL Holdem    $20 1/6 $36.50  656635171   10-May-12  23:28   NL Holdem    $20 1/6 $36.50 In a few days I will update the position on my "Readers Rio Challenge" which is going pretty well after a difficult start. It is good to know I have already completed the toughest part of it. I also intend to do a few posts on overall Rio Jackpot Sit N Go strategy, though this is genuinely work in progress. Good Luck.

Full Tilt Pro defeated

I play occasional sit n gos on Full Tilt and when I get the opportunity will test myself against the sites pros if they play at the lower value games. In a recent $11 game a was sat to the right of South African Pro Ryan Dreyer and managed to win with the pro knocked out on the bubble. To be fair he outplayed me significantly on one hand but I played it safe (retreating in the face of strength) and fought back well in later hands.     Full Tilt Poker Tournament Summary $11 + $1 Sit & Go (Turbo) (240034847) Hold'em No Limit Buy-In: $11 + $1 Buy-In Chips: 1500 9 Entries Total Prize Pool: $99 Tournament started: 2011/06/06 18:48:47 ET Tournament finished: 2011/06/06 19:26:19 ET 1: Kartajana, $49.50 2: jimmyforreal, $29.70 3: break_evan, $19.80 4: Ryan Dreyer 5: Maria_Lupita 6: calmon 7: Logonat 8: Vins10 9: leo452 Kartajana finished in 1st place Following my recent holiday I have started June well. My Maui progress is somewhat volatile as usual but heading in the right direction.

$500 Freeroll Win

As part of a Betfred May sit n go promotion I qualified, along with only twenty nine others for a $1000 freeroll which was based on playing over 150 sit n gos in May. The payout structure was very top heavy which initially was a concern with only the top three getting paid. On finding myself at the final table with an average stack I needed to get lucky to be in the money. And I did. I hit a flush with an aggressive semi-bluff move against kings and more critically on the bubble won a 99 v AA battle by hitting a flush on the river. Once in the money I played really well and held my nerve to take the first prize.

 

Sit N Go Chase $1000 Freeroll 2011-06-05

 

1. Kartajana $500

2. Eviit $300

3. Zufallsgenie $200

 

Significantly I have now won nearly the same playing freerolls as I have playing the Maui games themselves. Of course without playing the Maui games I would not qualify for the freerolls. I should play the higher value ones as often as I can. This particular type of opportunity is rare but there is a weekly £1000 freeroll that attracts a couple of hundred players. I should play this game as often as possible to boost my Poker earnings. 

 

Long live the freeroll!

Boost From Pokerstars Cash

While I try to get my Maui Challenge back on track following a recent downswing I can take heart from a decent cash on Pokerstars. Whilst 80% of my poker is centered on the Maui Sit N Gos I do play some games on Full Tilt and Pokerstars. Full Tilt has gone well this year but I have had a nightmare on Stars until this game. My previously absent luck has been stored up my the kind folks at Pokerstars to help me come second in this multi-table sit n go from having almost no chips. This is a decent cash for me and puts me nicely ahead overall in March to date. Hopefully it will boost my overall poker confidence for the Maui games.     PokerStars Tournament #373938888, No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $11.00/$1.00 USD 180 players Total Prize Pool: $1980.00 USD Tournament started 2011/03/11 18:37:47 ET Tournament finished 2011/03/11 20:34:43 ET   1: kolll77 (Ukraine), $594.00 (30%)   2: Kartajana (United Kingdom), $396.00 (20%)   3: besoccer10 (United States), $235.62 (11.9%)   4: Gimmidaloot7 (Canada), $158.40 (8%)   5: waslander (Netherlands), $128.70 (6.5%)   6: gutu47 (Spain), $99.00 (5%)   7: 6daxtilos (Cyprus), $69.30 (3.5%)   8: leoninas (Argentina), $51.48 (2.6%)   9: mata070 (United States), $33.66 (1.7%)

Despite numerous elements of good luck throughout, including at the final table where the pay jumps got bigger and bigger I still ended the game annoyed at not winning having had a dominant chip lead heads up at one stage.

 

On reflection I am very happy with second having subsequently noted the number of winning players at the final table. Well done me and congrats to kolll77.