Hello, everyone.
Just wanted to let you know that I will be hosting a small, private donkament on Full Tilt, and you are all invited. The details are as follows:
Name: Hypnotic Poker Japan
Date: Sunday 24th at 8am ET (which I believe is Sunday, May 24th, 9 PM Japan time for those of you in Japanistan)
Password: “roachstation”
Venue: Full Tilt Poker (see “all tournaments”)
Hope to see you all there!
Hello, all. Allow me to introduce myself. They call me the Iron Triangle, and I’m here to talk about my experience qualifying for the All Japan Poker Championship.
After being introduced to poker by Asahi Man about a year ago, I have been slowly growing a bankroll playing micro-stakes Sit-n-Goes, while studying up on tournament poker theory. When Asahi and Hypnotic told me about AJPC qualifier, I figured it would be a great experience to play some live poker, and an excellent opportunity to bum around Tokyo and drink with friends.
Among our four-member party, two were scheduled to play on Saturday and the other two on Sunday. I was slotted for Sunday, and thus had the advantage of watching an entire day of play before actually sitting down myself.
Looking on from the rail was a bit intimidating. Lacking expectations of success, I didn’t really put much pressure on myself to do well. Besides, it was a freeroll, so I had nothing to lose but my pride—making the long walk of shame after getting busted. Thus, the only goal I set for myself to have a good time.
Perhaps I took this carefree attitude a little too far Saturday night. After guzzling too many beers to count at some Thai bar/restaurant in downtown Shinjuku, we ended up drinking the night away in a so-called “kyabakura” club and taking the first train back to my mate’s flat around 6:00 AM. Thus, when I arrived at the tournament later that day, I had a killer hangover, and must have looked like a zombie—which, by the way, is a great way of diminishing live tells.
Going into the event, my basic strategy was to loosen up and play more hands than usual in beginning, in an effort to pick up some pots and built a stack. Thus, when I picked up KTs on the first hand, I wanted to play. But I didn’t want to play for stacks. Facing a huge raise from early position, I quickly threw my cards to the muck. Which was a shame, as I folded what would have turned out to be the best hand in an all-in confrontation between the BB and the original raiser. Before my ass could even get accustomed to the contours of my seat, the BB was busto, and our table was broke. Welcome to freerolls!
After being moved to a new table, I decided to sit back and watch my opponents a bit before getting involved, something I had read about in Tommy Angelo’s book, Elements of Poker. After getting comfortable, I finally played some hands and managed to double up. A little latter, I picked up AKs and called a midget stack who shoved KQs. As fate would have it, though, he made a flush on the river and won the hand. “It’s gonna be one of those days,” I thought.
A little later, I lost to KQ in another confrontation in which I was a favorite to win, leaving me with slightly more than a chip and a chair. Short and desperate, I shoved AJo from late position and was called by the blind, holding AQo. After flopping a jack and doubling up through, my opponent muttered muttered, “Of course, there is no way I could win against an American.” Not wanting to tarnish whatever image he may have had about Britain, I allowed him continue believing I was from the US. Besides, representing a country that stockpiles something like 7000 nuclear warheads might be good for my table image.
Still barley hanging on with a stack around 10 big blinds, I made a rather loose play with AQo in middle position. UTG+1 moved all-in with an incredibly small stack of perhaps 1 to 2 big blinds, and after some consideration the guy to my immediate right also decided to shove with a stack comparable in size to my own. After some quick consideration, I decided to throw caution to the wind and also pushed my chips into the center—a three-way all-in confrontation. Although both Asahi and Hypnotic would later chide me for playing so recklessly, in my defense, there were a few overriding factors that bolstered my decision:
1) It was a freeroll, full of inexperienced players who were playing a wide range of hands. There was a good chance my AQo was the best hand.
2) I had the original raiser covered, so I only needed to beat the guy to my right.
3) My stack was around nine big blinds, so I needed chips ASAP.
And, as it turned out, AQo was in fact the best hand, and I won—thereby knocking out two opponents, breaking the table, and launching myself into the final table with a decent stack.
Although I wanted to sit back and wait for other players to bust out, the blind structure was so quick that I needed to remain active, or risk the possibility of blinding off. Picking up AK, I called the all-in of a midget stack, but his two undercards prevailed.
Once again, I was small and at risk. A rather loose passive UTG limped for 3k. I looked down at my card and saw AJo. Thinking that this might be the best hand I see for a while, I decided to play the hand and made a standard raise of three times the big blinds (9k)—which, as Asahi later told me, was actually a mistake, because I only left myself with 3k and zero fold equity for a continuation bet. I should have simply shoved my entire 12k of my stack in an effort to push out the small blind and isolate the limper. As luck would have it, though, I flopped top pair, and was able to take down the pot and triple up.
In the end, the short stacks at the table didn’t stand a chance, as my tablemates appeared to understand the concept of implied complicity. Every time a midget stack shoved, at least two people called, and checked the pot down, thereby diminishing their chances of winning the pot. Which is exactly how I and another middling stack knocked out the last man and qualified.
Looking back, it was such a wild ride. A little good luck here, a little bad luck there. A little getting sucked out on here, a little sucking out there. I’m not gonna lie to you, I had a great time and learned a lot. Now it’s time to hit the books and brush up for next week. Wish me luck!
PS: I’d to give special thanks to my mentor, friend, editor and “life coach” Asahi Man, with whose help none of this would have been possible. See you at the final table next week!
Hey guys! It appears that DeucesCracked will be launching a DeathDonkey and Danzasmack joint limit holdem video in the next season. No word yet on if they series will feature 6 max, heads up, or full ring. The stakes for which the videos will be was also not mentioned. However, Danzasmack has put out a spoiler with possible the best DeucesCracked series into ever! (Based on the stick figures, I am guessing this was a danzasmack original)
If you are not yet a member of DeucesCracked, you should join right away! They even offer a risk free 7 Day Trial!
Hey guys!
Asahi Man posted about it before, but next month we are going to be playing in the All Japan Poker Championships competing for the national title and a trip to the World Series of Poker this summer.
The founders of DeucesCracked were nice enough to send us a bunch of gear to rock at the tournament to support the site and promote it here in Japan. Thanks!! We will wear it with pride… and hopefully take this thing down so we can kick it with you in Vegas.
Here’s what they sent us
In other news, I had a great day today. I hit the town doing some job search stuff, but then I found this killer little cafe in here in Tokyo. They roast their own coffee right there in the store so the aroma is just amazing and the the joe is freaking nuts. I stayed there for a while drinking coffee and playing poker on my macbook… when I was done I was $2800 richer and had buzz!
Poker:
Doing very well again this month… far better than I could do at any day job. I also would like to thank PygmyHero for giving me a shot out in his blog. Yep, we have come a long way, dog. I owe a lot of it to you, too.
Jobs:
I had a job interview today that went ok, even though I am not particularly interested in it. It is pretty much the same job as I had before only at a smaller company for less money.
Food:
I went to Kua’aina the other day for a burger. It was da grindz. Pineapple burger with a big wave ale. Nothing like buying a $15 burger for lunch when you are unemployed.
Sports:
The Portland Trailblazers are going to shock the world!!
New Stuff:
Lack of wifi in Japan finally annoyed me enough that I signed up for my own mobile internet. It has already paid for itself many times over. I won $1200 the other day while sitting outside at a cafe having an ice coffee on a sunny afternoon!
Today I got a taste of just how lucky I am to be a poker player. Sure, I may not be a high stakes baller killing the game and living a lavish lifestyle, but I surely make enough that it can be my profession. However, as I posted before, I am looking for a day job for various family reasons.
Today I dragged my ass down to the unemployment offices in Tokyo to register… wow, what a dismal place. All of the people there are pissed off and miserable (including the staff). I suppose that it has everything to do with the current economic climate, but everyone there had an aura of desperation. It really made me feel fortunate that even if I don’t find a job, I have poker. It kind of puts things into perspective, I am done complaining about a guy hitting a two outer on the river for a pot that really won’t matter in the long run. Poker has been too good to me to sweat that type of thing. I have other things to complain about… like getting turned down for jobs that pay less in a month than I make in a week at 10/20!
It’s been a really tough week - demoralizing at times. But, finally, after hours and hours of blood, sweat and tears, I’m back in black.
Also of note: I’m done with Full Tilt, and now playing on PokerStars exclusively. Two months ago, I tried to order a hoodie using player points, and they told me that they can’t ship it to Japan. I wrote back and asked if they could send the jerseys, and they replied yes. So I saved up 10k in points, and put in the order, and they immediately wrote back saying they could not send jerseys to Japan. Even after stating my case, they said no, and so I said, “F you, I’m off to Stars.” And, my God, everything has been going great since then, as you can see here:
All in on the turn. I could have called it, actually. My God, I can’t win a hand of poker. Not one.
Down 1.3k in three days multi-tabling 25 and 50 PLO.
Perhaps it’s time to go back to tourneys.
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