no soup for you!!

I hate the first step level of the mini steps. It is the only step that you actually must win to advance. I bought into the 2nd step at the begining of my last venture and messed around and got knocked down to the 1st. I played the 1st step 4 different times last night and finally busted out. ho hum...
I'm going to take a couple of days off from playing and go to the lake. Maybe I'll be back up to running over the 2nd step again after the weekend.

WOO HOO, Round 2 money green!!

Well, it's been a while since I last posted, but here you go. As I stated in my last blog entry, I started another round of the step tournaments. After reaching step 4, I got knocked back down to step 2. I think I had to play step 2 two times to get to 3 and then I won the 3rd and 4th steps to get me back to the money step #5. This time around the 5th step was a little more exciting. I still took my wait for the top 5 hands approach early on and then try to capitalize, but this time around I actually got a couple of those hands early on. I believe I got an AKs on about the 5th hand and jacked it up to $90 got one caller. Flopped a K78, bet $100, call. Turn 6, check check. River 9, and the other guy moves in for about $800 which would essentially put me out. I had to fold, I just didn't want to take the chance with there being 4 to a straight on the board. At one point I was down to about $600 pretty early on and then built it back up to around $1100. Then they started dropping like flies. It got down to 5 of us around the $150/300 level and I'm in the money for at least $200 again. I'm sitting with about $800 left, I think I was 1 off the button and I get QQ. UTG raises to $700, I push it all in and the button goes in as well. I'm licking my chops thinking I'm tripling up here. The original raiser turns over JJ, YES, Then the third guy in turns over AK, ooooo. But, I'll be damned if a J didn't hit on the flop and I go out in 5th again. I'm still really pumped about it though. That's twice now that I have made it to the 5th step and cashed. So in the past 2 weeks I have won $370, not too bad.
I immediately started a new 2nd step. I also decided to start celebrating with some beers after I got in the money on the 5th step. This probably wasn't a good idea. I got a re-entry on the 2nd step and played it immediately and then got knocked down to the 1st step. Shit! Now I have to win that to advance to the 2nd again. Oh well. I should be able to accomodate those requirements. I really think the 1st step is one of the hardest steps to advance from though. You have to win it to advance and only 2 - 5 get a re-entry. I might just try to make 6th and get $4 back and then buy back into the 2nd step. We'll see.

Round 2, bring it on!!

Ok, I’m starting a new journey through the steps tonight. I decided to buy directly into level 2 this time for $23. If you buy into level 1 it’s only $6, but you have to win to advance. In level two the top two advance and 3 through 5 get to repeat. I figured I have a good enough shot at getting at least 5th, so it should be easier to advance by doing this.

On to the game. First hand 10/15 level MP I get JJ, one limper, I raise to 55. The blinds fold and the limper calls. The flop came out TK2 two suited, the limper bets 15 I raise to 50, limper folds. Yea! Next few hands uneventful, A6 fold, 66 fold, A7 fold, 96s fold, J7 fold. Big blind, get to see the flop with 53, no help fold to bet. Small blind, KQo, this is a bad play on my part. I don’t like to play this hand out of position. There’s a raise to $30 from MP, and I call, blah. Flop no help I check and fold to $35 bet, should have just folded it to begin with.

Sitting at $850 now, not too bad, $50 more than started with. Folded AJo from EP and the flop came out AJx, stupid. Should have been raising, but I felt like my table image thus far was kind of loose and didn’t think my raise would take too many out of play. A2 fold, T6 fold, 9J fold, 36 fold. 28 in the big, see a flop of AJx, sb bets I fold. T6 fold, Q6 fold, 64 fold.

We are in the 15/30 level now and I pick up AJ again, this time in LP. I bump it to $90 and everyone folds, ho hum.

We are in the $25/50 level now, I skipped a few hands. 79 fold. ATo from UTG + 1, raise to $150 get one caller. Flop A59 two suited. Lead out with $250, caller folds. YEA!! Up to $1075. Next hand KQo UTG, raise to $150 once again, everyone folds!?!? Up to $1150. Lost my blinds to raises. Next hand on the button, AJo. There was an utg raise from a short stack of 320 to $200. I reraise to put him all in and he calls with AQo. I get no help, he catches a queen, I’m down to $755. Fold a couple of hands and then I make a pretty stupid move. I get KJo in UTG+2, I raise to $150. The button, re-raises all in to $545. I’m kicking my self now, but I think about it and fold. I guess it was actually a good recovery from a stupid raise, when I should have just folded. Down to $605 with 8 players left and only two have less than I do. Guess I better tighten up and get aggressive. I get 55 utg and fold.

On to $50/100 level, and I lose my first two blinds. Down to $455. On the button + 2, get A3s. I guess I was hoping to get re-raised as I hoped my ace would stand up. I raised to $300 and got re-raised by someone else moving in for $915. I figured he didn’t want anyone else to call by that move and that he probably didn’t have an ace. Didn’t think long just called and hit an A on the flop. WOO HOO, doubled up. Fold a couple of hands and I’m in the big for $100 with KJo, short stack raises to $460 all in, I fold.

We are now in the $100/200 level and down to six players with the 6th spot being knocked down to step 1 and 3 thru 5 repeating step two. Fold a few more, then get AQo in MP, raise to $500. No callers, up to $1210. Fold some more hands, get in the BB with 6To, folds to SB he calls. I check flop comes out ten high rainbow, I bet out $300 and SB folds. Up to $1410. Next hand in the SB with 33, I limp and the BB checks. Flop comes 743 rainbow. Yum. BB has $2980, I bet out $600 hoping to get all my money in the pot, and I get re-raised all in. I call, he shows 74 for two pair and I double up after neither of us improve. That was a little scary. I guess he could have limped with 56 and flopped a straight, but that was a chance I was willing to take. I’m now up to $2820 and in second place to a guy with $2850 with 3 guys on the brink of being all in blind. I’m sitting good for at least a repeat into step 2. Now it’s time to be hyper aggressive when I get a hand.

I get the BB when the level jumps to $150/300. I have 24 and get to see the flop, A57 two hearts with a MP caller that is also a big stack. Hmm, some possibilities. We both check. Turn 8d, I bet $300, get raised to $600, I call. River, YES, 6c giving me low straight. I bet $500, figuring if he has a higher straight he’ll raise and I can soundly lay mine down. He folds and I’m up to $3870. Fold several hands, lose some blinds, then raise to $750 with crap, T5s in the small trying to steal and get it.

Level jumps to $200/400, I have $3120 with 4 of us left. OTB I get TT. Raise it to $800, BB calls, flop is Q high two hearts. I bet $500 BB folds, up to $4120. Lose my blinds, get QQ otb, raise to $1200 and get them back. Fold a couple then SB folds to me, then I pick up QQ again in the SB. Short stack raises to $580, I re-raise to $1400. Short stack doesn’t improve his A7s and I take him out. Down to 3 of us, I have $4900 the other two have around $1000. Catch 89 OTB, try to steal, wind up calling $200 more to put the short stack all in and catch two pair on the flop. SWEET!! On to step 3 for the second time.

There was a lot more action in this step than any of the previous that I have played. Once again I get to advance in my first attempt at this step.

Mini steppin to some moolah

Well, I finally played my freeroll into the 5th step of the new party poker mini steps, and it payed off to the sum of $200. I don’t have a large bankroll to play with online, seeing how I just started playing online about 8 months ago and bought in for $50, then $50, then $50 more. So this little boost will allow me to start playing some $1/$2 instead of the measley $.50/$1 that I’ve been playing. I typically just play limit, but I'll play the occassional $5 SnG, so I figured I'd try out the new mini steps since they're only $6. Here’s the little journey that took me through the steps.

Bought into step 1 for $6 – 1st place advanced to step 2
Freeroll into step 2 – 1st place advance to step 3
Freeroll into step 3 – 1st place advance to step 4
Freeroll into step 4 – 1st place advance to step 5 WOO HOO
Freeroll into step 5 – 5th place payout $200

I’ll go over my play from the fifth step. As you’ll see it was pretty uneventful but I made one mistake that probably would have gotten me a higher spot. Maybe two mistakes but who’s counting.
First hand A6s from OTB + 1, wasn’t at the computer when the tourney started and got back to it right before my time ran out, so I hurridly clicked call. To my avail everyone limped and then checked through the entire hand and I picked up a $90 pot with pair of sixes, up to $1075. 6Jo fold, 77 MP fold, 38o fold, Q9 fold, 28o fold, K5o fold. Then still in the 10/15 blind level, I get AKo utg and raise it to $55. UTG + 1 reraises to $125, fold around to SB and he flat calls. This wasn’t what I was hoping for, had the re-raise been folded to me I probably would have pushed all in. Instead I folded. I just didn’t want to play that hand out of position at this early point in the tournament; mistake number one. The flop had an ace and both of them got all their money in the pot. The re-raiser had an 87o !?!?!? The SB had AKo and we would have split the other guy’s money, down to $1020. Oh well. Now comes an on-slaught of bad cards 26, 83, 92, J5, etc. So I continuely fold, until in the $50/$100 level I pick up QQ in MP and raise to $300. Everyone folds and I pick up some blinds, up to $1025. Not much more action, I continue to get horrible cards and the only chances I think I might get at stealing someone raises before it gets to me. It gets down to six players in the $100/$200 level and I’m down to $575, but there’s another guy with only $390. I get ATo, the guy with $390 goes in, I re-raise all in and dang, player to my left goes all-in. We’re the only three in the pot, Mr $390 has KJo, the guy to my left has 77, the board comes out, TQ79 DAMMIT, he got a straight. River…..YES Q. Pocket sevens makes his boat and puts the other two of us out to give me 5th place, since I had more chips going into the hand. Whew, barely made it out of that one. I was ecstatic to win that kind of money from my $6 investment. If I hadn’t went in with my AT, I would have still at least gotten 5th and would have had a chance to advance a little further. That said I didn’t know that the pocket sevens were going to call and possibly put the 390 guy out, so I kind of had to since he was a little more desperate than me and likely to be holding less than I was. I guess had I went all in with the AK early on I probably wouldn’t have had to go in when I did, and taken a chance of going out 6th instead of 5th, but these things are all about waiting. If you can wait long enough, you’ll be in the money. As you can see, I only played 2 hands past the flop. Overall, I'm pretty proud of my success through the first 4 steps. Most of the people that I have talked to or read about, have to attempt several of the steps multiple times. I was lucky enough to get through them in one. I am going to start a new journey through them tonight, hopefully it will be as successful. Later