Ninja Spade League Game #2 Hand Analysis

Hi guys, back again with commentary on the second game of the iNinja Spade League.  For those that aren’t familiar with the iNinja Spade League, it is a series of tournaments through which players accumulate points.  These points translate into WSOP tournament seats for the top players for each quarter.  In addition, some money from each monthly prize pool is allocated toward WSOP Main Event seats at the end of the year.

The first iNinja Spade league game worked out quite well for me, as I finished second out of thirty players to my friend Brian Soja.  Unfortunately there was some disappointment with that finish, as I played a hand for 90% of the chips where I had to dodge 9 outs twice to win the tournament (I did not win the hand).  Throughout the tournament I played a bit tighter than I usually do and was able to knock players out in some key spots with two tables to go, including 66 > 55 vs Andre and AQ vs QJ vs JC Nellermoe on a Q1010 board for a lot of chips at that point.  In addition, I was able to pick up chips with some 3-bet squeezes out the blinds with big aces.   I didn’t do much at the final table until we got down to three handed, where I started shoving what was now a short stack relatively frequently.  I slowly built my stack up and found a double with KJ vs 10’s against Heidi, the first time I had been all in and called the entire tournament.  I proceeded to knock her out 77 > A5 a few orbits later and then faced Brian HU.

The second iNinja Spade league game proved to be more interesting.  I really liked my table draw for the first game, but this wasn’t the case for the second game.  Both players to my right were pretty strong tournament players as were both players to my left.  I was pretty quiet throughout the first level, as surprisingly several ppl busted very quickly. 

Hand #1 (of significance) that I played I was dealt 2s2c in the hijack and raised to 275 at the 50-100 blind level.  The button called, with only approx. 3k behind in chips, and the BB called as well. Both the BB and I had about starting stack.  The flop came 842ddh, a great texture for me.  BB led out 400 into me, and I called.  Sometimes I will raise a set in this spot but with a short stack on the button I think flatting is best.  Pretty basic spot:  If I flat there he can’t put me on a big pair, and should be shoving any 8, flush draw, or higher pair if he has one.  In addition, if the button ships there it puts the BB in a tough spot, as he won’t want to call and play a big pot OOP with a draw or an 8 if I also call the button’s all in. 

As played, the button folded and a 9c comes on the turn. Great card for me. BB leads out for 700 with about 8.5K behind into a pot of 1625, I raise to 2100.  At this point the texture is getting pretty messy.  With no history vs the BB I need to protect my hand and also try to get value. In addition, with this sizing I should have a pot sized bet left for the river, which lines up well for an all in on a blank river. 

Surprisingly, the BB 3-bet me to 3500, he ‘clicked it back’ as we online folk like to say.  At this point I was pretty confused.  If he had a big draw wouldn’t he shove to try and push me off a one pair hand? If he had two pair wouldn’t he shove as well on a somewhat messy board?  As someone who takes pride in their hand reading skills, unfortunately, I had no idea what his bet meant.  However, what I did know, is that I had a set and almost certainly had the best hand.  Thus, I shipped it all in for 5K more, eliciting a fold after a minute or so from the BB.  I honestly have no idea what the BB had, but was happy to chip up in this spot without sweating a river.

Hand #2

Hand #2: Fast forward several more levels into the tournament.  The blinds are now 300/600/ 75 ante.  The table dynamic has changed since the last hand we played, as Sam De Silva sat down and accumulated a massive stack when he won a 3 way all in with AA vs QQ, and K10 of a short stack. 

In this specific hand, Sam opened UTG + 1 to 1300, Andrew Null flatted the button, and I flatted from the BB with A6cc.  At this point I had 22k in chips, so A6s was at the bottom of my range for hands that I would flat a raise from the BB with. Usually I would fold A6 to any raise from early position, but considering Sam was opening almost every hand, I felt like I could defend here.

The flop come 873 rainbow, not the greatest flop for my hand. I checked, Sam checked, and Andrew checked back the button.  At this point I had no clue what Sam had, but figured Andrew didn’t have an 8,7, or over pair, as he would bet the flop to protect his hand.  I planned on leading most safe turns (8 or lower, as this flop hits a BB flat range relatively well).

The turn came a 5, a great card for my hand.  If an A came I wouldn’t be confident that I had the best hand, as both Sam and/or Andrew could easily have a bigger ace.   I led out for 2700 into a pot of 4500, and surprisingly both Sam and Andrew called.   I put Sam on a hand similar to mine, maybe two overs and a gutshot, or an A4 or A2 hand that had a gutshot with one overcard.  I started to second guess myself on Andrew’s hand, as it was tough for me to put him on a pair on the flop.  Maybe he had A6 as well or a hand like 65? Maybe J10? A9? I wasn’t thrilled to get two callers in a spot where I was semibluffing, and would have to reevaluate the river.

The river came an A, an interesting card for my hand.  Although this might have been the best card for my hand, I decided to check the river for several reasons. (1) The A could’ve given Sam or Andrew two pair (2) It could’ve given one of them aces with a better kicker (3) It’s a great card to bluff, as it’s tougher for me to have a big ace in the blinds (considering Sam’s opening range I’m 3-betting AJ-AK here).  After I checked, Sam thought for a bit and bet 3k into the pot, which was now 12.6K.  Andrew tanked for a bit less than a minute and gave up his hand. 

At this point, I instantly thought “I have to call.” In a vacuum I’m getting 5-1 on a call here.  However, Sam’s bet looked like such a value bet, and I couldn’t beat much that is betting for value in a three way pot.  I did however, take into consideration that Sam could be betting with a worse ace than me. He could’ve been value betting with an A2 or A4 type of hand.  Next, my check disguises my hand.  The way I’ve played the hand makes it look like I have a middle pair and the ace is a bad card for my hand, when in fact, it’s a great one for me.  Therefore in terms of second level thinking, Sam could be thinking that I can’t call the river unless I have an A, because if I had an A in my hand I would’ve (most likely) made two pair and bet out.  Do I know if he was thinking about the hand this way? Of course not, but I know that Sam is a tough player who can show up with a lot of hands.  I decided to call after a minute or so and won the pot.  I’m guessing I win in this spot less than half the time, but getting 5-1 on my money was too good a price to muck my hand.

There is a few other hands from this game that I found particularly interesting but couldn’t fit into this blog.  I’ll try and write about those soon.  I’ve really enjoyed the Ninja Spade games so far, as it’s enjoyable to play poker not only against tough opponents, but also against my friends. You can check out the full website here, as my friend Issac has done a great job putting it together: http://ininjapoker.com

Canterbury $235 Wednesday Tourney Hand Analysis

Hi guys, in light of the start of Ninja Spade League: a series of tournaments through which players earn points to win WSOP tournament buy ins, I’ve decided to start writing more hand analyses and commentaries.  I don’t have as many impressive tournament results as some of my peers, as I have pretty strict bankroll management when it comes to tourneys and haven’t taken shots at many bigger buy in events.  However, I do believe that people respect my game and my thoughts about it.  Although I play more cash games than tournaments, I’m a student of the game who loves analyzing tough and tricky situations in poker hands.  In this post I’ll walk you through a hand I played in a poker tournament last month, and I would love to hear your feedback!

Minnesota has the luxury of two great poker rooms where games run around the clock and tournaments are hosted daily: Canterbury Park and Running Aces.  This hand is from the Wednesday night tournament at Canterbury Park, a $235 buy in with re-entries through the first 2 hours (4 – 30 minute levels).

Starting the hand with 11,700 chips at the 100-200 blind level, I’m dealt AQcc in the cutoff.  It’s folded around to an older reg who has some strong tourney results, much stronger than mine, in middle position, and he limps for 200 with 7500 to start the hand.  I raise to 600, the button and both blinds fold, and the reg in MP calls 400 more.

Flop comes Qh8d2h, a great board for my AQcc.  MP checks and I fired 500.  MP calls.  The reason why I bet so small here is because (a) my hand is very strong on this board, (b) if I bet bigger he might fold a one pair hand that has little equity against me.  In addition, I don’t mind pot-controlling with my bet sizing in case the board gets scary.

Turns comes an As, giving me top two.  However, this isn’t a great card for most of his calling range on the flop.  I doubt that MP is floating me out of position with A high’s that aren’t A high flush draws, and so the only two pair hands I’m probably getting value from are A8 and A2.  However, if I flopped air or a pair lower than queens, this is a great card to bluff him off a Q.  Regardless, I proceeded to bet 1500 into a pot of 2500, giving him a steep price to draw to a flush, but betting low enough that he could shove all in and leave me some fold equity (obviously I’m not folding top two here, but I want him to think I'm weak and want him out the pot).  MP called my bet leaving 4800 behind and we head to a river.

River comes a 10h, boom! Both the flush and two gutterball straights get there on the river.  I’m not too concerned about MP hitting a gutshot without hearts, but he could feasibly call the turn with a hand like 89hh, 87hh, KhJh, or AhXh.  If he ships the river here for 4800 into 5500, I’m faced with a tough, polarized spot.  Fortunately he checked to me quite quickly, and gave off the impression that the river was a bad card for his hand.  Thus checking was out of the question: I was convinced I had the best hand.

Considering my line on this hand, betting between 2500-3500 would be pretty standard.  However, if I value bet the river there’s little chance MP calls me with a one pair hand, as the board is pretty messy by the river.  If he has a QJ or KQ type hand, he might call a small bet like 1000-1500 on the river, but that looks fishy and I’m sure MP would catch on to that.  After some deliberation I decided to go all in for my remaining 9,100 (4800 effective as it was more than MP had).  Much to my surprise, MP shrugged and tossed in the rest of his chips.  I tabled AQ for top two and he flashed me A2dd for a lower two pair and got up from his seat. 

In this case I was fortunate enough to run into one of a few hands that would pay me off on the river.  I’m guessing that MP thought I could be bluffing and the river card was a good one for me to continue on.  In addition, he did have two pair and could beat a hand like Q10 or AK that has some value.  Do you think I took a good line on this hand?  Even though I did win all my opponent’s chips on this hand, is going all in on this board the best play on the river or do you prefer checking or betting much smaller?  Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your feedback

- Rob Brereton

The Big One for One Drop: More Than a Poker Tournament

Most poker enthusiasts like myself are familiar with The Big One for One Drop: a $1,000,000 buy in poker tournament where $111,111 of each buy in is donated to the One Drop.  One Drop is a charity created by Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque de Soleil. Its mission is to improve the living conditions of people worldwide by providing access to safe water:(http://allinforonedrop.com/en/impact/). 

Antonio Esfandiari won the inaugural One Drop in 2012 for a cool $18.3 million.  Obviously it’s a fantastic accomplishment to win that much money against some of the best players in the world, but what’s more important in my eyes is the fact that One Drop and Antonio bring out the ‘good’ in poker by giving back to the community and putting the game in a positive light.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about this year’s champion: Dan Colman, who defeated Daniel Negreanu heads up for the title.

Colman, known as ‘mrgr33n13’ online, barely spoke with the media and frankly didn’t seem excited to have won The Big One for One Drop tournament.  Several days after the tournament he wrote a post on poker community forum Two Plus Two explaining his thoughts on the game, labeling poker to be “a very dark game” and that so few people are able to turn a profit. 

Regardless of how truthful his assertion’s are, they are hypocritical coming from a person who makes a living playing a game against people that are worse at said game then him.  He essentially says that people are ‘tricked’ into playing poker, and that a minimal percentage of players turn a profit playing poker.  I see his points, and he’s right that more people lose at poker than win at it, but if he’s so against the game itself why does he even play.  Does he gain any satisfaction winning money from people who have been ployed into playing poker through marketing schemes that prey on people’s impulses? 

Negreanu helps attract new players to play poker

Almost all of Colman’s rationale is counter-productive to his future success in the industry.  If he and   Despite his insistence that poker is a dark game, lots of people are capable of playing within their means and enjoying poker while still living a comfortable life.  In addition, individuals like him who aren’t friendly and don’t seem to care won’t bring more people into the game.  Poker isn’t televised nearly as much as it was five to ten years ago, and Daniel Colman winning the One Drop certainly won’t help increase it's viewership or popularity.  Although he plays very well and his win was impressive, poker as a whole would’ve been much better off if a player like Daniel won. 

other pro’s want to keep being successful, a great way to maintain that success is to attract new players to the game.

What Colman didn’t understand is that, at least in my personal opinion, the One Drop tournament transcends the ‘game’ aspect of poker.  Colman says it doesn’t, and I vehemently disagree.  Not only is the One Drop tournament fantastic publicity for the good that poker can do, but also a stage for the top players in the world to welcome new players to the game with their warm personalities and passion for the game.  Unfortunately, Colman displayed neither of those attributes.  I congratulate him on his win and can understand where he comes from, but I truly hope a player like Antonio and Daniel Negreanu wins the next one, as it would be much better for the game of poker as a whole. 

Adrian Peterson: Why the Minnesota Vikings should trade him!

Life isn't easy being a Lions fan, especially the past few seasons.  Up until the 2011 season we Lions fans had failure deeply rooted into our heads. We didn't expect anything from the team, and the team didn't expect much from us in return.  Now that the Lions organization has finally built a team that has a chance to contend each year, losing is even more painful! Now, I finally understand what it's like to be a Vikings fan.

As a resident of Minnesota since 2007, I've watched almost every Minnesota Vikings game with many Vikings fans.  One pattern that I've noticed is the expectation of brilliance followed by failure.  Vikings fans expect their team to excel during certain parts of a season or game, but assume that the team will fall apart in the 4th quarter or the playoffs.  Has this mentality been ingrained in fans heads due to the lack of Super Bowl victories or the shortcomings of incredibly talented teams? Arguably yes, and unfortunately, it doesn't allow Vikings fans to appreciate what they have.  Like the Lions in the 1990's, the Vikings have been blessed with arguably the best running back in football for the past seven seasons. Just like the Lions, the presence of such a player hasn't led to as much success as the Vikings franchise and it's fan base would expect.  So, as a rational observer, I think it's best for the Vikings to hit the reboot button and trade Adrian Peterson.

Considering I am not a Vikings fan, it's easy for me to proclaim that the team should trade it's best player.  Some will argue that the Vikings are just a strong quarterback away from contention, as they did make the playoffs with Christian Ponder for the 2012 season.  However, the Minnesota Vikings problems extend much further than the quarterback position, although it is definitely an issue.  On defense, the Vikings ranked 31st against the pass and allowed the most points in the NFL.  Even if the Vikings had Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, they wouldn't get near the Super Bowl with that defense.  Trading Adrian Peterson for several draft picks would allow the Vikings to draft some impact players and hopefully develop them into superstars.

In addition, the Vikings could take a chance on a younger quarterback with high upside.  A common theme from Super Bowl champions within the past fifteen years is a younger QB or a core of young defensive players who are worth a lot more than the salary they earn: ex. Brady and Roethlisberger earlier in their careers, Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas this year.  Would the Seahawks be able to put together a championship roster paying Wilson $15 million a year and a player like Sherman $10 million per year? Absolutely not.  But they're young players who have developed into superstars on a manageable contract.  I sincerely hope that the Vikings can follow this same model that teams like the Seahawks and 49ers have used to ensure for their success.  If the Vikings trade Adrian Peterson now while he still has a few good seasons left in him, they might be able to draft a young core of players that can put the ball in motion to start building toward a Super Bowl contender in 2-3 years.  Will Vikings management realize that one or two seasons of rebuilding followed by success is better than a few more mediocre seasons with arguably the best running back in football? Minnesota fans can only hope...