Farewell From The Monster Stack

By: The Monster Stack (Guest Blogger)

Hello,

I have decided that, since I enjoy writing poker articles so much, I would go ahead and create a blog of my own. I have enjoyed writing for The Poker Grind blog and would like to thank TPG for giving me the opportunity to test drive my writing skills on his blog and giving me complete creative freedom in my posts. The articles that I have written for TPG will remain on this site and a copy has been posted on my new blog located at http://www.themonsterstack.com/. I hope to continue to contribute to this blog periodically as time permits. I would like to thank all of those who have read my articles and posted their comments. I truly appreciate it and I hope that you will join me over at my new site. Feel free to link me up and I will gladly return the favor.

See you on the felt,
The Monster Stack

ThePokerGrind.net Bouny Tournament

Hey all , tonight is my weekly TPG dot net Bounty tourney ,


Im not sure i will be able to make it , I will be in West Palm Beach , FL visiting the in-laws and not sure if ill have an internet connection , in the meantime i registered for the tourney anyways so regardless you will all have some extra dead money to fight for , good luck all , i also dont know how many players we will have this week since i didnt promote it too much bec of the traveling

Finally Got it Done.....

Sorry it took so long , i had a hectic week

This past Sunday we had a tremendous turnout to the weekly TPG dot net Bounty Tournament, 28 players... As usual i didnt do too well , but during the 1st break I was the chip leader...I want to say that I lost with a KK vs AA , but i think i just bluffed away too many chips , and prob did a last ALL IN push with ACE-Rag , and got caught with pocket QQ or something . Although i did earn 1 bounty along the way , knocking out last weeks winner BustedFlush123.



I was unable to watch the end of the game , So i dont have all the details , i was planning on looking at the last hand history , but the table somehow got closed before i got back and well here is a list of the 4 skilled players who made some dough

4th Place - Dr Pauly , is this the legendary Dr pauly , taopoker.blogspot.com ? i have to reaser some more , and is this the same dr pauly who write a column in Bluff Magazine ,

3rd place - KobeShow , this is my boy from brooklyn , now you can send me back the $22 for the buyin , enjoy playing in the Hard rock this week in hollywood FL

2nd place - mrsa1 , thanks for sending me back the buyin!!! , welcome to full tilt , and i will see u next week , p.s. 4 places got paid in this tourney

1st place - Astin was our most skilled player tonight and took this down, you got $189 and im curious to know how many bounties you collected , Im also a subscriber to your blog via my Google Reader , and ive also just linked you up on my blogroll, I hope to see you in next weeks game

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I went to the Borgata on wednesday to "practice" my live tourney play in anticipation of my PCA trip, I was all ready and went to sleep early on tuesday so i can wake up and be there for the morning 11am tourney, however i woke up early and my son was sick , SO i spent the morning in the dr. office , thank g-d everything is ok , and i decided to work for 3 or 4 hours and be at the borgata for the 7pm tourney . I arrived 2 hours early and after registering for the tourney i sat down at a $1/$2 table with $100 , About an hour later i walked away with $463 profit . The tourney didnt work out at all , i busted out on the first hand after the break.
But all in all it was a profitable trip

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I have been playing alot of 2/4 online , alot , ive had some swings but i am doing very well and im up , i got lucky a few times and had some coolers , but in the end , when im playing well im making dough...and when im playing bad is when im losing dough
December bankroll 5900 ( this does not include my win at the borgata )
dec profit 3900

Im having an excellent month at the 2/4 tables , and i just started playing a 2nd table , and playing 2 tables at a time seems to be ok , even on a laptop ,

I still need to install pokertracker , ill defintiely try to have pokertracker installed for jan 1

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Long Awaited Update .....

I have been playing alot of 2/4 and havent had any time to blog or even update , ive been doing well and i will post a recap of last weeks TPG Bounty Tourney , which had the most players ever , 28 !...I will post soon

Razz Sit and Go (SNG) Strategy

By: The Monster Stack (Guest Blogger)

Hello,

I will begin with the usual prefix that I am not a Sit and Go (SNG) expert but when it comes to Razz, I think I have an edge in any tournament in which I play. If I don't cash in multi-table Razz tournaments I usually go deep. I have several wins in Razz MTTs and even more final tables and cashes. Additionally, Razz is my favorite game to play and more than likely my best game. That said, I have played in enough Razz SNGs with enough cashes and wins to be somewhat of an authority in this rarely played game and about which there is little written.

I thought of writing a general Razz strategy article but I figured it would lend some context to various situations that arise during Razz play (OK, I don't really address specific situations in this article but the thought was nice). I also have the hope that more people will play in the Razz SNGs offered at so many online poker sites (as I write this article I have been registered in a Razz tourney for the past hour and so far, only one other person has registered). One of the reasons for you to consider learning this form of poker is that most others are not very good at it. What I mean is that since so many online players are playing No Limit Hold 'Em, if you were to master Razz you would have an edge over most players at a Razz table. At the lower limits there are many players who do not even understand the basics of Razz but play anyway. It's a great way to build your Hold 'Em bankroll.

The first thing to understand is that Razz, like all Stud games, is played eight-handed. This is because if, theoretically, every player at the table were to see all seven cards there would not be a sufficient number of cards in the deck to deal every player their full hand (8 players times 7 cards equal 56). In that extremely rare case (I have see it once at the micro-limits when the hand was checked around) the seventh card is dealt as a community card. To limit the possibility of this occurring the game is played eight-handed. So when you enter a Razz SNG you have a one in eight chance (37.5%) of cashing, which is slightly better than your odds at a Hold 'Em or Omaha table.

If there was only one piece of advice that I could give in Razz, whether it is for a cash game, MTT or SNG, it would be patience. More than any other game, I believe that this is the one skill that needs to be perfected. Don't make excuses to play hands. I have looked at my statistics from SNGs, MTTs and cash games in which I did well and I have played about 20% of my hands. If I am being aggressive or happen to catch a run of cards then that number could climb as high as 25% (wow!). Patience will win you money in this game.

So why is patience so important (there are a plethora of other important points but this is number one in my book)? Consider how Razz is played. Each player is dealt seven cards in total. The first three are dealt two down and one up (3rd street). There is a betting round. Then three more cards are dealt face up to each player one at a time with a betting round after each card is dealt (4th, 5th and 6th streets respectively). Then a seventh and final card is dealt face down with a final betting round (7th street). Third street and 4th street are played at the lower betting round and 5th-7th are played at the higher betting round. Unlike in Stud, a double bet is not allowed on 4th street if there is a pair showing. So in a $5-$10 game the first two rounds are $5 each which gets capped at four bets (actually one bet and three raises) and the last three rounds are played at the $10 level. Razz is usually played at as a Limit game although me and my insanely aggressive friends have been known to play Stud style games as Pot Limit (you won't find that online).

OK. Now that I got that out of the way, why is patience so important? Let me continue. The way to win at Razz is to hold the five lowest cards (pairs are bad) with ace playing as low. So 5-4-3-2-A is the best hand with 6-4-3-2-A being second best and so on. Paint cards are bad as are pairs. K-5-3-2-A loses to Q-J-T-9-8, for example (the former being a king-low and the latter being a queen low). The reason patience is so important in this game is that good low hands are not made that often. Chasing only gets you in trouble and costs you precious bets. So before I play a hand I need to start off pretty well on 3rd street. For this reason I often don't play that many hands since my starting requirements are very strict. I won't chase a hand no matter what. Again, each bet, particularly in a tournament structure where escalating blinds eat up your stack, is a precious commodity.

When I do have a hand I play it aggressively on 3rd street and if I brick 4th Street (catch a paint card or an open pair) I will usually slow down. Part of being patient means giving up losing hands as well as not chasing. Depending upon what my opponent(s) have hit on 4th street, I will proceed accordingly. If I begin with (3-5)-A and hit a J on 4th Street and my opponent hit a K on 4th Street, I will lead out if he is showing something like (x-x)-7-K. I am ahead with a better draw so I don't want to miss any bets here. But if I hit paint in 4th street and he hits a low card I might slow down (if he hits an ace and I am familiar with his play I might continue thinking he paired his ace, but that is more advanced Razz).

The idea is to get into the money (ITM) in these Razz SNGs. Once that happens you are assured a shot at the top prize no matter your stack size. The reason is, as many Razz players are aware, that the Limit tournament structure us horrible online. By the time you reach the money, even the chip leader is one hand from being gone or the severe short-stack. So now it is largely a matter of catching the right cards at the right time. By being patient you will have given yourself this chance. Additionally, you will notice that by being patient you will often have a decent chip stack. It doesn't take too many hands to build a stack. One or two hands at the middle limits and you will have a nice stack. You should only play monsters early on since winning pots at this stage will not matter much. I like to win a few small pots early on to stay afloat, win a couple of medium to large pots in the middle rounds and then take it down at the higher level.

I cannot stress how important patience is in Razz SNGs and Razz in general. It is not a game of aggression in the same sense that No Limit Hold 'Em is (although there are times when you must be aggressive in Razz but I will save that for a future article). So remember, play patiently, don't find excuses to play hands (such as, I am the bring-in anyway with a jack up and a 7-3 in the hole at it's only 2/3 of a bet to me), be aggressive when you do pick up a big hand on 3rd street, continue if you hit big on 4th Street and for heaven's sake, don't chase hands. When you do make a hand on 5th street, bet it, raise, re-raise it if it is a monster. Get your money in while ahead. If you have a big hand make sure you don't leave money on the table. Every bet counts.

Be on the lookout for Razz strategy articles. I hope to write some that will be chock full of tips and strategy to help you take your Razz game to the next level or at least above the level of everyone else at your table. This article is far from a complete strategy for Razz SNGs and Razz in general. I wanted to introduce the subject so that future Razz articles will make more sense. So, use this as your starting guide and lookout for further articles on the subject.

See you on the felt,
The Monster Stack

December Update & Other Stuff

I played about 4 hours of 2/4 since my last post , i was down most of it but had a lucky comeback 2 hands in a row, i havent been good with saving my hands , but ill post it up on pokerhand.org eventually.
december bankroll 4055
december profit 2055

last night i logged on late , about 12am and was a bit too tired for a 2/4 game , especially since i want to make $$ , so just to have a good time i played a 45 person $11 tourney , i came in 2nd place , it was a bad last hand , but 2nd place aint too shabby.I am practicing my tourney game , my goal is not even to win but just to place in the money . Ill be in bahamas soon playing the big event , and i obviously cant really see myself winning , not that i dont think im capable , but more that its like a lottery , think about it , to win that , Im not saying i have to suck out ever on someone , but all my coin flips have to go my way , especially if im the one all in. I also need all my draws to hit and be able to take down pots.
But placing IN THE MONEY is is nice , it will be a minimum of 10-15k and since i won my entry it would be a nice addition to my 7 nights in hotel , airfare, spending money , etc ...i guess im a winner even before i go, and the chance to play in a high stakes tourney is just icing on the cake.....

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Tonight , Every Sunday night play in my tourney, ITS a bounty tourney , $20 +2 , $15 goes towards the prize pool and $5 towards each players bounty.



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wish me luck

How I Won a 180 Person NLHE $22 SNG, Part V

By: The Monster Stack (Guest Blogger)

Hello,

I ended Part IV of this series just before the final table began. I will, of course, begin this, the final part of the series, with a recap of the final table. As mentioned in the Part IV, the final table began with the chip stacks being relatively even with nobody having a super chip lead. It was anyone's game. As soon as the final table began everyone started shouting "chop!" Well, not while I am at the table. I don't chop. Period! Perhaps in a live satellite I would consider it if four places got a prize and fifth got nothing and we were down to five players. But even then. It's bad karma for me. I simply don't do it. Every once in awhile someone would ask for a chop. I flat out state in no uncertain terms that there will be no chopping while I am at the table. I won't even chop if I am a short stack. One or two hands could easily change that. Final tables usually (but not always) don't leave enough room for real play and often require some lucky breaks, or, at the very least, no bad beats.

Ad-Td (early position): Hand #201. I raised it up to 3,600 and got called by the button, the very aggressive player who had once had a huge stack but now held fewer chips than me. Both blinds folded and the button and I took a flop of Jc-As-8h. I led out for 4,800 and the button called. The turn was the Js and I again attacked the pot, this time betting 6,000. This was a small bet as I wanted to know if he had absolutely nothing or had just outdrawn me on the turn. The truth is I don't think I would have folded to a re-raise. I had seen this act by him before. He called the 6,000. The turn brought a third jack making the board Jc-As-8h-Js-Jd. If he had quads I was going to go broke. If he had has an ace for the same hand then we were chopping the pot. If he had an 8 or a pair in the hole I could possible get the rest of his chips. With the pot standing at almost 32,000 I pushed all-in for my last 16,000 and change. To my surprise, he folded. I have no idea with what hand he could have called pre-flop, on the flop, on the turn and then fold on the river with nearly 50,000 in the pot leaving himself short stacked. Either way I was happy. I was now the chip leader with just under 48,000 chips.

Ks-9s (big blind): Hand #204. It was folded around to the small blind who raised it to 3,600. I called and we took a flop of 4d-8s-Jc. He checked and I checked behind him. The turn was the 6d and he checked again and I checked behind him. What am I doing? It would be easier to just give him my chips. The river was the Jh and he checked and for some reason I completely lost my mind and checked again. He showed As-7d and took down the pot with ace high. First of all, when it's checked to me on the river I almost always bet. It is a sign of weakness and you will take down enough pots this way, especially if it was checked to me three times. This guy was practically telling me he had nothing by checking it to me three times. I actually said out loud "what the hell am I doing?" And what the hell was I doing?

Blind increase: 800/1600 ante 150

Ad-Kc (early position): Hand #210. I raised it up and took the blinds and antes.

Ad-Tc (early position): Hand #211. I raised it up to 4,800 and someone pushed all-in for about another 22,000. I folded.

There was an all-in on Hand #215 and a short stack doubled up with the Kd-Qc against 8s-8c when he spiked two queens on the flop and they held. I picked up the Ad-9s on Hand #218 after not after anything since Hand #211. I ended up getting all-in on a flop of Ac-4d-9c and chopping the pot with the very aggressive former chip leader when he showed the Ah-9h. A short stacked player was eliminated on Hand #220 when his Kd-Ks fell to his opponent's Ac-Kh on a Ad-Jh-Qs-7h-4h board. I was dealt the following hands and folded them all: 6c-4h, 6d-4h, Jc-9c, 7c-6s, 7s-3h, Kc-3c and Tc-5c. I might have played the Jc-9c but that was on Hand #220

Ah-5h (early position): Hand #226. I raised it up and took down the blinds and antes. I have a little more than 39,000 in chips which is the second largest stack at the table and is above average. The chip leader has 52,000 and the short stack has 13,000.

Ah-9d (big blind): Hand #229. The short stack, who now had over 16,000 after stealing the blinds in Hand #227 raised it up from early position to 4,800. I called out of the big blind and check-folded to an all-in bet on a 2d-6d-6s flop. I think he had something like K-Q or K-J and I probably should have pushed in on the flop. Calling out of position is generally a weak play and I should have either raised or folded pre-flop (I should probably have pushed in). In two hands the short stack nearly has an average stack.

Jc-9d (small blind): Hand #230. It was folded around to me and I limped in the small blind. The flop was 4d-9h-Kd and I bet and took down the pot.

Blind increase: 1000/2000 ante 200

9c-6h (UTG): Hand #236. I folded the following hands in order before this hand: 5d-2c, Qs-4h, 8h-6d, Jh-5d and Kc-5s. I got bored folding every hand and the blinds and antes were so high that I needed to start picking up some chips. I raised to 6,000 UTG hoping that between the fact that I was UTG and that I hadn't played a pot in a few hands I would easily take down the pot. Alas, it was not to be. The big blind got stubborn and called and we took a flop of 2h-5d-Qd. He checked and I bet 5,000 and took down the pot. Phew. If he had called I probably would have either bluffed off all my chips or tried to force him to fold by betting the next two streets. I more than likely would have bet the turn and river. I have no problem firing three bullets with air. Perhaps too much. I have busted out of many a tournament that way. But I have also moved up in pay doing that. The jury is still out on that one. I am now just about even with the chip leader with more than 44,000.

8c-4h (big blind): Hand #237. High from the last hand I got a little carried away on the next. The small blind limped after everyone folded and I min-raised it and the small blind called. The flop came down Td-2s-5h and it was checked to me. I bet 2,000, the small blind made it 6,000 and I folded. I should have made a bigger raised pre-flop. He probably has J-10 type of hand.

Kc-Js (cutoff): Hand #240. A lot of chips changed hands since Hand #237. The former tournament chip leader (I should have named him about three articles ago) was once again in the chip lead with over 61,000. I was third in chips with almost 40,000. A player who got beat up in the last hand had just 525 in chips. I limped in the cutoff and the short stack called all-in for 325. The small blind raised it to 4,000, the big blind called and I called as well. The flop was Kd-8c-Ts and it was checked over to me. I bet out 8,000 and everyone folded. Normally I would check it down except the side pot was big enough to try and take. I was actually hoping for a call. Anyway, I ended up making a straight and taking down the pot of almost 14,000, eliminating a player in the process.

Ad-Ac (early position): Hand #243. I decided to play it like a steal and made a huge over bet. In fact, I pushed all-in. To my surprise I got insta-called by the player to my left and the big blind called as well. I had them both covered. The player to my left showed the Jh-Js and the big blind showed Ah-Kh. The flop came Qd-Jd-4d. I was out flopped but still had outs. The turn was the 8s and the river was the beautiful 5d giving me the flush and eliminating two players simultaneously. We are down to five players and I have over 100,000 in chips. My closet opponent has 50,000. The other three range from 30,000 to 45,000. A player commented that he held the Jc which meant that I had initially been one outed on the flop.

The very next hand saw another elimination when a player bluffed all-in, perhaps trying to mimic my play and make others think he had a big hand. Well, the small blind called with Ad-Ks and the other player showed Kh-4d. The A-K held up and he eliminated the player with ace high. He now has over 80,000 in chips and we are playing four-handed.

Ad-4c (big blind): Hand #250. After trading blinds and antes for a few hands the button limped in as did the small blind and I made it made it 10,000 to go. The button pushed all-in for about 35,000 total. The small blind called and I called. I thought I was getting good odds to call this one but the action should have told me to fold. However, I had put 10,000 into the pot and I didn't want to let it go. I normally don't do that but I saw all those chips and wanted them. The flop was Kd-3c-Ah and it was checked to me. I pushed all-in and the small blind called. Uh oh. He showed Ac-Qd and I was sick. But, the turn was the 3s and the river was the 6c and we chopped up the button's chips when he showed the 5s-5h. We are three-handed and I have almost 130,000 in chips. The player with whom I had just chopped the pot held over 90,000 and the short stack had about 50,000.

Blind increase: 1500/3000 ante 300

Jc-Tc (button): Hand #255. I raised it on the button to 9,000. The small blind, who had less than 50,000, pushed all-in. The big blind called and my cards caught fire. The small blind showed the 6d-6h and the big blind showed As-Ks. The big blind flopped and ace and it held. We were now heads up.

I began heads-up play with 115,000 in chips while my opponent held 155,000 in chips. He was somewhat aggressive and not too afraid to call, but he also liked to be holding something. However, this could all change during heads-up play. It is a different animal and I had not played much with him. In fact, all I know of him was from the final table. The good news: heads-up play lasted two hands. I am a good heads up player if the stacks are deep. They weren't terribly short as I had 38 big blinds and an M of 22.5 for you Harrington fans. However, this is not so great as heads-up play, particularly online, goes rather quickly.

Ac-Th (big blind): Hand #256. The button raised it to 9,000 and I called. Normally I would raise but it was the first hand and I wanted to feel him out (I think this was a bad move as I should have tried to find out then and there how aggressive my opponent had planned on playing. Besides, I more than likely had the best hand). The flop came down 5d-Tc-4c. I checked hoping to trap but he checked right behind me. The turn was the Kh and I bet 10,000. He called. The turn was the Td and I bet 15,000. He called and showed the Ks-Jc. He hit the turn and slow-played it. Huh? Terrible play. My guess is that he called the flop to bluff the turn but hit his card and tried to trap. He actually saved some money since I would have called an all-in on the turn thinking he was trying to steal.

5d-4d (button/small blind): Hand #257. The stacks are about 150,000 to 120,000 in my favor. I raised it up on the button to 9,000 and the big blind min-raised to 18,000. I called. The flop came down Ad-9c-6d. He bet 20,000 on the flop and I moved all-in. He called and showed the Ah-Jh. The turn was the 7s and the river was 3h. I rivered the straight and took down the tournament. I like the semi-bluff, particularly in heads-up play. More often than not your opponent will fold without a big hand. And even if you get a call you are rarely drawing dead, unless your opponent calls with a larger flush draw, which is unlikely.

Thank you for playing along with me. I hope you enjoyed reading about the tournament as much as I did winning it. Well, I guess that's a bit much to ask but you get the idea. I look forward to reading any comments or questions that you might have.

Please bear in mind that there were a lot of hands to recount and even with the hand history in front of me, chip counts, position and other items of importance might have been off here and there. This is not intentional as I have tried my best to faithfully record the hands as they were played. I am pretty sure that I did not get any of the cards wrong but again, this is remotely possible.

See you on the felt,
The Monster Stack

Recap: ThePokerGrind.net's Bounty Tournament

Im a bit late with sundays recap , sry

We had 10 runners come out and try to win the TPG dot Net Bounty , We started off shorthanded on 2 tables, and after last weeks 2nd place finisher , jkaracik, busted out the first. Play continued on a full table, and yours truly was the next player eliminated. The hand was an interesting one, but in the end i was playing toooo aggressive and trying to make things happen . I put all my money on an Open Ended Straight Draw along with a flush draw, I put my money in after the flop , and roochie m called me with 2 pair , and fortunately for him , the turn brought me a flush , but it was a good card for him because it filled him up with a full house , heres the pic ,


I will try to do alot better this week..

The top 3 players got paid , and ZHDK was our bubble boy, the bubble sux doesnt it.

3rd place - neese1 , a good tourney player , i played with hima few times in local home games , he was probably multi-tabling some PLO during this tourney.

2nd place - beenzy , never played live with him , but has taken down some mid stakes SNG's often enough that he is good

1st place - bustedflush123 , good player , plays well ..for a year straight of saturday nights ive gone to his house for a home game, i wasnt too successful in those games , but neither was he,lol